THE MOST IMPORTANT OBJECT IN THE JFK LIBRARY

MESSAGE ON COCONUT SAVES THE DAY

Cross Island (JFK+50) On August 6, 1943, Lt. John F. Kennedy along with two friendly natives, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, canoed to Cross Island to pick up Ensign Barney Ross.  JFK found a coconut and with his knife, carved a message on it and asked the natives to take it to the coast watcher on Wana Wana.

The message reads...

"Nauro Isl - Commander - Native Knows Posit - He Can Pilot - 11 Alive - Need Small Boat - Kennedy"

The natives canoed to Rendova Harbor 38 miles away with the coconut message...soon help would be on the way to rescue the survivors of PT109.

After the rescue, JFK managed to retrieve the coconut and later had it encased in wood and plastic. According to the JFK Library, "history does not record" how JFK got the coconut back.   It was displayed on his desk in the Oval Office at the White House and today it is on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.  

Dave Powers, JFK's Presidential assistant and later curator, said that it was the most important object in the library because without it all the rest would have never been possible.

SOURCES

"Coconut shell paperweight with PT109 rescue message," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/

"11 ALIVE...NEED SMALL BOAT...KENNEDY," Letters of Note, April 20, 2011, www.lettersofnote.com/

"PT 109, John F. Kennedy in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 1961, 2001.

"Why JFK kept a Coconut Shell in the Oval Office," by Kat Eschner, Smithsonian Magazine, August 2, 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/

JFK's Coconut Message Paperweight

JFK Library Photo

11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT KENNEDY

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2032

A COCONUT MESSAGE LEADS TO RESCUE OF JFK AND PT109 CREW

Cross Island, Solomon Islands (JFK+50) Seventy three years ago today, August 6, 1943, Lt. John F. Kennedy along with two friendly natives, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, canoed to Cross Island to pick up Ensign Barney Ross.

Lt. Kennedy picked up a coconut and with his knife carved a message.  JFK asked the natives to take it to the coastwatcher on Wana Wana.

The message reads...

"Nauro Isl - Commander - Native Knows Posit - He Can Pilot - 11 Alive - Need Small Boat - Kennedy"

The natives canoed to Rendova Harbor 38 miles away with the coconut message...soon help would be on the way to rescue the survivors of PT109.

After the rescue, JFK managed to retrieve the coconut and later had it encased in wood and plastic.  It was displayed on his desk in the Oval Office at the White House. Today it can be seen at the JFK Library.

Dave Powers, Presidential assistant and later curator, said that it was the most important object in the library because without it, all the rest would have never been possible.

SOURCES

"Coconut shell paperweight with PT109 rescue message," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/

"11 ALIVE...NEED SMALL BOAT...KENNEDY," Letters of Note, April 20, 2011, www.lettersofnote.com/

"PT 109, John F. Kennedy in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 1961, 2001.

Toy Replica of Coconut Shell Message

With "JFK" GI Joe Toy

Photo by John White (2013)

JFK's Coconut Message Paperweight

JFK Library Photo

COCONUT SAVED THE DAY FOR JFK AND CREW

August 6, 2013

COCONUT SAVED THE DAY FOR JFK AND CREW

Naru Island (JFK+50) Seventy years ago today, August 6, 1943, Lt. John F. Kennedy paddled back to his men on Olasana in a dugout canoe.  Barney Ross, who remained asleep, swam over later.

JFK, according to Robert Donovan, decided to send the two friendly natives, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, with a message to the PT Base.

Without paper or a writing instrument, Lt. Kennedy...

 "picked up a coconut and had Biuku quarter it."

JFK then...

"took his sheath knife and on a polished quarter of the coconut he inscribed the following message to the PT base commander:

'NAURO ISL - COMMANDER - NATIVE KNOWS POSIT - HE CAN PILOT - 11 ALIVE - NEED SMALL BOAT- KENNEDY'"

   Toy Replica of Coconut Shell Message
                With "JFK" GI Joe Toy
           Photo by John White (2013)

JFK had the coconut encased in plastic.  It was displayed on his desk in the Oval Office at the White House.  Today it can be seen at the JFK Library.

Dave Powers, Presidential assistant and later curator, said that it was the most important object in the library because without it, all the rest would have never been possible.

JFK's Coconut Message Paperweight
                 JFK Library Photo


The natives hastened to Rendova Harbor 38 miles distant with the coconut message...soon help would finally be on the way to the survivors of PT109.

SOURCE

"PT 109, John F. Kennedy in WWII," by Robert J. Donovan, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 1961, 2001.



ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA, JAPAN 68 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Harry S. Truman announced 68 years ago today, August 6, 1945, that the United States of America, at war with the Japanese Empire since December 8, 1941, had dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan.

The development of the atomic bomb came as a result of the Manhattan Project initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt who died on April 12, 1945 leaving the final decision on using atomic weapons with his successor.

The A-bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay, a B-29 piloted by Paul Tibbets*.

                 Paul Tibbets*
      Waves Prior to Bombing

Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. (1915-2007) was born in Illinois and moved with his family to Miami, Florida as a youth.  He graduated from Western Military Academy in 1933 and attended the Universities of Florida and Cincinnati.

