John F Kennedy (CV 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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i 4 5 1 it ii fl tl it . li I I. I I i A l I r I L It ji. , . I I l :,,...... :f..'4,5 my.,--,. 'I I . . .. -,,, .qv .,-... ...,-.Q-.. I e--o-vv-..f.:.Z...f,,Pn.....unv!- by Q A. Q I John Fitzgerald Kenned ohn Fitzgerald Kennedy yy as born in Brookline. Nlassachusetts on Xlay 29. IQI7. the son olfloseph Patrick Kennedy and Rose lfitfgerald Kennedy. ln all. Rose would have nine children. four boys and live girls. .lohn was named in honor of Roses father. .lohn Francis Fitzgerald. the popular Boston Mayor who everybody knevv as I Ioney' Fitz, Before long. family and friends called this small blue-eyed baby. lack. .lack was not a very healthy baby'. and Rose made zt note of recording the childhood diseases he suffered from: whooping cough. measles and chicken pox. On February 20. I920 when Jack was not yet three years old. he became sick with scarlet fever. a highly contagious and potentially lite-threatening disease. His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy. was terrified that little Jack would die. Mr. Kennedy went to the hospital every day to be by his son 's side. and about a month later .lack took a turn for the better and recovered. But .lack was never very healthy. and because he was always suffering from one ailment or another his family used to joke about the great risk a mosquito took in biting him--with some of his blood the mosquito was almost sure to diel When Jack was three. the Kennedys moved to a new home a few blocks away from their old house in Brookline. a neighborhood jtist outside ofBoston. It was a lovely i house with twelve rooms, turreted windows, and a big porch. Full of energy and ambition, Jack's father worked very hard at I becoming a s u c c e s s f u I businessman. When he was a student at Harvard College and having a difficult time fitting in as an Irish Catholic. he swore to himself he would make a million dollars by the age ofthirty- five. There was a lot of prejudice against 14 . t . Irish t 'ttholics in Boston at that time. but .loseph Kennedy yy as determined to -. .At f succeed, .Iack's gicat gmiidpaicnts had come from Ireland and managed to proy ide for their families. despite many hardships. .lacks grandfathers did even better lor themselves. both Boston politicians. lack. bccatisc oliall his family had done comfortable life becoming prominent uld enjoy' a yery The Kennedys had everything they needed and more. There was alyvays something going on inthe Kennedy family home. By the time .lack vvas eight there were seven children - altogether, .lack had an older brother. .loci four sisters. Rosemary. Kathleen. liunice. and Patricia: and a younger brother. Robert. .lean and Teddy hadn't been born yet. Nannies and housekeepers helped Rose run the household. At the end ofthe school year. the Kennedy children would go to their summer home in I Iyannis Port on Cape Cod where they liked swimming. sailing. and playing touch football. The Kennedy children played hard. and they enjoyed competing with one another. Joseph Senior encouraged these competitions. especially among the boys. He was a father with very high expectations and wanted the boys to win at sports and everything they tried. He often said. When the going gets tough. the tough get going . But sometimes t Ii c s e competitions went too far. One time when Joe suggested that he and Jack race on their bicycles, they collided head-on. Joe emerged unscathed while Jack had to have twenty-eight s t i t c h e s . Because Joe was two years older and stronger than Jack, whenever they fought, Jack would usually get the worst of it. Jack was the only sibling who posed any real V --,..--Q, V threat to .loe's throne as the oldest child. The next in line yvcre girls. and Bobby and 'll y yy ere still too young to be anything ctltlh but pests. .lack yy as ycry popular and had many friends at Choate. a boarding school for adolescent boys in Connecticut. He played tennis. basketball. football. and golf and also enjoyed reading. His friend Lent Billings remembers how unusual it was that Jack had a daily subscription to the New York Titnes newspaper. lack had a clever, individualist mind . his Head Master once noted. though he was not the best student. He did not always work as hard as he could, except in history and English. which were his favorite subjects. l'Now Jack , his tather give the impression that I am a nagger, forf goodness knows I think that is the worse? thing any parent can be, and I also feel thafg you know if I didn't really feel you had th goods I would be most charitable in m attitude toward your failings. After experience in sizing up people I detinitel' know you have the goods and you can go 1.1 long way. . .lt is very difficult to make fundamentals that you have neglected wh ' you were very young, and that is why I at urging you to do the best yougcatyl am n expecting too much. and I will not n 1 ' . .. f - .nina - 1 I , Q T- .. . ., ,-.j..:dt,' '.-1.. F I-'13-'-. Q-.L..e.Ia'.f1..' are .---p.-a...-.-.- V ., --...f-..-........f---...-..-k .....-,... ---. V-p -'- wrote in a letter one day. I don't want to.-

