#159: Castaway; JFK, Part VI

After PT 109 is ripped in two, the eleven men who miraculously survive spend the next four days looking for rescue before they die of dehydration and before the thousands of Japanese troops surrounding them become aware of their presence. 

This is also why JFK will have a coconut paperweight on his desk in the oval office.

Transcript

While Jack pulls the wounded McMahon through the shark-infested waters of the Blackett Straight toward Plum Pudding Island, the other survivors of PT 109 gather around an improvised flotation device they make from two-by-eight wooden planks salvaged from the wreckage. The nine men tie their shoes and a lantern to one of the planks and begin kicking and paddling themselves toward the small island in the distance. Mauer and Johnston, in particular, cling for their lives as neither knows how to swim… 

[RECORD SCRATCH] - Can I just take a minute to say how crazy that is - to work in and around water (particularly in the navy) and not know how to swim?! My very first assignment in the army was with a petroleum battalion in Okinawa. A group of soldiers in the unit had the job of climbing up the side of ships - over the open water - when they pulled up to the pier to transfer the petroleum into on-land storage tanks. When I found out that several of those soldiers couldn’t swim it blew my mind. I don’t recall any ladders leading from the water back onto the pier so anyone who fell would have had to swim several hundred yards to the shore. The non-swimmer would not have made it. Thankfully, no one ever fell. Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is if you work around water, learn to swim if you don’t already know how! [RECORD SCRATCH]

…during the arduous three and a half mile (about five and a half kilometer) swim, Ross lost his shoes (which he had slung around his neck rather than tie to the lumber) and Mcguire had to let go of the heavy tommy gun, which dropped away to the ocean floor nearly 1500 feet (or 450 meters) below.

Welcome back to Ghosts of Arlington. I'm your host, Jackson Irish, tracing the shadows of Arlington National Cemetery through the lives buried there. Today, how the survivors of PT 109 struggle to survive, and eventually find friends, only to face near-certain death. Thank you for joining me for Episode 159: Castaway; JFK, Part VI.

[INTRO MUSIC]

A lot of the better tidbits and anecdotes I have included in this series on JFK have come from William Doyle’s well written 2015 book PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy, including this one that really puts the ordeal into perspective:

“The longest Olympic swimming event staged before [this incident] - the men’s 4000 meter freestyle race - had only been held once, in 1900. Fourteen of the twenty eight competitors registered a result of ‘did not finish’ and the distance was promptly retired. On the afternoon of August 2, 1943, John F. Kennedy covered that same distance, plus a mile more, over open water, behind enemy lines, in broad daylight, fully exposed for four hours to any Japanese lookouts or pilots who happened to [glance] his way. All the while, he bit on to a strap and towed a badly burned sailor with him. Simultaneously, he was charged with leading nine other men, including several injured [and a few poor or] non-swimmers, toward safety. It was a performance Kennedy would rarely talk about publicly, but it was an astonishing feat that his crewmen would never forget. On [that particular] day, his leadership and example delivered them the hope, however slim, that salvation may be on the horizon.

By the time Jack lands on Plum Pudding island, he has been in the water for most of the last sixteen hours. It is 6 pm, and utterly exhausted, he collapses with his upper body on the sand but his feet still in the water and rests a while. His arms and legs are slashed and bruised from the coral he had to traverse to make it dry land and he vomits repeatedly because of the salt water he ingests towing McMahon.

Unable to walk, both Jack and Pops crawl 10 feet - about three meters - up the beach and take cover in some trees and bushes. The nine other survivors clinging to their makeshift raft soon join them. The group is trying to recover from the arduous swim when they are startled to hear an approaching engine. Peering through the bushes, they are horrified to see a Japanese barge slowly passing by, just a few hundred yards off the beach. 

Knowing they are practically defenseless, the exhausted Americans are relieved to see the boat pass by and continue on towards the much larger - and garrisoned - Ginzo island about a 15 minute boat ride away. Taking advantage of the little daylight left, the castaways slowly fan out, exploring their surroundings, but taking care to stay hidden behind the foliage.

This reconnaissance leads to one single conclusion - if they stay on this island, they will all die; the plants offer no visible nutritional value, the only game to hunt are birds that stick to the tops of tall trees, the few coconuts are unripe - Jack actually gets sick trying to eat one - and worst of all, this small 100 yards by 70 yards spot in the vast South Pacific does not have any fresh water on it. As night falls on the second day of this misadventure, the crew’s main dilemma is staring them in the face: how do we signal for a rescue without revealing our existence to the enemy? 

Realizing the full weight of their predicament, Jack understands he needs to act fast. They do not have the luxury of waiting to be rescued so he decides to do something several of the survivors deem suicidal and unsuccessfully try to talk him out of.

