JFK and PT 109

Don't you ever forget that fact either Spurly.

[Nevertheless]

There is a small cemetery across the road from our house.  When we first moved here my kids (9 & 10 at that time) went to check out the headstones.  They came running back all excited saying, "Guess what!  Guess who's buried there! -- Joseph Kennedy!"  They were sure they'd found JFK's father's grave.   ;)   Sorry kids, not in our little corner of rural MO!  It did give them a reason to read up on JFK and his family. . .

[spurly]

I need to go to bed, but I can't.  I'm in the middle of a show on the history channel about JFK and PT 109.  According to the show, his war hero status was greatly inflated.  As a matter of fact, if it had not been for the fact that his father was an ambassador, he probably would have been court martialled instead of hailed as a hero.

If you get a chance to watch it, it is worth it.

It's funny how powerful people with money can control public opinion.

Kevin

[Jim Abb]

As I recall, his actions prior to the attack might have been open to question, but once the crew reached the island he showed both fortitude and courage. There was an article not too long ago in the National Geographic about this topic and it seems he swam quite a distance to find help.
But Papa Joe certainly had a lot of influence and got the best possible spin on it.

[spurly]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (Jim Abb @ Feb. 05 2003,1:29)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]As I recall, his actions prior to the attack might have been open to question, but once the crew reached the island he showed both fortitude and courage. There was an article not too long ago in the National Geographic about this topic and it seems he swam quite a distance to find help.
But Papa Joe certainly had a lot of influence and got the best possible spin on it.[/quote]
He did swim to find help, but what he did (leaving his crew) was against all military regulations.  And it wasn't him that actually rescued his crew.  It was an Australian coast watcher who should have received the medal, if anyone did.  But his dad was able to get things turned around in his son's favor.

If he didn't have such a powerful dad, he probably would have been courtmartialled for a whole list of things, not the least of which was removing the liferaft from his PT boat.

Kevin