Look Who it Was Random video

Conversation with World War II PT Boat Veterans

2,546 views · Published 23 April 2014 · 1:19:03 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: GBH Forum Network · 2014 · Education

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Dick Keresey, Paul "Red" Fay, and Bill "Bitter" Battle share their stories of serving on PT Boats in the Solomon Islands at the same time as John F. Kennedy during World War II.  The torpedo craft (PT) USS PT 109, which was commanded by Lieutenant, Junior Grade, John Kennedy, was struck by the Japanese warship Amagiri in August of 1943, and sunk to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off the Solomon Islands.

This forum is the fourth in a series honoring America's Veterans as our nation celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II. In conjunction with this forum series, the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is featuring an exhibit, "JFK in World War II", which focuses on John F. Kennedy's military service in the US Navy in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, including his service on PT 109.

The Film 
PT 109 is a 1963 American Technicolor Panavision biographical war film depicting the actions of John F. Kennedy as an officer of the United States Navy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the Pacific theater of World War II.

PT 109 was the first commercial theatrical film about a sitting U.S. president released while he was still in office (although FDR was often depicted in small roles during his administration, most notably in Yankee Doodle Dandy). It was released domestically on June 19, 1963, five months before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_109_(film)

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