Today is the 67th anniversary of the sinking of PT-109, commanded by President John F. Kennedy. I remember watching JFK’s funeral after Kindergarten one day and being so moved by the sadness. I also remember reading about JFK and PT-109 later in elementary school and being impressed with the JFK’s valor.

Till today, I never realized that PT-109 was simply idling in the water, not moving, and was struck (most likely inadvertently) by a Japanese destroyer that the PT boat was supposed to be looking for. JFK was a 2nd Lieutenant (my Dad called them 90 day wonders because how quickly the military trained and put them in command) and had his position due to family influence.

With two of his crew dead, JFK and several survivors began to swim about 4 miles to a nearby island. As a former swimmer at Harvard, JFK towed an injured crew member by clenching the life jacket webbing in his teeth while he swam. They survived on coconuts for a few days until they were found by two islanders in a dugout canoe. JFK managed to communicate that they were Americans and scratched a message on a coconut shell for them to take 35 miles through enemy waters to an Allied base.

Certainly JFK responded well to the catastrophe, though his lack of experience and inattention probably helped cause it. During his presidency, JFK told friends he didn’t deserve the medals he received since it was a botched military operation and two of his crew died.

Yet his war hero status helped JFK win his first congressional seat and later the presidency. So what’s the take-away for you and I? If we choose our parents carefully, they can provide influence and spin beyond our wildest hopes? That one may be tough, let’s consider another tack.

How about, learn to treat all facts with a bit of skepticism, understand that the complications of life vastly overwhelm our normal tendency to see things simply? Let’s try to live in a way to avoid the classification, “Being thought wise, they were fools.”