Bullet Points: PT 109

Ask any old timer that was alive when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and they can probably tell you where they were when they heard the news. November 22, 1963 was a different time, but there has to be a reason that date sticks with everyone for such a long time. John F. Kennedy was popular with the public well before that tragic event in Dallas, and even before his time as President and in Congress. Let’s take a look at Kennedy’s heroic time in the U.S. Navy aboard PT 109 in the aptly titled PT 109.

• Prior Tale – Don’t worry if you are unfamiliar with the history or background of PT 109 because it opens with a narration explaining the purpose of the PT boats. Basically they were smaller patrol torpedo boats (PT for those in the know) that could maneuver through the shallow channels near the islands in the South Pacific. Lt. (j.g) John F. Kennedy (Cliff Robertson) is arriving in the Solomon Islands and we are treated to a nice action set piece with the island getting strafed by some Japanese Zero and will quickly learn JFK is almost too good to be true in terms of attitude and aptitude.

• Pretty Trashy – There are no active boats for Kennedy, but instead of taking a non-combat engineer position, he accepts command of PT 109. Of course, PT 109 is about a ramshackled jalopy you will find. The crew assigned can best be described as rag tag, and as if the deck was stacked against PT 109, Kennedy and crew only have a week to get her into shipshape to meet the inspection of the stereotypical by the book commander. I love a good makeover on a deadline and it is a great way to show Kennedy earning the respect of his crew.
• Patrol Training – PT 109 is ready for open water, and we get lots of training and small missions that give the audience plenty of action. There is a particular good rescue mission of some Marines that is basically a one way mission due to lack of fuel. I would have never thought a stare down between an adrift PT boat, with no help from the tide, and Japanese soldiers on a beach could be so tense. The mission was a success, but not without casualties. 

• Part Two – A change of venue means more Zero attacks and a lot more naval action. Also Robert Culp shows up over an hour into PT 109 so that is always welcomed. It is at their new location that the crew of PT 109 will come up against their greatest adversity. And by greatest adversity, I mean a Japanese destroyer cleaving the PT 109 in half. Even though it was dark, you can easily tell it was a Japanese ship by the Japanese music the movie added. This certainly wasn’t the fault of Kennedy or the crew as it was a foggy night and the 109 was running a low speed to avoid sound and visual detection, which worked because the destroyer didn’t see them, but hampered the maneuverability. Two men were immediately killed and a few others seriously injured.

• Plum Pudding Travel – With the crew aboard a half floating sitting duck, Kennedy makes the decision to swim for the nearest safe island. Plum Pudding Island is only 3½ miles away, or you know, just a four hour swim in open water. Kennedy took the responsibility of carrying one of the severely wounded by dragging the injured man’s life vest with his teeth. Plum Pudding may not have had any Japanese but it also didn’t have any food or water. Kennedy, and later other crew members, make the decision to wade out into the channel at night waiting for an American ship to come. Spoiler alert, it never does. Kennedy decides they need to swim to another island. This one only three miles away.
• Party Time – Once on the next island, Kennedy does everything he can to keep morale up and quell talks of surrender. It is about this time a rescue would be nice. Enter two native canoe men. They don’t speak English, and the crew is unsure which side they are on, but that doesn’t stop Kennedy from carving a note into a coconut (along with water/food there was no stationary on the island). Luckily for Kennedy and the 109, the natives were running patrols for a volunteer Australian who was helping the American send messages. Rescue!

PT 109 is a fictionalized account of the true story of PT 109, and while not everything that happened in the movie was accurate, the 109 did sink in August of 1943. The crew, led by former Harvard swim team member John F. Kennedy really did swim over three miles to Plum Pudding Island, which is known as Kennedy Island today. PT 109 does a great job of showing the events and showing what made Kennedy an engaging leader. Cliff Robertson was supposedly the choice of JFK, which works even though he was too old to be the young Kennedy, and the rest of the cast fits perfectly. PT 109 was released on June 19, 1963, only five months before that tragic day in Dallas. I can’t end this Bullet Points on a somber note, here are some PT 109 Bonus Bullet Points.

• Favorite Quote – “I could chain up a monkey in a basement and get better results.”
• Crabby – My favorite “crew member” has to be the crab that was originally living on PT 109 that had his own theme music.
• TV Familiar Faces – PT 109 has several familiar Hollywood faces, but I love seeing people I know from TV like Norman Fell and Robert Blake.
• Favorite JFK Quote – Others might like the popular ones like “Ask not what your country…” or ”Let us never negotiate out of fear…” but mine was Kennedy’s response to the 140 minute run time of PT 109. “It’s just a question of whether there’s too much of it.”