1 August 1943: PT-109 is sunk

PT-109 is sunk in a naval engagement in the South Pacific. Lost in the fight was Ambassador Joseph Kennedy’s son, John; the first of 2 Kennedy boys lost in World War II. Ambassador Kennedy uses the story of his personal sacrifices during the war to demonstrate his patriotism during his run for the presidency in 1956.

In the real world, John F. Kennedy survived the war.

John F. Kennedy at the helm of PT-109. Photograph courtesy J.F. Kennedy Library, Boston

[note the Sound of Strings Being Pulled: PT duty was just about the only way an inexperienced 26 year old officer could be skipper of his own vessel]

PT-109 left its base in the Solomon Islands to patrol for Japanese destroyers at dusk on August 1st; it had a near-fatal collision with the Japanase destroyer Amagiri at around 2 AM om August 2nd.

Two of the crew were instantly killed. Kennedy was injured but took charge of the situation, leading the surviving crew members to swim from the floating wreckage to an uninhabited atoll and then from island to island, all the while trying to contact PT base. JFK was finally rescued in the night of August 7th; the rest of the crew a few hours later in the early morning og August 8th.

In the real world, the wreck of JFK's PT-109 was found in 2002 by Rober Ballard.

In reality, John F. Kennedy beat Nixon in 1960 to become the 35th president of the USA.