LF: EXCLUSIVE: 'My story about the collision is getting better all the time. Now I've got a Jew and a n****r...' How John F. Kennedy revealed his father exploited the PT 109 incident to make his son a hero and pave the road to the White House

Title: EXCLUSIVE: 'My story about the collision is getting better all the time. Now I've got a Jew and a n****r...' How John F. Kennedy revealed his father exploited the PT 109 incident to make his son a hero and pave the road to the White House
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... ero-pave-road-White-House.html
Published: Oct 7, 2015
Author: Caroline Howe
Post Date: 2015-10-07 08:39:46 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 1336
Comments: 2

That incident was the seven-day ordeal of the shipwreck of the patrol-torpedo boat he skippered, the PT 109, and the survival of the crew in the South Pacific in August 1943 during World War II.

But it was only with the marketing strategy of patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy, who hyped the story of PT 109, that his son won a seat in Congress that subsequently led to the Oval Office.

'Without PT 109 you have no President John F. Kennedy', stated Dave Power, longtime campaign aide to JFK.

Joseph P. exploited the PT 109 story and made it an essential piece of campaign biography where John Kennedy becomes a certified action hero, writes Fulbright Scholar and author William Doyle in his compelling new book, PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy, published by William Morrow.

The story of how PT 109 became bigger than life began when JFK went on a double date at New York's swanky Stork Club in February 1944. Kennedy dined with his girlfriend du jour, fashion editor Florence Pritchett and Time-Life correspondent John Hersey, who won a Pulitzer Prize the following year for his WWII novel, A Bell for Adano, and his wife, Frances Ann Cannon, a former Kennedy girlfriend.

On hearing Kennedy's account of his adventure in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, Hersey saw it as a magazine feature.

He wrote about it in a piece, 'Survival' and to his surprise, Life Magazine rejected the story that had gotten publicity the previous year.

Joe Kennedy, clearly dissatisfied with the limited publication that appealed to the American socially elite, wanted to find an outlet that would speak 'to the voting masses capable of propelling a Kennedy into political office, as the elder Kennedy foresaw.

'Then Joe Kennedy had an idea that proved to be a masterstroke' – an unprecedented condensation of the piece in the mass audience monthly, Reader's Digest.

'After a sustained pressure-and-charm offensive by Joe Kennedy…a deal was struck in June 1944 that would make John Kennedy a national hero', writes author William Doyle.

'For Joe Kennedy's campaign of family self-promotion, the Hersey feature was a perfect instrument.

'The article was not a typical propaganda piece of combat heroism, but an authentic meditation on human endurance against the primal forces of nature: darkness, the ocean, hunger and thirst'.

Joe Kennedy printed up thousands of copies and flooded key election neighborhoods with the account that overshadowed his son's lack of political experience.

This was his first step in the dogged pursuit of his eighteen-year dream to have a son in the White House.

That same year, Kennedy, in his early twenties, was traveling the world, had stopped off for a vacation on the French Riviera where he slept with actress Marlene Dietrich.

He journeyed to England, Ireland, France, Moscow, Berlin, Beirut, Damascus, Athens and Turkey. Then on to Cuba, Rio, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Peru and Ecuador – to name only a few countries and cities he visited while his father served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.

In London in 1939, John met the King and Queen of England and their thirteen-year old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, whom he quickly chatted up over tea.

'I think she rather liked me and now I wouldn't be surprised if she has a thing for me,' JFK wrote to a friend.

'The knee breeches are cut tight to show off my crotch at its best, and the uniform – worn by everyone but Dad at these court functions – seems to have caught the polite eye of the young heir'.

In 1941, Kennedy decided to enlist in the military and with his father's help behind-the-scenes, he was appointed as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

John loved sailing all his life and had his own personal sloop that he often sailed out of Hyannis Port.

He was fascinated by a 'motor torpedo boat' or PT (patrol torpedo) boat the Navy had put on display in the summer of 1941 at the dock at Edgartown, Massachusetts.

One of his heroes was Winston Churchill and he wanted to be as heroic as Churchill.

