15/02/2017
The Japanese were reaching The Solomons by coming down through Rabaul, Papua New Guinea and weaving their way through the tropical atolls using a passage known as “The Slot”. Coastwatchers, mainly Australian were placed strategically throughout the islands relaying movements to the Americans who set up attacks from both air and sea as the enemy progressed through the channels. Coastwatchers recruited local lads who knew the jungle well to carry out reconnaissance missions and report back. Like a column of ants, the Japanese troop carriers made their way down through “The Slot”. The carriers were easy targets for the American bombers; they were sluggish and slow to change course. Each troop carrier held up to 800 men and by the time they reached The Solomons supplies were running low and the Japanese soldiers were very malnourished and weak.It was during this time in 1943 that a young PT Boat commanded by Lieutenant (Junior Grade) (LTJG) John Kennedy was stationed at Rendova in the Western Province. With a crew of 13, the PT 109 would stalk torpedo carriers and frigates coming down the channel in the night. The PT boats had a top speed of 75km/h enabling them to sneak in at night. Once near their target they would fire the torpedoes and run back for cover. The Japanese called the PT boats “devil boats” due to the numerous and effective surprise attacks they mounted.While sneaking out at night in Blackett Strait Kennedy’s PT 109 was struck by the Japanese carrier Amagiri and immediately disintegrated (the hulls were made mainly of plywood). Kennedy, a Harvard swimming champ, helped the crew ashore three and a half miles away onto an uninhabited island. Now known as Kennedy Island, it was originally called Plum Pudding Island until years later when the significance of this great survival story unfolded.The island had no inhabitants and no fresh water, so the next day they set off again with the current to an Island called Olasana, only to find that again there was no water. After a night’s rest Kennedy swam a mile to reach the next island, Naru (now known as Ross Island after one of the crewman who accompanied Kennedy). There they found candy and water from a Japanese wreck and saw two locals.The two natives were to become the pivotal point in the rescue a few days later.On returning to Olasana, Kennedy discovered that the two men he and Ross had seen at Naru had made contact with the rest of the crew. The two men, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, were Islander Scouts for the Allies. Their apparent hasty departure from Naru had left them tired and thirsty, and they had stopped for coconuts at Olasana, where Thom, another crewman, had been able to convince them that the crew wasAmerican.The next morning, August 6,Kennedy returned with Gasa and Kumana to Naru, intercepting Ross along the way as he was swimming back. The Islanders showed the two Americans where a boat was hidden on Naru. Kennedy was at a loss for a way to send a message,but Gasa showed him how to scratch a few words into the husk of a green coconut.Gasa and Kumana then left with Kennedy’s message:NAURO ISL COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS POS’IT… HE CAN PILOT…11 ALIVE... NEED SMALL BOAT…KENNEDY It was not long before Aussie Coastwatcher Evans alerted the Americans who sent out PT Boats to rescue the weary survivors.As they waited for rescue, Kennedy insisted on going out with Ross in the two-man canoe into FergusonPassage. Heavy seas swamped the canoe and so battered the men that they barely made it back to Naru. The next morning, shortly after Kennedy and Ross awoke, eight islanders appeared at Naru. They brought food from the local allied Coastwatcher,Evans, and instructions for Kennedy to come to Evan’s post.Stopping long enough at Olasana to feed the crew. The Islanders then hid Kennedy under a pile of palm fronds and paddled him to Gomu Island in Blackett Strait. Early in the evening of August 7, a little more than six days afterPT-109’s sinking, Kennedy stepped on to Gomu. There was still a rescue to be planned with Evans, no small thing in enemy-held waters, but the worst of the ordeal of PT-109 was over.Evans had notified his commander of the discovery of PT-109’s survivors, and the base commander proposed sending a rescue mission directly to Olasana. Kennedy insisted on being picked up first so that he could guide the rescue boats (PT-157 and PT-171) through the reefs and shallows of the island chain.Late on the night of August 7,the boats met Kennedy at the rendezvous point, exchanging a prearranged signal of four shots. Kennedy’s revolver was down to only three rounds, so he borrowed a rifle from Evans for the fourth. Standing up in the canoe to give the signal, Kennedy did not anticipate the rifle’s recoil, which threw him off balance and dumped him in the water. A soaking wet and thoroughly exasperated Navy Lieutenant climbed aboard PT-157.The PT boats crossed Blackett Strait under Kennedy’s direction and eased up to Olasana Island early in the morning of August 8. The exhausted men of PT-109 were all asleep.Kennedy began yelling for them, much to the chagrin of his rescuers, who were nervous about the proximity of the Japanese. The rescue went forward without incident, and the men of PT-109 reached the U.S base at Rendova at 5:30 a.m. on August 8. For his courage and leadership Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. Injuries he suffered during the incident also qualified him for a Purple Heart. JFK was hampered by injuries most of his life afterwards however he lived with them like the true staunch military man he was.
