22. Kennedy wrote to the commander of the ship which sank his boat
In September, 1952, Congressman Kennedy asked his staff and the US Navy to locate Kohei Hanami, who had commanded Amagiri on the night the ship rammed PT 109. He then wrote to his former adversary, a personal letter in which he offered his best wishes and suggested that if two former enemies could exchange friendly greetings it spoke well of relations between their corresponding nations. Hanami responded in a friendly manner of his own. Eventually, the two former naval officers became friends, and Hanami also went into politics in Japan. He was elected mayor of Shiokawa in 1962.
Kennedy appointed several PT boat veterans to positions within his administration when he entered the White House in 1961. Byron White was a Navy lieutenant who investigated the incident and wrote the intelligence report describing the Navy’s findings in the loss of PT 109. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by Kennedy in 1962. The coconut on which Kennedy carved the cryptic message notifying naval authorities of his survival and the need for rescue entered the White House with him. It was encased in glass and wood, and was used as a paperweight on the president’s desk.