Joe Kennedy wanted to help his son so he targeted the popular American fighting man of the day, Lieutenant Commander John Bulkeley, commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 who had staged daring operations in the Philippines.

Bulkeley was assigned to boost the exploits of PT boats and a fleet of two 200 were to be dispatched shortly to the Pacific Theater.

After a meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Joe Kennedy's suite, Bulkeley agreed to his demands. Joe wanted to get his son into PT boats for the publicity and to get the veteran's vote after the war.

Bulkeley consented and in February 1943, John Kennedy was assigned to a squadron operating in the South Pacific.

He shipped out in March 1943 heading for the Solomon Islands.

In April 1943, Kennedy took command of PT 109, 'an 80-foot long, 56-ton, giant weaponized speedboat'.

He soon discovered that life in the combat zone of the South Pacific while scenically beautiful, was 'rich with cockroaches, rats lizards, sand crabs black flies, mosquitoes, malaria, dengue, dysentery, trench foot, tropical fever, and periods of unrelenting rainfall'.

Food came out of cans – Spam, Vienna sausage, powdered eggs, baked beans.

Coffee and cigarettes were the only luxuries. Aspirin and vitamin A pills were consumed in large doses to aid night vision.

Lieutenant Kennedy begged and scrounged for his adored Oh Henry! candy bars, real eggs, powdered ice cream, and bread and cheese for his favorite cheese sandwiches.

He promised lobster dinners in Boston in exchange for a case of fresh New Zealand mutton.

'The only thing PT's were really effective at was raising War Bonds', PT boat skipper, Leonard Nikoloric told the author.

'The PT brass were the greatest con artists of all time'.

The mission of the PT boats was to move in dangerously close to a Japanese destroyer in the Solomons under the cover of darkness and then attack with missiles -- vintage torpedoes that rarely hit anything when fired.

A life of service: President Kennedy enlisted in the US Navy in September 1941 after a medical disqualification by the US Army

All in the family: The Kennedy clan pose for a photo at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts in September 1931. The future President sitting top left

The PT crew then were to race away under the cover of the smoke screen produced by a generator on the back of the boat and escape being hit by the enemy's large destroyer guns.

Sinking Japanese troop and supply ships as well as shredding airfields, ships and planes was the mission while fighting in the Solomons.

With no radio communication, the PT boats worked in a state of near-total confusion which is what went down on the night of August 2, 1943 when PT 109 was lying in ambush for the Tokyo Express.

Separated from the other boats in his formation, 'PT 109 seemed to be drifting in its own universe', with Lt. Kennedy in command.

With no radar guidance or radio communication, the massive hull of a Japanese warship was upon him.

The destroyer Amagiri, cut through the PT 109 diagonally, knocking Lt. Kennedy down and sending him into the steel bulkhead.

Andrew Jackson Kirksey, who had a premonition of death and Harold William Marney, were never to be seen again.

Seven of the thirteen men were propelled in the blazing ocean, 'a shark-infested ocean punctuated by pockets of flaming gasoline, lethal fumes, and muffled shouts and screams, with their boat nowhere to be seen'.

Some gulped salt water and gasoline and believed they would ultimately die very soon and 'no one was coming to save them'.

The first night they were trapped on the 'fiery surface of the Pacific Ocean surrounded by enemy-held islands'.

They had no food, no water no radio, no life raft, no medical supplies and most were scattered over a wide debris field.

John F. Kennedy pictured with his Father Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. in December 1938. New book says he exploited the PT 109 story helping to pave the path for JFK to enter the White House

By sun up, they could see each other.

They clung to the overturned, unburned bow of the boat and on Kennedy's orders, fully exposed to Japanese pilots or lookouts, made their way to Plum Pudding Island that appeared not to be inhabited by the Japanese.

Kennedy placed the strap of badly burned McMahon between his teeth and carrying him on his back, swam to the small island three and one half miles away.

Exhausted when they finally arrived at the desolate island, they crawled on their hands and knees to take cover in the trees and bushes.

There were no land animals to hunt and eat, no nutritional plant life, no fresh water.

