John F. Kennedy

===Commanding ''PT-109'' and ''PT-59''===
{{Main|Patrol torpedo boat PT-109}}

[[File:Lt. John F. Kennedy aboard the PT-109 - JFKPOF-132-012-p0113 (restored).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, the [[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|''PT-109'']], 1943]]
In April 1943, Kennedy was assigned to Motor Torpedo Squadron TWO,<ref name="maritimequest.com"/> and on April 24 he took command of ''[[Patrol torpedo boat PT-109|PT-109]]'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109.htm | title=USS PT 109| publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801200054/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109.htm| archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> then based on [[Tulagi]] Island in the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]].<ref name="history.navy.mil"/> On the night of August 1–2, in support of the [[New Georgia campaign]], ''PT-109'' and fourteen other PTs were ordered to block or repel four Japanese destroyers and floatplanes carrying food, supplies, and 900 Japanese soldiers to the Vila Plantation garrison on the southern tip of the Solomon's [[Kolombangara]] Island. Intelligence had been sent to Kennedy's Commander Thomas G. Warfield expecting the arrival of the large Japanese naval force that would pass on the evening of August 1. Of the 24 torpedoes fired that night by eight of the American PTs, not one hit the Japanese convoy.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=99, 100}} On that moonless night, Kennedy spotted a Japanese destroyer heading north on its return from the base of Kolombangara around 2:00&nbsp;a.m., and attempted to turn to attack, when ''PT-109'' was rammed suddenly at an angle and cut in half by the [[Japanese destroyer Amagiri (1930)|destroyer ''Amagiri'']], killing [[Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Harold William Marney|two ''PT-109'' crew]] members.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_final_crew_list.htm | title=USS PT-109 Final Crew List | publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801201103/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_final_crew_list.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref>{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106}}<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>{{efn|After the war, Kennedy contacted the captain of the ''Amagiri'', Kohei Hanami, and formed a friendship with him. Hanami later supported Kennedy's election campaign.<ref>{{cite web|title=「きのうの敵は今日の友」― ケネディ大統領と日本人艦長の友情秘話|url=https://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/jfk-japanese-captain/|website=American View|date=April 5, 2015|access-date=July 26, 2020|language=ja|publisher=Embassy of the United States of America in Japan|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726142334/https://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/jfk-japanese-captain/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} Avoiding surrender, the remaining crew swam towards [[Plum Pudding Island]], 3.5 miles (5.6&nbsp;km) southwest of the remains of ''PT-109'', on August 2.<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106–107, 119}} Despite re-injuring his back in the collision, Kennedy towed a badly burned crewman to the island with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106–107, 124}} From there, Kennedy and his subordinate, Ensign George Ross, made forays through the coral islands, searching for help.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=66–106, 134–139}} When they encountered an English-speaking native with a canoe, Kennedy carved his location on a [[coconut]] shell and requested a boat rescue. Seven days after the collision, with the coconut message delivered, the ''PT-109'' crew were rescued.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=143–148}}{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=19}}

Almost immediately, the ''PT-109'' rescue became a highly publicized event. The story was chronicled by John Hersey in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' in 1944 (decades later it was the basis of a successful [[PT 109 (film)|film]]).{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=19}} It followed Kennedy into politics and provided a strong foundation for his appeal as a leader.<ref name="John F. Kennedy and PT 109">{{cite web | url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-PT109.aspx?p=3 | title=John F. Kennedy and PT 109 | publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum | access-date=July 9, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801203240/http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-PT109.aspx?p=3 | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> Hersey portrayed Kennedy as a modest, self-deprecating hero.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Hersey |first1=John |title=Survival |date=June 17, 1944 |magazine=The New Yorker |pages=31–44}}</ref> For his courage and leadership, Kennedy was awarded the [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]], and the injuries he suffered during the incident qualified him for a [[Purple Heart]].<ref name="John F. Kennedy and PT 109"/>

After a month's recovery Kennedy returned to duty, commanding the ''[[PT-59]]''. On November 2, Kennedy's ''PT-59'' took part with two other PTs in the rescue of 40–50 marines. The ''59'' acted as a shield from shore fire as they escaped on two rescue landing craft at the base of the Warrior River at [[Raid on Choiseul|Choiseul Island]], taking ten marines aboard and delivering them to safety.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=172–184, 189}} Under doctor's orders, Kennedy was relieved of his command on November 18, and sent to the hospital on Tulagi.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=193}} By December 1943, with his health deteriorating, Kennedy left the Pacific front and arrived in San Francisco in early January 1944.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=20}} After receiving treatment for his back injury at the [[Chelsea Naval Hospital]] in Massachusetts from May to December 1944, he was released from active duty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |title=Record of John F. Kennedy's Naval Service |work=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]] |date=June 18, 2002 |access-date=July 9, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527184324/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="maritimequest.com"/> Beginning in January 1945, Kennedy spent three months recovering from his back injury at [[Castle Hot Springs (Arizona)|Castle Hot Springs]], a resort and temporary military hospital in Arizona.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=179, 180}}<ref name="peoriaaz.gov">{{cite web| title=Peoria Open Space Master Plan: Chapter 4 – Historic and Cultural Resources| url=http://www.peoriaaz.gov/uploadedFiles/NewPeoriaAZ/About_Peoria/Sonoran_Preservation_Program/Chapter4_HistoricCulturalResources.pdf| access-date=January 22, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201191814/http://www.peoriaaz.gov/uploadedFiles/NewPeoriaAZ/About_Peoria/Sonoran_Preservation_Program/Chapter4_HistoricCulturalResources.pdf| archive-date=February 1, 2014| df=mdy-all}}</ref> On March 1, 1945, Kennedy retired from the Navy Reserve on physical disability and was honorably discharged with the full rank of lieutenant.<ref name="sptimes.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/timeline.shtml | title=JFK: A Timeline of His Life 1917–1963 | publisher=St. Petersburg Times. | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801205613/http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/timeline.shtml | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> When later asked how he became a war hero, Kennedy joked: "It was easy. They cut my PT boat in half."{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=98}}

On August 12, 1944, Kennedy's older brother, [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.|Joe Jr.]], a navy pilot, was killed on an air mission. His body was never recovered.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=106–107}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph P. Kennedy Jr |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/joseph-p-kennedy-jr |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213012053/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/joseph-p-kennedy-jr |url-status=live }}</ref> The news reached the family's home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts a day later. Kennedy felt that Joe Jr.'s reckless flight was partly an effort to outdo him.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=175}}{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=21}} To console himself, Kennedy set out to assemble a privately published book of remembrances of his brother, ''As We Remember Joe''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Logevall |first=Fredrik |title=JFK - Volume One |publisher=[[Penguin (publisher)|Penguin]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-241-97201-4 |pages=379–380 |language=en}}</ref>