For the last several nights, PT boats have patrolled the nearby Ferguson Passage. Jack tells the men he will swim out alone - far out into the passage - with their signal light and try to make contact with another PT crew. As darkness falls, and armed only with a .38 pistol on a lanyard around his neck and the signal light, Jack swims out to see what he can find.

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

Back at base the morning after the battle of Blackett Straight several of the PT skippers ask to be allowed to return to the scene of the explosion to look for survivors but their base commander - the guy I mentioned a few episodes back who has no PT boat experience, who won’t go out on patrol with his men, and who no one really likes - forbids it, deeming it too risky to get that close to the large Japanese garrison on Kolombangara in the daylight looking survivors when, in his opinion, there weren't likely to be any. The skippers don’t fault their commander for saying a search is probably hopeless, but they do hold it against him that he won’t let them try.

There were two Allied coastwatchers - an Australian lieutenant and an American corporal - living high on a rugged mountain behind enemy lines on Kolombangara, supported by the local Solomon Islanders, spying and reporting on the Japanese. They had seen the explosion the night before and now that the sun was up, had reported that they could see wreckage on the water but could not make out any survivors. Survivors were still there, but binoculars they had couldn’t see them from the distance they were at. The coastwatchers did ask their native scouts to look out for any US sailors who might wash up on Kolombangara and to hide them from the Japanese.

While the PT boat captains try to move on and push the presumed-dead Jack, Barney Ross, Lenny Thom, and others from their minds, it seems that despite his order to forbid the PTs from looking for survivors, Commander Warfield hadn’t given up all hope - possibly spurred on by the coastwatchers’s report of floating wreckage, he dispatches several New Zealand P-40s to fly over the area. By the time they fly over, they spot the wreckage, but see no survivors. It is likely that by this time, Jack and his crew are hiding in the vegetation on Plum Pudding Island.

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

Jack stands alone in the dark on coral, partially submerged in the ocean, glad he decided to keep his shoes on this time. Looking for a better perch, he moves to a nearby sandbar called Leovara Island about a half mile to the southeast where stands a single tree and a patch of bushes. He then crawls and stumbles along a reef that juts into Ferguson Passage, hoping to hail a passing PT boat. Stopping periodically to rest, he cuts his knees and shins on the sharp coral, but after more than two hours, he reaches Ferguson Passage. He recognizes this swim as quixotic, but believes the alternative, staying on the island and doing nothing, is worse. As the commander of the stranded crew, he bears the responsibility for each of their lives.

In the end, there are no signs of friendly forces that night, which is probably for the best. Those patrols enter the passage on full alert and seeing his signal light is just as likely to get Jack shot as rescued. When he finally heads back to his crew, he ties his shoes to his lifejacket so swim better - he doesn’t plan on walking across coral as much on the way back - but sometime during the trek he loses his shoes to the ocean. When it rains, it pours.

And speaking of a metaphorical downpour, there is a strong current Jack has to fight on the way back. It completely exhausts him and he spends all night floating in a more-or-less circle. He passes Plum Pudding Island without the ability to land and drifts throughout the night semi-conscience. At sunrise, he realizes he has been brought back to the small sandbar and collapses. He sleeps late into the morning and finally makes his way back to his crew at noon. Bearded, hair matted, bloodied, and stripped of any sign of privilege, Jack falls into a heap on the beach, Lenny and Barney rush to drag him into the bushes where he immediately falls asleep again. He has now spent about 30 of the last 36 hours since the collision in the water.

Jack’s night-long swim was certainly courageous, absolutely desperate, and maybe even heroic, but it was also futile. It is still all things the next night when he tells Barney it's his turn to make his way into the passage. Somehow, despite the odds, Barney also survives a harrowing night alone, but also encounters no PT boats. They don’t know it, but the night after the wreck, Commander Warfield moved the patrols to another location. When he returns to Plum Pudding the next morning, he is just as beleaguered as Jack had been with nothing more to show for it.

By the third day on Plum Pudding Island, thirst is beginning to take a toll on the survivors. Aside from a few drops here and there, either from dew on guano-coated leaves [GROSS] or from a few short rain showers, the men have had nothing to drink since before the battle. But Jack doesn’t let the men dwell on it. Several recall later that he remained upbeat. He doesn’t let them sit around and mop, and at one point said quote: “We’re going to get back if I have to tow this island back!” They all say it is his leadership that keeps them going. However once, in a private aside with his two junior officers, he does express how furious he is at Warfield for not sending anyone to look for them.

Despite his upbeat aries, Jack knows their time is running out, Zinser’s burned arm needs immediate medical attention, and Pappy’s extensive burns might do him in if they become infected - though the salt water seems to be doing him good now, after the initial excruciating pain it caused.

