This is the mission Lieutenant Kennedy and his crew of 12 men were on that fateful night in August 1943. A Japanese destroyer suddenly lumbered out of the predawn darkness and bore down on the American boat.
Kennedy tried to pivot PT-109 and fire his torpedoes, but the Japanese ship was too close and traveling too quickly.
The larger Japanese warship rammed PT-109, slicing it in half and killing two men. Part of the burning American vessel sank rapidly. But another section remained afloat for several hours, with Kennedy and the other survivors clinging to it until dawn. When day came, they swam to a nearby island, with Kennedy towing one injured man himself.
The sailors subsisted on coconuts for nearly a week before being rescued by the U.S. Navy.
Kennedy would have turned 85 today.
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