KENNEDY-JOHN

Transcript of Service

29 MAY 1917 Born in Brookline, Massachusetts
OCT 1941 Ensign
10 OCT 1942 Lieutenant (junior grade)
1 OCT 1943 Lieutenant
MAR 1945 Transferred to retired list for physical disability

Awards: Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Valor, Purple Heart

Ships and Stations

Office of Naval Intelligence 26 Oct. 1941- Jan. 1942 Washington, DC

Headquarters, Sixth Naval District, 15 Jan 1942 - Jul. 1942 Charleston, South Carolina

Naval Reserve Officers Training School, 27 Jul. 1942 - 27 Sep. 1942 Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training 27 Sep. 1942 - 2 Dec. 1942 Center, Melville, Rhode Island
Motor Torpedo Squadron FOUR 2 Dec. 1942 - 23 Feb. 1943
CO Motor Torpedo Boat, PT 101 7 Dec. 1942 - 23 Feb. 1943
Motor Torpedo Squadron TWO Apr. 1943 - 21 Dec. 1943
CO Motor Torpedo Boat, PT 109 24 Apr - 2 Aug 1943
CO Motor Torpedo Boat, PT 59 1 Sep. - 18 Nov. 1943

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training 15 Feb. 1944 - Mar. 1944 Center, Melville, Rhode Island

Submarine Chaser Training Center, Mar. 1944- 30 Oct. 1944 Miami, Florida

Naval Hospital, Chelsea, Massachussetts May 1944 - Dec. 1944
As an ensign, Kennedy served in the office which supplied bulletins and briefing information for the Secretary of the Navy. It was during this assignment that the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. He attended the Naval Reserve Officers Training School and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center before being assigned for duty in Panama and eventually the Pacific theater. He participated in various commands in the Pacific theater and earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo (PT) boat.

On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's boat, the PT-109, was taking part in a nighttime patrol near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. It was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. Kennedy was thrown across the deck, injuring his already-troubled back. Nonetheless, he swam, towing a wounded man, to an island and later to a second island where his crew was subsequently rescued. For these actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal under the following citation:

For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War Theater on August 1-2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Kennedy's other decorations in World War II included the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in early 1945, just a few months before Japan surrendered.

(Additional Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy and http://history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-4.htm)