Kennedy volunteered for the US Army in 1941 but was rejected because of his troublesome past. Later in the same year the he was accepted into the Navy. He was accepted because of the influence of director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, a former naval attaché to Joseph Kennedy.His first assignment as an ensign was under the Secretary of the Navy. In this post he helped to provide information and bulletins to the Secretary. He was still at this post when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. Because of this event he attended the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and trained at the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center.From there he was assigned to a PT boat unit in Panama. Then he was transferred to the Pacific Theatre and completed many missions and battles. Because of these he was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.On August 2, 1943 Kennedy was taking part in a nighttime patrol near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was thrown around the deck injuring his back. Even with his injury he swam away from the wreckage of PT-109 towing a badly burned man by his lifejacket. He took the injured man to a nearby island and his crew followed. However they were later forced to move to a different island. After they were rescued Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.He also received the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He was then discharged honorably in 1945 a few months before Japan surrendered. His incident with PT-109 became very popular. He was also given a copy of the carved coconut that he had used to get word out of their predicament on the island. It proudly sat on his desk during his presidency.SiteKennedy in his uniform
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