PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy

by William Doyle

“Without PT 109, there never would have been a President John F. Kennedy.” —DAVID POWERS, White House official, Kennedy Administration “Jack’s life had more to do with myth, magic, legend, saga, and story than with political theory or political science.” —JACQUELINE KENNEDY

After the war, when Kennedy’s ambitions turned to politics, the event played a role in molding his public image from “child of privilege” to “battle-tested combat veteran” and helped propel him into the House of Representatives in 1947, into the U.S. Senate in 1953, and into the White House in 1961.

The war made us. It was and is our single greatest moment. The memory of the war is a key to our characters.

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way. —COMMANDER JOHN PAUL JONES, 1780

John F. Kennedy loved the sea as “a child, boy, and man,” observed his widow Jacqueline. “I have been interested in the sea from my earliest boyhood,” Kennedy himself once wrote. “My earliest recollections of the United States Navy go back to the days when as a small boy, I used to be taken to the USS Constitution in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The sight of that historic frigate, with its tall spars and black guns, stirred my imagination and made American history come alive for me.” Growing up as one of nine children of the fabulously wealthy financier Joseph P. Kennedy, young “Jack” Kennedy learned to pilot small sailboats with the help of a family sailing instructor at their oceanside vacation estate in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and later at their winter mansion in semitropical Palm Beach, Florida. In his teens, Kennedy became a keen swimmer and a highly skilled, competitive sailboat racer. He preferred to command a boat rather than serve in the crew, and he took racing very seriously, firmly chastising crew members who didn’t measure up.

That personality was highlighted by a relaxed, powerful charm, a genuine curiosity in other people and their opinions, a sharp, sardonic of humor, and a striking sense of confidence and optimism, all of which inspired powerful bonds of affection and loyalty with many of the people he met, female and male alike.

A rare photo of John F. Kennedy (center) at the U.S. Navy PT boat training facility at Melville, Rhode Island. (Frank J. Andruss Sr.)