On August 2, 1943, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri sliced through PT-109 in the darkness of Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands. Lieutenant John F. Kennedy and his surviving crew were stranded on a tiny deserted island behind enemy lines.
Kennedy, a strong swimmer despite his chronic back problems, towed a badly burned crewmate three miles to the island by clenching the man's life jacket strap in his teeth. Over the next several days, Kennedy swam between islands searching for food, water, and help, at one point traversing a strait known for its sharks and strong currents.
Two indigenous coastwatcher scouts, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, eventually found the stranded Americans. Kennedy carved a message on a coconut shell: "NAURO ISL COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT... HE CAN PILOT... 11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY." The scouts paddled their dugout canoe through Japanese-controlled waters to deliver the coconut, leading to the crew's rescue. Kennedy kept the coconut shell on his desk throughout his presidency—it is now preserved at the JFK Library.