The island was a death trap.

Kennedy decided he would swim out and try to hail a passing PT boat.

He undertook the arduous mission but with the currents, ended up right back where he started.

The crew of PT 109 was eventually rescued when sited by Coastwatchers, native people who aided the Allies by hiding in difficult terrain as well as traveling a network with relief canoes.

They 'fed the Allies a constant flow of intelligence on Japanese movements'.

It was the Coastwatchers who found those eleven lost American sailors – all starving and dehydrated, on Naru and Olasana Islands.

The explosive new book claims JFK's father Joseph P. Kennedy exploited the PT 109 incident to make his son a hero

Kennedy was credited with holding his crew together during their post-crash ordeal as well as getting out there every night and swimming to find help.

'It was an operation for which Kennedy received no medals or special recognition … but his actions meant salvation for ten U.S. Marines'.

By November 1943, Kennedy was diagnosed with malaria, colitis, had 'chronic disc disease of the lower back', and was severely underweight.

His war was over in March 1946 after seven months in the combat zone.

Now his father went to work with his sights on the White House for his second to oldest son.

Joe Jr. had been number one son for the office of President until Joe was killed in action during a patrol-bombing mission out of London.

John said if Joe Jr. had lived, he'd have been a writer.

John Kennedy grew up in the shadow of his older brother, the leader of the pack of eight children.

The Kennedy children were raised in homes devoid of familial warmth while being chauffeur-driven around in Rolls-Royces.

'My mother never hugged me, not once', JFK recalled.

A family friend said the Kennedy children didn't have their own rooms with pictures on the walls, memorabilia on the shelves.

When they came home from boarding schools, they took whatever room was available.

Joe Jr. was a relentless bully to John. Bobby remembered lying in bed at night and hearing 'the sound of Joe banging John's head against the wall'.

Joe encouraged his sons to all get laid as often as possible. JFK said, 'I can't get to sleep unless I've had a lay'.

While briefly attending Stanford University, Kennedy said he was trying to get used to the co-eds and expected to 'take one out of the herd and brand her shortly, but am taking it very slow as I do not want to be known as the beast of the east.

Before the war as well as after – 'his dreams of adventure and conquest found an outlet in sex, a sport he appeared to pursue with obsessive devotion'.

'He possessed routine male promiscuity sharply magnified by near-unlimited wealth and mobility and striking personal seductiveness'…and 'women were drawn to him in battalions'.

Joe Kennedy was a 'ruthless businessman and investor who capitalized on his wealth to become perhaps America's premier social climber, an Irish catholic outsider who stormed the bastions of WASP aristocracy', wrote Jacob Heilbrunn.

PT 109 stowed on board the liberty ship SS Joseph Stanton for transport to the Pacific in August 1942

Enemy attack: Andrew Jackson Kirksey, who had a premonition of death, was never to be seen again

He was 'propelled by a hunger for family prestige, wealth, financial manipulation, deal making, and social and political power'.

He always knew what he wanted -- 'money and status for his family'.

Actress Gloria Swanson, his mistress before he abandoned her, said he 'operated just like Joe Stalin'. 'He'd write a letter to the files and then order the exact reverse on the phone'.

He was a master manipulator of money and people and excelled in games without rules.

One mantra he ingrained in his children: 'It's not who you are that counts. It's who they think you are'.

So when John came home, Joe went to work selling the mythology of PT 109.

When the 'Survival' story came out, one survivor said, 'Hersey made you sound like some kind of hero because you saved your own life'.

'JFK cracked privately to a friend about the story's universal appeal, 'My story about the collision is getting better all the time. Now I've got a Jew and a n****r in the story and with me being a catholic, that's great'.

Ted Sorensen said, Kennedy 'was neither a professional warrior nor a professional veteran'.'

Asked how he became a war hero, Kennedy told a young man, 'It was easy. They sunk my boat'.

Military service was highly honored, heroism even more.

In pursuit of his 18-year quest to have a son in the White House that began in '42 by getting John into PT boat service, Joseph P. doggedly went after buying his son that big chair in the oval office.

