The 109 joined fifteen PT boats on patrol on a dark night in early August 1943 to intercept Japanese warships in the straits. Fellow PT skipper Ensign George Ross with his boat out of commission joined Kennedy aboard the 109. The group engaged several Japanese destroyers firing their complement of torpedoes and withdrawing, but due to the unreliability of American torpedoes in the early stages of the war the attack did not affect much damage. Kennedy and crew on the 109 stayed in reserve with a few other boats to protect against counterattack by lingering as the attacking boats withdrew. Kennedy kept his speed to a crawl hoping to keep the wake and noise to a minimum in order to avoid detection. At 2 a.m. Kennedy noted a vague silhouette of vessel approaching in the darkness. His first thought was another friendly PT boat slowly approaching. Soon he realized it was the massive Japanese destroyer Amagiri traveling at 40 knots. Kennedy attempt to steer his boat into a firing position but before he could react, the massive destroyer slammed broadside into the much smaller wooden boat cutting the PT 109 in two in ten seconds. Ironically the Japanese destroyer didn’t even realize that they had struck an enemy vessel and kept motoring forward soon out of earshot. The tremendous impact had thrown Kennedy into the cockpit where he landed on his bad back. As the chaos and short lived ensuring flames doused by the destroyer’s wake subsided, Kennedy and 4 of his sailors clung to some wreckage of the 109. He called out into the darkness and could hear 5 other members of his crew somewhere in the darkness of the now quiet sea. Sadly two of his sailors were killed upon impact with the destroyer. Kennedy, a champion swimmer from his time at Harvard made his way to his forlorn crew pulling them all to the relative safety of the floating wreck of the 109.
Stranded at Sea
With dawn’s early light Kennedy was able to finally survey the extent of the chaos from the night before. Surrounded by Japanese ships in the area and facing the uncertainties of the sea Kennedy pondered "fight or surrender". He would later go on to state, "There's nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you men have families and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose." Towards the end of the following day he made the command decision to abandon the sinking wreckage of what once was the PT-109 and lead his men by swimming three miles towards the faint outline of a tiny island on the horizon. An officer who leads from the front and takes care of his men, Kennedy gave one of his wounded sailors a life jacket and then proceeded to tow the hapless sailor whereby Kennedy had to secure the tow rope in his teeth so he could have his arms free to swim.
After hours of swimming in the open Pacific Ocean, the crew of the 109 had finally made it to dry ground. Exhausted, they took their rest. Quickly Kennedy knew the island would not offer much due to a lack of food and water and with little respite from the blazing tropical sun. As his crew gathered their strength after a full day of surviving in the unpredictable ocean, Kennedy set out once again but this time alone to swim the arduous route he knew the PT Boats had taken through the islands hoping to find a friendly vessel or a better island to gather his crew. His search provided little and he returned to his crew. After spending several days on the barren little island, Kennedy surveyed his sailors' welfare and abilities and knew they had just enough strength to make yet another long swim to a larger island he spotted in the distance. The crew set out for a second arduous journey again with Kennedy tending to his wounded sailor. After 4 days with no food or water and exhausted, the crew of the 109 led by Kennedy crawled on to a beach of a second larger island where they found coconut palm trees. Finally they had found shade, food with the coconut meat and hydration with the coconut milk.
11 ALIVE…NEED SMALL BOAT…KENNEDY
Eroni Kumana, one of two Solomon Islanders who saved the life of John F. Kennedy during World War II Eroni Kumana, one of two Solomon Islanders who saved the life of John F. Kennedy during World War II died at the age of 93
Confident that his crew was safe and secure, Lieutenant JG John Kennedy and his friend Ensign George Ross knew they had one more exhausting swim to make. They set out for yet a third trek this time to the tiny Island of Nauru several miles away faintly seen on the horizon where they were confident they would find local friendly natives. The locals of Naru must have been stunned when they witnessed the two American men wade ashore. The natives were trusting towards Americans after witnessing poor treatment at the hands of the Japanese. They were willing to help. Kennedy couldn’t risk attempting to canoe with the natives for fear of being seen by a Japanese patrol boat or plane. He instead cut a message on a coconut that read "NAURO ISL…COMMANDER…NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT…HE CAN PILOT…11 ALIVE…NEED SMALL BOAT…KENNEDY". He then handed the coconut to one of the natives and said, "Rendova, Rendova!,"
The next morning the natives returned with food and supplies. Kennedy discovered along with the provisions a letter from the coast watcher commander of the New Zealand camp. The letter directed for Kennedy to return with the natives whereby the New Zealand forces would unite him with U.S. forces. Not long after their rendezvous, Kennedy’s feeling of elation must have been immense as he watched the PT-157 rumble over to greet him. Shortly after picking up Kennedy, his crew of 10 sailors saw the 157 roaring towards their little island. After six long days, their skipper came through and they were going home.
JFK’s service record is something a normal guy could be proud of except for the error that cost him his boat and two of his men’s lives with one permanently damaged, yet he has been made one of WWII’s greatest war heroes.
With his powerful father calling for the Medal of Honor and his boat destroyed and his men killed by a Japanese Destroyer while on a combat mission, JFK was awarded a non-combat medal for bravery.