Pt 109: John F. Kennedy In W.W. II

40th Anniversary Edition with a new Preface by the Author, and center bound black and white photos. In the early morning hours of August 2, 1943, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri attacked PT 109 - the patrol torpedo boat skippered by a boyish lieutenant named John F Kennedy. As the steel prow of the Amagiri sliced its way through, the young Kennedy could only watch as its massive hull cleaved his boat in two. Kennedy, hurled across the cockpit, injured his already troublesome back on impact, but managed to swim the dark waters of Blackett Strait to gather his surviving crewmates from the wreckage. Together, Kennedy and his men would spend thirty of the next thirty-six hours in the water. And in the days that followed, Kennedy would repeatedly risk his life to secure his crew's rescue. "Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction, 'I served in the United States Navy.'" - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, August 1963