From Plum Pudding, Jack can see another island - they will later learn it is called Olasana - about two miles to the southeast, closer to Ferguson Passage. It is a little bit bigger with a lot more coconut trees. The crew is leary of the long swim across open water, possibly in sight of the Japanese, but recognize there is no viable alternative. Like last time, Jack pulls Pappy with him while the rest cling to lumber from the wreck. But when they come ashore several hours later, they realize their situation has not improved. There are no Japanese on the island, but again, there is no fresh water and the coconuts make them sick. Barney tries to eat a little snail but his reaction to the taste scares everyone else off from doing the same.

That night the weather is too bad for someone to swim out to Ferguson Passage. In keeping with their bad luck, PT boats are in the passage that night.

The next day Jack and Barney swim to another nearby island - they decide to scout the area before making everyone move this time. To their great delight, they find a box containing some thirty little bags of Japanese crackers and candy and a 55-gallon drum of drinking water. It isn’t much, but it is so much more than they have had in days.

As they reach for the supplies the two Americans freeze in their tracks - two men out on the ocean in a dugout canoe are paddling directly toward them… [DRAMATIC PAUSE]

… it takes a few minutes, but Jack and Barney eventually realize the men in the canoe are dark enough that they aren’t likely Japanese. Unfortunately for the Americans, their sunburnt skin cause the native Solomon Islanders in the canoe to think the men they see staring at them from the shore are Japanese - possibly downed pilots; not wanting anything to do with them, the pair paddle off.

Seeing their possible rescue head in the opposite direction, the American’s hearts sink; but men in the canoe - teenagers really - are not ordinary Solomon Islanders, they are part of the larger Allied shore watching team. And something ordinary happens to one of these native men that changes the course of history; one of them is thirsty, he wants to grab a coconut for a drink, so on their way home, they stop at the usually uninhabited Olasana Island.

As Biuku Gasa wades toward the shore, he is startled to see a man crawl out from the bushes. He calls back to his companion, Eroni Kumana, that Japanese are on Olasana, too, and the two scouts move to push their canoe back into the ocean. Seeing this, the possibly Japanese man stands and calls to them in English, beckoning them to approach him. “No!” Biuku yells, “you’re Japanese!”

Using a mix of English and Pidgin phrases, the man tries to convince the non-native English speakers that he is telling the truth, but they don’t believe him. They board their canoe and push off, but a gust of wind blows them back onto the sand.

Another crewmember emerges from the bushes and tries to point out his white skin but it’s sunburnt hew does nothing to assuage the men’s doubts. It isn’t until Ensign Lenny Thom emerges from cover, with his striking blond beard, that Biuku and Eroni realize the men aren’t Japanese - now they think they’re German - until Lenny calls out a question, “Do you know John Kari from Rendova?” John is a prominent Solomon Islander scout instrumental in the rescue of many American pilots and sailors in the area.

Now convinced they are talking to Americans, the two scouts stash their canoe in the brush and are taken to the other crewmembers. Biuku and Eroni share some yams and cigarettes with the castaways. According to Biuku, the men of PT 109 are overjoyed to meet their potential rescuers; some cry, and those less injured approach and shake their hands.

Fearing it is only a matter of time before the Japanese find them, too. Lenny uses the stub of a pencil that radioman John Macguire has managed to keep in his pocket this whole time and scribbles a note on a peach of scrap paper someone had found on the island:

“To: Commanding Officer - Oak 0

“From: Crew PT 109 (Oak 14)

“Subject: Rescue of Eleven men lost since Sunday, August 1st in enemy action. Native knows our position and will bring PT boat to small island off Ferguson Passage and Naru Island.

“A small boat (outboard or oars) is needed to take men off as some are seriously burned.

“Signal at night - three dashes… Password - Roger - Answer Wilco.

“If attempted at daytime, advise air cover… Please work out suitable plan and act immediately. Help is urgent and in sore need. Rely on native boys to any extent.

“LJ Thom, Ensign, US Navy Reserve, Exec 109.”

As a personal aside - I love that Lenny used a formal memo format for his help letter.

It is getting too late to send Biuku and Eroni for help that night, so they decided to set off early the next morning.

While all this is going on, Jack and Barney find an old canoe on their island and paddle out to the Ferguson Passage in the dark to see if they can contact a PT boat. After failing to make contact they return to the supplies they have found, rig up the 55 gallon drum of drinking water to tow back to their shipmates, and Jack heads back to Olasana, while Barney waits where he is.

After midnight, the crew on Olasana are alerted by Jack shouting that he is about to make landfall. They call out to him, “[Mr. Kennedy, we’re saved! Two locals have found us!” Jack races ashore and embraces the two locals.

