PT109 SURVIVORS WAITED FOR RESCUE 71 YEARS AGO TODAY
Solomon Islands (JFK+50) The survivors of the PT 109 waited for rescue seventy one years ago today, August 3, 1943, after having been struck by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri in the early morning hours of August 2nd.
Australian coast watcher Reginald Evans reported sighting the sinking of PT109 and there was little hope that any of the crew were still alive.
Having failed in an attempt to flag down a rescue ship, 109's commander, Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy, swam back to the island where his surviving crew waited.
When JFK arrived...
"he looked skinny, bedraggled and exhausted. He had a beard. His hair was matted over his forehead. His circled eyes were bloodshot."
SOURCE
"PT109, JFK in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan*, McGraw-Hill, 1961.
*Bob Donovan was with President and Mrs. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 covering the trip as a political story. Ironically, he had previously written a book on presidential assassins.
"On the coast of Kolombangara,
looking through his telescope
Australia's Evans saw the battle
For the crew had little hope
Two were dead and some were wounded
All were clinging to the bow
Fighting fire and fighting water,
trying to save their lives somehow."
"PT109"
recorded by Jimmy Dean (1961)
lyrics by Fred Burch & Marijohn Wilkin
COOLIDGE SWORN IN BY DAD
Plymouth Notch, Vermont (JFK+50) 91 years ago this morning, August 3, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge, visiting his family home here at Plymouth Notch, was awakened by a knock on his bedroom door.
The Vice President's father, John Coolidge, had some bad news. President Warren G. Harding, he told his son, had died.
From that point on, things happened quickly. A special telephone line had to be set up so that the new president could speak with Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes.
Hughes told Coolidge that his swearing-in ceremony must be witnessed by a notary^.
Calvin's father, a notary public, would do the job.
^A Notary serves the public in matters of estate, deed, power-of-attorney and foreign and international business. Most in the U.S. are lay people who are required to have brief training.
Amity Shlaes writes...
"By kerosene lamplight, before a small group that included his wife and Porter Dale, a congressman...a new United States president was sworn in by his father."
SOURCE
"Coolidge," by Amity Shlaes, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2013.
Coolidge appeared on the front porch of his house at 7:20 a.m. prepared for travel. He first paid a visit to his mother's (Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, 1846-1885) grave, and then took the regularly scheduled 9:35 train out of town.
Solomon Islands (JFK+50) The survivors of the PT 109 waited for rescue seventy one years ago today, August 3, 1943, after having been struck by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri in the early morning hours of August 2nd.
Australian coast watcher Reginald Evans reported sighting the sinking of PT109 and there was little hope that any of the crew were still alive.
Having failed in an attempt to flag down a rescue ship, 109's commander, Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy, swam back to the island where his surviving crew waited.
When JFK arrived...
"he looked skinny, bedraggled and exhausted. He had a beard. His hair was matted over his forehead. His circled eyes were bloodshot."
PT Officers 1943
Jim Reed, JFK, Barney Ross, Red Fay
JFK Library Photo
SOURCE
"PT109, JFK in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan*, McGraw-Hill, 1961.
*Bob Donovan was with President and Mrs. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 covering the trip as a political story. Ironically, he had previously written a book on presidential assassins.
"On the coast of Kolombangara,
looking through his telescope
Australia's Evans saw the battle
For the crew had little hope
Two were dead and some were wounded
All were clinging to the bow
Fighting fire and fighting water,
trying to save their lives somehow."
"PT109"
recorded by Jimmy Dean (1961)
lyrics by Fred Burch & Marijohn Wilkin
COOLIDGE SWORN IN BY DAD
Plymouth Notch, Vermont (JFK+50) 91 years ago this morning, August 3, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge, visiting his family home here at Plymouth Notch, was awakened by a knock on his bedroom door.
The Vice President's father, John Coolidge, had some bad news. President Warren G. Harding, he told his son, had died.
From that point on, things happened quickly. A special telephone line had to be set up so that the new president could speak with Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes.
Hughes told Coolidge that his swearing-in ceremony must be witnessed by a notary^.
Calvin's father, a notary public, would do the job.
^A Notary serves the public in matters of estate, deed, power-of-attorney and foreign and international business. Most in the U.S. are lay people who are required to have brief training.
Amity Shlaes writes...
"By kerosene lamplight, before a small group that included his wife and Porter Dale, a congressman...a new United States president was sworn in by his father."
SOURCE
"Coolidge," by Amity Shlaes, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2013.
Calvin Coolidge
Sworn in by John Coolidge
Portrait by Arthur I. Keller
