In Harm’s Way: JFK, World War II, and the Heroic Rescue of PT-109 Audiobook

In September 1941, young Jack Kennedy was appointed an ensign in the US Naval Reserve. After completing training and eager to serve, he volunteered for combat duty in the Pacific and was appointed commander of his patrol torpedo boat, PT 109.

On August 2, 1943, Kennedy’s PT 109 and two others were on a night mission to ambush an enemy supply convoy when they were surprised by a massive Japanese destroyer. The unsuspecting Americans had only seconds to react as the Japanese captain turned his ship to ram directly into Kennedy’s. PT 109 was cut in half by the collision, killing two of Kennedy’s twelve crew men and wounding several others in the explosion.

In Harm’s Way tells the gripping story of what happened next as Kennedy fought to save his surviving crew members who found themselves adrift in enemy waters. This exciting narrative is the first book to cover this adventurous tale for young readers.

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“[A] well-researched, dramatic account…[with] short, riveting chapters. The tension-filled narrative of his assignment to the Solomon Islands in 1943, his rescue of the PT 109 crew, and the later rescue by PT 59 of stranded combatants from Choiseul constitute half the book…Martin’s sympathetic, balanced rendering of Kennedy’s postwar career includes reconciliation with Japan, the two Melanesian islanders who played a determining role in the PT 109 crew’s survival, and the fate of each major figure in the story.”

— Publishers Weekly