Biuku finds it easy to talk to Jack, because the American knows Pidgin well. Through this conversation, Jack learns that it was Biuki and Eroni that he saw earlier off the other island - an island he learns is called Nuru. 

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

As dawn breaks on the fourth day of the ordeal, the men on Olasana awake to find out one of them has guzzled all of the drinking water Jack brought over from Nuru. They all curse the man in the moment, but never reveal who it is to the wider world. The loss of the water reminds the men how precarious a situation they are still in.

Jack, Biuku, and Eroni return to Nuru to get Barney. There is another canoe stashed on Nuru, bringing the total to three. They can fit four men each, which is enough for the eleven sailors, but they are still forty miles - about 65 kilometers - inside enemy waters and few of the Americans are well enough to try to row that distance. The native coastwatchers needed to get word to the Allies.

Unaware of the note Lenny has written, Jack carves a short message onto a coconut: Naru island / Native knows position / He can pilot / Eleven alive / Need small boat / Kennedy. When Jack and Barney are dropped off on Olasana before Biuku and Eroni head off - they add Lenny’s message on paper to the coconut note (as a former commander myself, I can imagine Jack rolling his eyes at this point wondering why no one had told him of the note the night before) and the two coastwatchers paddle off. 

Now, all the crew of PT 109 can do is wait and hope two teenagers in a canoe can make it the fort miles back to friendly territory and deliver their message.

Long story short, but make it, they do. After traveling their first seven miles, the teens stopped at a small island called Wana Wana and ran into native scout John Kari - the same John Kari whose name Lenny had used to convince the scouts they were Americans and not Japanese or Germans. Kari joined the boys on their journey but not before getting word to Australian coastwatcher Reg Evans. 

Reg has just moved from Wana Wana to a smaller nearby island and sends a canoe back to Jack and his crew filled with supplies and a letter asking Jack to come to him. He has a radio, he will send the Americans a report of their survival, and then Reg and Jack and discuss how everyone might get out of this mess.

Reg does have  a radio, but it has just been disassembled for the move off Wana Wana. He works through the night and on August 7th, he is able to send the good news to Jack’s commander: “Eleven survivors PT boat on [Naru] Island. Have sent food and letter to senior [officer] come here without delay. Warn aviation of canoes crossing Ferguson."

The message has to be relayed through a few points and it arrives at the PT base about the same time Biuku, Eroni, and John arrive at a smaller US garrison on Roviana Island off New Georgia. There, the three scouts meet an artillery colonel and show him the letter and coconut. Communication being what it was in the South Pacific in 1943, Colonel Hill has a hard time passing the message on, but it is finally delivered and when it is, he is able to tell the scouts the navy has already dispatched a boat for the survivors. The colonel arranges for another boat to take the scouts to Rendova so they can meet the castaways when they return to their base. When he spies Biuku on deck, Colonel Hill sees the scout is smiling and is still holding the coconut.

Meanwhile, time is swiftly running out for the survivors on Olasana. They wounds are getting worse and severe dehydration is setting in which could trigger a dire cascade of medical crises. But they get a reprieve when the large supply canoe dispatched by Reg arrives with seven local scouts aboard. In his best king’s English, senior scout Benjamin Kevu announces to Jack, “On his Majesty’s Service… I have a letter for you, sir.” Amused by the colonial flourishes (the Solomons are a British colony at the time) Jack whispers to Barney, “You’ve got to hand it to the British!” It is likely these supplies save some if not all of the survivors' lives.

After food and cigarettes are distributed and a lean-to built to shelter Pappy, Jack boards the canoe with some of the scouts to go meet Reg. Jack lays on the bottom of the canoe and is covered with palm fronds - it's a good thing, too. The canoe is buzzed by Japanese planes but they fly off after receiving a friendly wave from Benjamin.

Late in the afternoon of August 7th, six days after the Battle of Blackett Straight, a barefoot Jack arrives at Reg’s new camp. Reaching out for a handshake the bedraggled man says, “Hello, I’m Kennedy.”

“I recall the day very, very clearly,” said Reginal Evans in 1961. “He looked like a very tired, a very haggard, and a very, very sunburnt young man. It looked as though he’d been through an awful lot.

“Come, have a cup of tea.” Reg beckens.

Next week on the Ghosts of Arlington Podcast, we will wrap up the story of Jack Kennedy and the PT 109 survivors - at least, I will try to wrap things up in a single episode - it may take two, because we all know happens to Jack, from his mediocre rise to fame in post-war America, to the White House, to that fateful November day in Dallas. But I would wager less is known about his shipmates - at least I didn’t know the rest of their stories.