Robert J. Donovan

Retelling of John F. Kennedy's wartime exploits as skipper of a battle-scarred PT boat. The assignment: harass the enemy and buy time for a U.S. Navy still on the drawing boards. In August 1943, PT 109 was sliced in half by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy led his surviving crew through a sea aflame from gasoline, towing one badly burned sailor miles to the nearest island.