24. The story of PT 109 has been distorted ever since
The loss of PT 109 was reported as soon as Kennedy and his crew were rescued. His role in the rescue appeared in newspapers and newsreels across the country. He and two officers, Ross and Thom, were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and Kennedy was also entitled to wear the Purple Heart as a result of the injuries he sustained. It remained, for the rest of his life, the public image of his wartime service, his later actions in PT 59 were all but ignored. In the 1950s and ever since his detractors blamed him for the loss of the boat and claimed his actions in the aftermath were exaggerated for political purposes. But none of the men who served with and under him joined in the negative claims.
Ensign Thom died in 1946 in an automobile accident. John Kennedy served as one of his pallbearers. “Barney” Ross served in the Kennedy Administration and died in 1965. Patrick McMahon, at 37 the oldest member of PT 109’s crew when it was sunk, died in 1990. For the rest of his life, he told the story of his commanding officer towing him as he led his men to safety, despite his frequent requests for Kennedy to leave him behind. As President, Kennedy occasionally visited his former shipmate when in Florida. In 2001 Gerard E. Zinser, the last surviving member of PT 109’s crew, passed away at the age of 82. Until he died, he kept a picture of Kennedy in his bedroom, always referring to him as “the skipper”.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Farthest Forward”. Dick Keresey, American Heritage Magazine. July/August, 1998
“PT Boats of World War II: From Home Front to Battle”. Article, National Park Service. Online
“Survival”. John Hersey, The New Yorker. June 17, 1944
“Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons”. Walter Lord. 1977
“PT 109”. Article, United States Naval History and Heritage Command. Online
“John F. Kennedy and PT 109”. Article. JFK Presidential Library and Museum. Online
“Operation Blissful”. Greg Bradsher, Prologue Magazine. Fall, 2010
“Luck of the Toss”. The Readers, American Heritage Magazine. October, 1992
“An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917 – 1963”. Robert Dallek. 2003