Bobby became campaign manager and according to Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., 'RFK was already a full-blown tyrant. You did what he told you to do and you did it with a smile'.

Joseph P. pulled strings, wrote the checks and gave advice.

He was essentially buying his son a seat in Congress.

Vice President Nixon had served honorably in the South Pacific, but his service was known for his poker-playing skill and management of a hamburger stand rather than combat heroics.

The backdrop of PT 109 was so powerfully reinforced in Kennedy's campaign materials that Kennedy had little need to refer to it himself, in keeping with his 'bashful hero' image.

When Robert Donovan wrote a book about PT 109, JFK told him, 'That operation was more f***ed up than Cuba' (and the Bay of Pigs).

It became the basis of the 1963 Hollywood movie starring Cliff Robertson.

Joe Kennedy personally negotiated that book option contract with Warner Brothers and stayed involved in the movie's development until a stroke incapacitated him in 1961.

Jackie wanted Warren Beatty to play her husband, but Beatty thought the project was doomed.

He was right. The script was 'agonizingly bad'.

Auditioning director candidates by screening films in the White House, President Kennedy said, 'Tell Jack Warner to go f**k himself'.

'Jack's life had more to do with myth, magic, legend, saga and story than with political theory or political science', Jackie Kennedy is quoted.

The film came out in June 1963, just five months before President Kennedy was assassinated.

All this, and more, was known from day one. Jack Kennedy was the original version of Bill Clinton and every bit as destructive to the nation.

Not true. JFK was happily working the DC embassy cocktail circuit during WW-2,and one of the women he was dating was a Swedish reporter that the Feebs were investigating as a Nazi spy and sympathizer. No less a person than Janet Hoover herself told him to drop the Swedish reporter because she was a spy,and JFK basically told Hoover to kiss his ass. MOST Navy Lt's back then that told Hoover to kiss their ass would have been busted to seaman apprentice and sent to the brig in Portsmouth. Not Prince Kennedy. He was sent to the Pacific to keep him from getting arrested with the spy if she were arrested,and for some reason he ended up commanding a PT-Boat. Most likely because no Captain wanted a prima donna with powerful political connections underfoot and complaining to daddy if he wasn't coddled.

The destroyer Amagiri (pictured) cut through the PT 109 diagonally during the attack on JFK and his crew

False. There was no attack on PT-109 and the crew. The TRUTH is that JFK was assigned to patrol an area where the Japanese Navy was know to cut through a "slot" at night to resupply and drop off new troops to Japanese garrisions. Instead of doing his duty,he cut off his engines,threw out a sea anchor so he could drift bow to the waves,and went to sleep with either nobody on watch,or the man on watch also falling asleep. While they were asleep the tide shifted and PT-109 drifted into the "slot",and the Japanese destroyer just happened to be passing through it at the time and ran the PT boat down without even knowing it was there. The ships log recorded the hit a "unknown object".

The truth is old man Joe tried to use his political power to exploit this into getting the Navy to give JFK a Medal of Honor,and the Navy wanted to court-martial him for dereliction of duty. The compromise was JFK ended up getting a lifesaving medal from the Navy for saving one of his men that was drowning,but no medals for bravery in combat and no awards for leadership.

After a meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Joe Kennedy's suite, Bulkeley agreed to his demands. Joe wanted to get his son into PT boats for the publicity and to get the veteran's vote after the war.

More bullbush. Joe's plan was to get Joe Jr,the son who was killed while piloting a bomber that exploded midair while attacking the damns where the Germans were trying to refine heavy water for their own atomic bombs,elected as president after the war. Joe was going to get HIM a Medal of Honor for volunteering for that very real and very dangerous mission,but Joe Jr died instead of surviving. JFK was the backup plan.

'It was an operation for which Kennedy received no medals or special recognition …

He didn't deserve any medals,and he is damn lucky he escaped the "special recognition" he did deserve.

Joe Jr. had been number one son for the office of President until Joe was killed in action during a patrol-bombing mission out of London.

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when itâ€™s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)