chugbug27 0 Report post Posted May 24, 2020 A compelling read this morning -- a 1944 article telling the emergent story of how a then-unknown John F Kennedy and his men survived wreckage in the south Pacific. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1944/06/17/survival Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skeet3t 0 Report post Posted May 24, 2020 Interesting story. Navy veterans have said that JFK should have left the area at full speed to avoid other ships. Their opinion was he should have been court-martialed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lesg 0 Report post Posted May 24, 2020 Good story ! Thanks Chugbug. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chugbug27 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2020 Glad you liked it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Poopdeck 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2020 I found it compelling enough to require additional readings. JFK was a hero. He was declared 4F but used his family political connections to cancel that rating and enter the service. After training he was being sent to the safety of the Panama Canal but used his family political connections to get a combat assignment. the mission the night PT109 sank was to intercept the expected arrival of Japanese destroyers. To have left at full speed to avoid ships would have been cowardice and not inline with the specific mission and not at all inline with the then overall mission of the PT boats. He seemed to have been following proper protocol while patrolling for the destroyers. His boat was not equipped with radar. The boats that had radar left him. He had 10 seconds to react to the sight of the destroyer who's captain saw the PT boat and was deliberately trying to ram him. After sinking, JFK's actions were undeniably heroic. controversy about what if any full speed orders were given seem to be from Monday morning QB's who were not there. No doubt the orders were given and another crew member failed to perform his job. JFK than shielded this injured crewman from all the haters. Its official JFK was a hero. Whatever navy veterans said JFK should have been court marshaled could learn a valuable lesson from JFK's actions and the battle history of the US navy in WWII, specifically in the South Pacific. Great read. I enjoyed it very much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redietz 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2020 Great telling of the story. Thanks for posting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flat Rock native 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2020 9 hours ago, redietz said: Great telling of the story. Thanks for posting. Agreed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
