I'm Deborah Leff. I'm Director of the John F. Kennedy
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A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 1 DEBORAH LEFF: I’m Deborah Leff. I’m Director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, where I know many of you have been enjoying our special exhibit on JFK and World War II. On behalf of myself and John Shattuck, the CEO of the Kennedy Library Foundation, we’re really pleased to have you. And I would like to thank our Forum sponsors: Bank of America, Boston Capital, Lowell Institute and Corcoran Jennison. And our media sponsors, the Boston Globe , boston.com, and WBUR. This is really the most amazing forum today. When I told people that we were going to have a forum featuring men who served with John F. Kennedy in the Solomon Islands in World War II, they couldn’t believe it. But we have four remarkable such men with us today and we are deeply honored. [Applause] I want to begin by introducing you to the crew of PT 109, the famous boat which JFK captained. None of the men on the boat that evening that it was rammed and destroyed is still with us. But in the early 1960s, television host Jack Parr did a documentary on PT109 and the survivors of that fateful evening in August 1943 were in his audience. I thought you might like to see them. [Video Clip] A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 2 That last name you heard, Maurice Kowal of Grafton, Massachusetts: you know, we publicize this forum and one of the people who heard about it was Maurice Kowal, now of South Dennis, Massachusetts. He called us up, and we asked him to join us this evening. And Mr. Kowal, it’s a terrific honor to have you here. He served on PT 109 until three evenings before the fateful night, at which time he was hit with shrapnel. What is so special about tonight is that we will hear firsthand from those who knew well and served with John F. Kennedy in World War II. Listen, for example, to these words from an oral history in the Kennedy Library archives describing JFK in the Solomon Islands. And I’m quoting here. “Well, he was a young, lanky officer, bright, active, highly idealist, obviously intent on making the greatest possible contribution that he could. Always concerned about the welfare of his crew, this was one of his outstanding traits. And always concerned with the same, intense drive of perfection that he exhibited in his own self-discipline and his own administration. We all ate together, of course, when we were on the beach. And we all participated in whatever recreation there was, softball or anything that resembled sports. He was a very active participant. He was a vigorous swimmer. And he was quite an intellectual, too. He was always reading and involving himself in political discussions, historical discussions, any type of discussion that would develop his mind. As early as that he was intently training his mind for whatever lay ahead.” A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 3 Those words come from William C. Battle, the commanding officer of another PT boat and later the US ambassador to Australia during the Kennedy administration. We are honored to have Mr. Battle with us tonight. [Applause] As I mentioned before, on the very left, Maurice Kowal is with us. Mr. Kowal worked for the federal government during the Kennedy administration. Then later worked at the Minuteman National Park and was superintendent of the Kennedy Home in Brookline. [Applause] We are also delighted to welcome back to this library Richard Keresey, who was captain of PT 105 and in the same battle the night that PT 109 was struck. He wrote a wonderful book entitled, PT 105 . And after tonight’s forum he will be good enough to sign copies of that book in our museum store. It is wonderful to have you here Mr. Keresey. [Applause] And I can’t imagine anybody who was here a while ago for our fabulous forum with Paul B. Fay, Jr., known to most people as Red Fey, not coming back. He is such a delight. Looking out at the audience I see a great many family members and it is terrific to have all of you here. Mr. Fey, too, served with John F. Kennedy in World War II. And those of you who saw A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 4 our special exhibit and that picture in the very front lobby may have noticed that JFK.’s scrapbook features photographs with Red during that time. Mr. Fey went on to serve as Undersecretary of the Navy in the Kennedy administration and he authored a book about his close friendship with President Kennedy, The Pleasure of His Company . Mr. Fay, it is great to have you here. [Applause] And moderating tonight’s conversation, we are delighted to have with us David Greenway, foreign affairs columnist with the Boston Globe . Mr. Greenway served in the US Navy from 1958 to 1960. And before joining the Globe , he worked here and abroad for Time-Life and the Washington Post . He has also held positions of foreign editor, national editor and editorial page editor. So,now, please join me in welcoming these marvelous guests for this evening. [Applause] DAVID GREENWAY: Thank you very much. I thought we might begin this evening by setting the scene a little bit. And I’d like to ask Mr. Battle, what were we doing in the Solomon Islands? What was the Solomon Islands campaign all about? A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 5 WILLIAM BATTLE: Well, David, you remember -- I don’t recommend that people do remember but the fact that after Pearl Harbor, it was mighty bleak days. The Japanese were engulfing China and all of Southeast Asia down to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, heading toward Australia. And, indeed, they were firing on Australia from Fort Morebee(?) across the sound there. And so it looked pretty bleak out there. And we had no Navy after Pearl Harbor that we could risk, just leaving them out in the South Pacific. We had the Battle of the Coral Sea, which probably prevented, or they think prevented, the invasion of Australia by the Japanese from either the Solomons or New Guinea. The PT boat was the one instrument that had been developed quite rapidly after Commander Bulkeley and Kelly made such a record with it, fighting, holding action against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor in the Philippine Islands, and thoughtfully convinced the powers that be in Washington that the PT boat was valuable. And so the squadrons were developed, the boats were made at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne, New Jersey and at Higgins down in New Orleans. They were the only navy available. And I think that’s the way it was when we first got to Tulagi, which was right across the straight from Guadalcanal. I don’t think any of us here were there in the beginning of Guadalcanal, but we did get there before the campaign was closed. And the job was to stop the Japanese there and in New Guinea. We had an equal number of folks in New Guinea. And, unfortunately, none of those gentlemen are here tonight. A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 6 But it was all we had. And the job was to do what you can to stop the Japanese. GREENWAY: Mr. Keresey, what was a PT boat? I’ve heard all these stories. They were just made of wood. It must have been … Tell us a little bit about the boat itself. DICK KERESEY: I saw the first of Elco, 80-foot Elco boats being built in Bayonne, New Jersey. As a matter of fact, I took the first 80-foot PT boat, the 103 from the Elco boatworks, took it as part of the US Navy. It was one of the most humiliating experiences I ever had in my life. Because they sent me over there to take away the PT boat. I hadn’t gone through the first school at Millville. And I hadn’t the foggiest notion how to take a PT boat away from the dock. [Laughter] There were 40 people in my class, 40 officers. And the best I could do was watch over some guy’s shoulder as he took the PT boat away from the dock and put it in the dock. But that’s all I knew. They sent me over there. I expected some guy to come along and show me. I got over there. There was red and white bunting on the whole building. That should have given me a clue. I’d come from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and just told to go over there. The next thing, I walked into the big building where they were built. There was an admiral and a lot of other people like that, on a stand. And there was a Navy band. And they broke out in “Anchors Away” or some such. And I listened and the admiral gave a speech. And at the end of it he said -- I remember well -- He said, “Take it away, Navy.” [Laughter] And A CONVERSATION WITH PT BOAT VETERANS 6.27.05 PAGE 7 someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I realized they meant me. [Laughter] It was like a nightmare. I got on the boat. I saw the guy going down in the engine room to start up the engines.