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Jael. etgldtlllled llolllt lltlllle Llllti ill l-tio he started his lillsl yell r at ll.lrx .ll'ti. lt here Joe -.tp its Llll'CLltlX Ll sttltlellt, like his lmllller Joe. .lack -xk', , ' q :oo Llll LllllltQlC as Joe illll Ile had Ll lot ol' tlClCl'llllIlLlllOIl Llllti pelsex CI'LlIlCC. LllliUl'iLlllLllClf'. one day wllile pllll. lllu he I'LlIWItll'CLl Ll disk ill llis spine. Jack nel el' really reeot ered lltllll this accident Lllltl his back continued to bother llilll lor the rest ol his llle, The tw o eldest boys were attraetix e. agreeable. and intelligent young lllCIl and Nil. Kennedy had high hopes lor them both. lelowever. it was Joe who had announced to ex Cl'j'OllC when he was Ll young boy tllat he would be the lirst Catholic to become President. No one doubted llilll lor a lllOlllClll. Jack. on the otller hand. seemed SOIITCXYTTZII less alllbitious. llc was active in student groups Zllltl sports and he worked hard ill his history Zllltl government classes. though his grades relllailled Ollly average. Late in l937. Mr. Kennedy was appointed United States Alllbassador to Ellgland alld moved there with his wllole family. with the exception of Joe Zllld .lack who were at Harvard. Because of his fatllersjob. Jack became very illterested in European politics and world affairs. After his summer visit to England and other countries in Europe, Jack returned to Harvard more eager to learn about history and government and to keep up with current events. Joe and Jack frequently received letters from their father in England. who infonned them ofthe latest news regarding the conflicts and tensions that everyone feared would soon blow up into a full-scale war. Adolph Hitler ruled Gemiany and Benito Mussolini ruled Italy. They both had strong armies and wanted to take land from other countries. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded 1 l'lek wls 'l Skflllttl' 'lt orld Xhllli ll llC 'lIl liv this tillle s llarl ard and decided to write his thesis on the reasons why Cireat lililllllll was L1IlPl'CD21l'CLi for XXIII' witll Cierlllany. lt was so good that it was later published as a book called Why lifllgillllti Slept. ln .lLlllC I9-ill Jack graduated fro lll H a rva rd. H i s Father sent him a eablegram from London: TWO THINGS l ALWAYS KNEW ABOUT YOU ONE THAT YOU ARE SMART TWO Tl I.-XT YOU ARE A SWELL GUY LOVE DA D . World Urn' ll and .-1 F uture in Politics Soon after gllltlllllllllg. both Joe and Jack joined the Navy. Joe was a ilyer and sent to Europe. wllile Jack was IllLlLlC Lieutenant lllltl assigned to the Soutll Pacific as COllllllL1IlLiCl'OliL1 patrol torpedo boat, the PT- l 09. LT Kennedy ee Ilad a erew of twelve llltfll wllose lll i s s i o n was to stop the enemy Japanese ships liroln delivering supplies to t h e i r soldiers. On iKCllllCLly'S men. The others managed to -lump otl' as their boat went up in flames. Kennedy was slanlnled hard against the eoekpit. once again injuring his weak back. Patrick McMahon. one of his crewmembers. had horrible bums on his face and hands and was ready to give up. In the darkness Kennedy managed to find lliln Zllltl haul him back to where the other survivors were clinging to a piece ofthe boa! tllat was still afloat. At sunrise, Kennedy led his mell toward a small island several miles away. Despite his own injuries, Kennedy was able to tow Patrick McMahon ashore. a strap from McMahon's life jacket clenched between his teeth. Six dayslatet two native islanders found them and wil iii for help. delivering a message written on a piece ofcoconut shell day, the PT-109 crew was brother Joe was not so lucky. year later when his plane blew up dangerous mission in Europe. returned home, Jack was and Marine Corps Medal forhis and courage. With the war to an end, it was time to choose work he wanted to do. Jack had becoming a teacher or a writerr J oe's tragic death suddenly changed. serious with Jack future, - 'J Kennedy him that makehis and run M a s s district, in 1946. beginning ' political the dark years R lllglll of Kennedy August 2, servedthree l 943 LT the HOUSES . Kennedys l c r e w patrolled the waters looking for enemy ships to sink. A Japanese destroyer suddenly became visible. But it was traveling at full speed and headed straight at them. Holding the wheel, Kennedy tried to swerve out of the way, but to no avail. The much larger Japanese warship rammed the PT-109, splitting it in half and killing two of Representatives. PTT' in 1952 he' elected to the U.S. Senate. Soon after being elected senator, John F. r Kennedy, at thirty-six years of age, married twenty-four year-old Jacqueline Bouvier, a writer with the Washington Times-Herald. '