John F Kennedy and
PT-109 (1962, this edition 2016) is the biography of the 25-year-old during his
military service from 1942 to 1943. It is set in the the South Pacific, near
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, when Kennedy skippered the Patrol Torpedo
boat, the PT-109.
The biography actually
starts with the loss of over 1,000 lives during the sinking of three American
ships in the South Pacific – the Quincy,
Astoria, and Vincennes – and ‘the pride of the Australian Pacific Navy, the Canberra.’ I’m from Canberra, and know
the history of the heavycruiser HMAS Canberra,
made in Scotland, and sunk off Savo Island in the Solomon Islands on August 9,
1942. Tregaskis uses this introduction to highlight the rationale for the PT
boats during the South Pacific battles in which the Americans helped to protect
Australian-administered New Guinea.
The Elco Naval
Division boats were used by the United States Navy in World War II,
particularly for night attacks on Japanese warships. The boats were heralded
for their maneuverability and the crews were heralded for their daring. The
boats were ‘a weapon of psychological as well as physical significance.’
In February 1943
Kennedy was assigned to the South Pacific as part of the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron
Two as a junior officer. He arrived on April 7, 1943 on ‘the day of the largest
Japanese aerial attack [in the South Pacific] since the assault on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941’ and therefore not able to land in Tulagi until April 14.
This is the
step-by-step, methodical account of Kennedy as the skipper of PT-109, its
sinking, and the heroic actions taken to save his crew. This includes the
actions of Australian coastwatcher Reg Evans and two Solomon Islanders Biuku
Gasa and Eroni Kumana. But it is also about the small fleet of PTs and their
critical impact on the naval strategic defence of the region. There are many
heroes in this story, not just the PT boats and Kennedy. However, it is the
determination, undying hope, and endurance of Kennedy that is particularly
highlighted. Kennedy (1917-1963) was awarded the Purple Heart, and later became
the 35th president of the United States.
John F Kennedy and
PT-109 is an exceptional read – well-composed, thorough, and rivetting. Halfway
into the book, Chapter 8, Disaster at Sea, is skilled dramatical, suspenseful,
and inspirational writing. It also goes a step further to cover Kennedy’s
command of PT-59.
Richard Tregaskis
(1916-1973) was a war correspondent stationed in the South Pacific at the time
of the events. He also used American and Japanese records to write this
detailed and comprehensive account of the PT boats in the South Pacific, while
focussing on John F Kennedy’s leadership qualities. But it is also interesting
for Kennedy’s decision making – the points at which decisions become a matter
of life or death.
As an aside, Robert
Ballard found the wreckage of the PT-109 in 2002 in an expedition headed by the
National Geographic Society, which was screened as a documentary special.
The publisher sent me
a pre-launch e-book for review to coincide with the launch of the book in New
York this week to mark the anniversary of Kennedy's death on 22 November 1963.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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