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Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
JFK rescuer speaks to Rotary Club of RM
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Photo by Andrew Greene
Rancho Murieta Rotary Club President-elect Rick Feldman (right) asks author Ted Robinson to autograph his book to be donated to the Cosumnes River Elementary School library. Robinson spoke at RM Country Club on May 26 about his experiences while serving in World War II with John F. Kennedy. Robinson was part of the rescue mission to save JFK and PT 109.
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By Sheri Barile
River Valley Times Reporter
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Rancho Murieta got a rare glimpse into the history of a past U.S. president and PT 109 Skipper John F. Kennedy when retired United States Navy Commander Ted Robinson spoke at a Rotary Club of Rancho Murieta meeting held at RM Country Club on May 26.
Approximately 70 people turned out to hear Robinson’s eyewitness account of the attack on Kennedy’s PT boat in the South Pacific during World War II, as well as his rescue days later from a small island nearby. Robinson was not only a part of the division that rescued JFK - he also shared a tent with the would-be president for two months after the rescue.
After his presentation, Robinson autographed copies of his book, “Water In My Veins: The Pauper Who Helped Save a President.” The book gives a full account of his WWII experiences, as well as all the details of the attack and rescue of JFK and Robinson’s personal observations of the man who became his tent mate and would ultimately become the 35th president of the United States.
The author has spoken on this topic more than 3,000 times in venues all over the country and recently donated some memorabilia from his experiences with Kennedy to the Smithsonian. Among the artifacts is a cane that Robinson lent while JFK was suffering from back injuries after a Japanese destroyer rammed PT 109. Robinson used that cane as a pointer during his presentation to RM Rotary Club last month.
Also donated to the Smithsonian were the original photographs Robinson and Kennedy took of one another during the two months that they shared a tent on Lumbari Island and the camera with which the photos were taken. The photos are featured on Robinson’s book covers.
Robinson, now 91, was just a 24-year-old Naval Reserve Ensign when he served as radar officer on the lead PT boat in a mission to stop five Japanese destroyers delivering major reinforcement of Munda in the Solomon Islands on August 1, 1943. There were three other PT boats deployed in his division, among them PT 109. Two other divisions of four boats each followed that first division –12 boats in total.
Using large maps for visual reference, Robinson shared with the Rotary Club audience the same account he wrote about in his book. He described what happened after the first four boats entered a narrow waterway called Blackett Strait on that dark, moonless night. “Getting through Ferguson Passage (to Blackett Strait) on that and subsequent nights always reminded me of getting through Macy’s front door on the day after Christmas sale,” Robinson said. “It was a real scramble.”
The retired commander and author described how his division was charged with laying a picket line across the northern-most end of Blackett Strait. But to do so, they had to cruise through Japanese float plane traps in the passage, which dropped a constant barrage of blinding parachute flares.
It was fairly predictable that once through the passage, the boats would lose one another, each in their own attempt to remain invisible while navigating in complete darkness.
In his book, Robinson voiced criticism of historians who he said have altered some of the events of that night. “These history rewriters will, of course, blame JFK, whose PT 109 became separated from us,” Robinson said. “Most of them, writing their books in nicely lighted rooms, have no idea how confusing it was out on the water at night, with no running lights and planes overhead dropping flares that temporarily blind you.”
Correcting for the audience some inaccurate accounts of the events that followed, Robinson shared what happened next. He said that he saw four pips on his radar and that they were large and moving too fast to be anything other that Japanese destroyers. After firing torpedoes on one of them, his PT boat made a narrow escape.
While starting their return to the PT base, Robinson saw a large explosion about four miles away. He said they had hoped that one of the PT boats had made a direct hit on a destroyer, but learned the next day that the explosion was the ramming of PT 109.
“JFK and PT 109 were missing,” Robinson said. “The skipper of PT 162 told us a Japanese destroyer coming at high speed roared out of the darkness and rammed PT 109. They said no one could have possibly lived through that massive explosion, so they left the area.”
However, a few days later, a native rowed ashore from a tiny island near Ferguson Passage with a coconut engraved with a message from JFK that he and 10 of his crew were still alive. It was Robinson that the native handed the coconut to, and he was subsequently included in the rescue mission.
Robinson said he was grateful that he accepted the mission because he was among the first to hear the firsthand account of Kennedy’s heroism during the aftermath of that attack, as told by the skipper’s surviving crew.
“Everyone was thrown overboard (upon impact) except Kennedy, who was at the wheel and the radioman who was standing next to him in the cockpit,” Robinson said. “The radioman told me that Mr. Kennedy jumped into the water and swam out and dragged his men back to the hull one at a time. Some of the men were badly burned, and JFK incurred some burns helping his men.”
The speaker and his topic captivated rotary members who attended the presentation. Rotary President-elect Rick Feldman said he received an overwhelmingly positive response. “The whole presentation was just gripping,” Feldman said. “He provided real insight into JFK’s character as a man, who could have chosen to captain an LMG (large mahogany desk) but instead volunteered to captain a PT boat. It showed his true character because that was considered a suicide mission.”
Rotary Club of RM member Vicki O’Shaughnessy agreed. “Mr. Robinson and his story were fantastic. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be in a war where just about everyone around you is being killed.”
Military history buff and Rotary Club member Larry Simpson said that Robinson’s presentation painted a vivid canvas of both the war and JFK, and that the way he did it reflected well on his own service. “(Robinson) is one of the last true heroes from WWII,” Simpson said. “He did a fantastic job of describing the tough conditions that they endured. And he didn’t praise himself, but praised John Kennedy’s heroism.”
Robinson’s book is available online at www.merriam-press.com and other popular online book outlets.
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Online publication, Copyright 2005, The River Valley Times.
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