From the bestselling author of Guadalcanal Diary: The thrilling true story of the future president's astonishing act of heroism during World War II. In the early morning hours of August 2, 1943, US Navy motor torpedo boat
PT-109 patrolled the still, black waters of Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands. Suddenly, the Japanese destroyer
Amagiri loomed out of the darkness, bearing directly down on the smaller ship. There was no time to get out of the way--the destroyer crashed into
PT-109, slicing the mosquito boat in two and setting the shark-infested waters aflame with burning gasoline. Ten surviving crewmembers and their young skipper clung to the wreckage, their odds of survival growing slimmer by the instant.
Lt. John F. Kennedy's first command was an unqualified disaster. Yet over the next three days, the privileged son of a Boston multimillionaire displayed extraordinary courage, stamina, and leadership as he risked his life to shepherd his crew to safety and coordinate a daring rescue mission deep in enemy territory. Lieutenant Kennedy earned a Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart, and the story of
PT-109 captured the public's imagination and helped propel the battle-tested veteran all the way to the White House.
Acclaimed war correspondent Richard Tregaskis--who once beat out the future president for a spot on the Harvard University swim team--brings this remarkable chapter in American history to vivid life in
John F. Kennedy and PT-109. From the crucial role torpedo boats played in the fight for the Solomon Islands to Kennedy's eager return to the front lines at the helm of
PT-59, Tregaskis tells the full story of this legendary incident with the same riveting style and meticulous attention to detail he brought to
Guadalcanal Diary and
Invasion Diary.