Tibbets enlisted in the US Army and qualified for the Aviation Cadet Program.

After being selected for the Manhattan Project, Tibbets named his B29 bomber 'Enola Gay' in honor of his mother.

Tibbets became a USAF Brigadier General in 1964 and retired from the service in 1987.  Two years before his death, he told the BBC...

"I'm not emotional....I did the job and I was so relieved that it was successful."

                 BGEN Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.
             Photo by MSGT Jim Varhegyi
              Dept of Defense Image (2003)

The bomb detonated 1900 feet above the city at 8:15 a.m. local time.

It was estimated that the radius of total destruction extended 1 mile with 69% of the city's buildings destroyed.

70,000 to 80,000 people were killed with 170,000 more injured.

President Truman issued the following statement in his announcement of the use of the atomic bomb on Japan:

"If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like which has never been seen on this earth."

                Ruins of Hiroshima 
                        August 1945



VOTING RIGHTS ACT SIGNED INTO LAW BY LBJ 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law 48 years ago today, August 6, 1965.

The Voting Rights Act prohibits discriminatory voting practices which had been adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests, as a prerequisite to voting.

Attending the signing ceremony were civil rights leaders and activists including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

By the end of 1965, 250,000 new black voters had been registered, one-third by federal examiners.

SOURCE

 www.ourdocuments.gov

LBJ Congratulates Civil Rights Leaders
      Signing of the Voting Rights Act
          Photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto

US DROPS ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA

August 6, 1945


US DROPS ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Harry S. Truman announced today the United States has dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan.


The development of the atomic bomb came as a result of the Manhattan Project initiated by the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt.


The A-bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay, a B-29 piloted by Paul Tibbets.

                 Paul Tibbets
      Waves Prior to Bombing*


*Tibbets, from Nashville, Tennessee, named the B29 for his mother.


The bomb detonated 1900 feet above the city at 8:15 a.m. local time.


It is estimated that the radius of total destruction extended 1 mile with 69% of the city's buildings destroyed.


70,000 to 80,000 people are believed to be dead with 170,000 more injured.


President Truman issued the following statement in his announcement of the use of the atomic bomb on Japan:


"If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like which has never been seen on this earth."

                Ruins of Hiroshima 
                        August 1945


August 6, 1943


JFK CARVES MESSAGE ON COCONUT


Cross Island, Solomon Islands (JFK+50) Lt. John F. Kennedy along with 2 friendly natives named Biuku Gasa & Eroni Kumana canoed to Cross Island today to pick up Barney Ross.


Lt. Kennedy picked up a coconut & with his knife carved a message & asked the natives to take it to the coastwatcher on Wana Wana.


The message reads:


"Nauro Isl - Commander - Native Knows Posit - He Can Pilot - 11 Alive - Need Small Boat - Kennedy"*


*JFK had the coconut made into a paperweight & it was used on his desk at the White House.  Today it can be seen at the JFK Library.


Dave Powers said that it was the most important object in the library because without it, all the rest would have never been possible.

JFK's Coconut Message Paperweight
                 JFK Library Photo


August 6, 1962


SOVIETS EXPLODE 30 MEGATON BOMB


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The United States government announced today that the Soviet Union has detonated a 30 megaton atomic bomb above the Arctic Ocean.


Ironically, today marks the 17th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.


August 6, 1965


LBJ SIGNS VOTING RIGHTS ACT


Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 today which outlaws discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests, as a prerequisite to voting.*


Attending the signing ceremony were civil rights leaders & activists including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Rosa Parks.*


*By the end of 1965, 250,000 new black voters had been registered, 1/3 by federal examiners.


source: www.ourdocuments.gov

LBJ Congratulates Civil Rights Leaders
      Signing of the Voting Rights Act
          Photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto


August 6, 1926


GERTRUDE EDERLE BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN TO SWIM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL


Dover, England (JFK+50) Gertrude Ederle, a 21 year old American swimmer who won the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, became the 1st woman in history today to swim the English Channel.


Ederle, born in New York City, completed the swim from Cape Griz-Nez in France to Dover, England in 14 hours & 31 minutes.

        
                    Gertrude Ederle
            German Federal Archive
                               1930


August 6, 1915


ANZAC FORCES LAND AT SUVLA BAY


Suvla Bay, Aegean Sea (JFK+50) Australian & New Zealand Army Corps forces made landings today under Sir Frederick Stopford at Suvla Bay on the Aegean Sea.

              
                         Suvla Bay
          German Federal Archive


The attack, made against German & Turkish forces on the Gallipoli peninsula, resulted in nearly 20,000 Allied casualties.*


*The term "ANZAC" originated with the landings at Suvla Bay.  Later when Aussie soldiers were fighting in France, they became known as "Diggers".

   FOR THE FALLEN:  THE ODE
     by Laurence Binyon (1914)


They went with songs to the Battle
They were young, Straight of Limb,
True of eyes, steady & aglow,
They were staunch to the end
against odds uncounted.
They fell with their faces to the foe
They shall not grow old
As we are left to grow old
Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember-Lest we forget.




source: www.gruntsview.org