Towed By the Teeth

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” – John F. Kennedy

As we all know, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born into affluence. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was a successful – albeit somewhat shady – businessman and politician. His mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was a socialite and philanthropist. JFK’s paternal grandfather was a state legislator while his maternal grandfather was both a U.S. Congressman and the two-time Mayor of Boston.

Befitting his social standing, Kennedy was educated at private schools throughout his youth and later studied at Princeton and Harvard. He graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Government, specializing in international affairs. After auditing some classes at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kennedy planned to attend Yale Law School, but he changed his mind with the advent of World War II.

In 1940, Kennedy tried to enroll in Officer Candidate School, but was turned down because of a chronically bad back. Less than a year later, he used his family’s political connections to enlist in the Naval Reserve, was commissioned an ensign, and assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington D.C.

By October 1942, Kennedy had been promoted to lieutenant junior grade and was placed in command of a series of PT (patrol torpedo) boats. In April 1943, he was given command of PT-109, which was based at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. On the night of August 1st, his boat was on its 31st mission along with 14 other PTs when it was rammed and sliced in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.

Set adrift with his remaining 10 crew members, Kennedy led them on a 3.5-mile swim to Plum Pudding Island. Along the way, JFK towed a badly burned seaman with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth. The next night, Kennedy made a two-mile solo swim to Ferguson Passage in a vain attempt to attract a passing ship. Two days later, he led his crew on yet another long swim (once again towing the injured seaman) to Olasana Island, from which they were rescued on August 7th.

Awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism and a Purple Heart for his injuries, JFK spent months in various military hospitals convalescing. Due to his persistent back issues, he was honorably discharged on March 1, 1945.

Kennedy’s choice of a life of service – and combat – reminds me on a young man named Moses, who preferred living as a Jewish shepherd to being a prince in Pharaoh’s palace. What sacrifices are you and I willing to make to serve God and further His kingdom?

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President