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

by William Doyle

One day not long after the inauguration, the director of the Atlanta, Georgia, office of the U.S. Veterans Administration was shocked to hear his secretary tell him, “The White House is calling!” John F. Kennedy was on the line, ordering him to send a car to the Kirkseys’ home, bring Jack to his office, and explain his educational benefits to him. When Jack got there, it looked like the director “almost had a stroke” in the wake of a direct call from the president of the United States. Benefits were arranged and Jack attended college accounting courses that launched his career. In late April 1961, Kennedy sent Kloye Kirksey an aerial photograph of the American cemetery in Manila, where the name of her late husband was inscribed on a memorial wall. If she ever came to Washington, the president wrote, he “would like very much to have the White House and other public places here shown to you.”