PT-109 was a US Navy patrol torpedo boat commanded by
Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy during World War
II in the Solomon Islands.

His actions in rescuing his crew after the sinking earned him
a Navy and  Marine Corps Medal and contributed to his later
political career.             
         
        
   
     
       
         
     
       
        
       

PT-109, a film dramatizing this story, starring Cliff
Robertson as Kennedy, opened in 1963.

(FOX NEWS) – A team of researchers recently discovered a
historic bow that was blown off a World War II U.S. Navy
ship during a historic battle that took place nearly 83 years
ago.

The long-lost bow — which was torn off the USS New Orleans
in the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942 — was found
around 2,200 feet underwater in the Solomon Islands’ Iron
Bottom Sound, according to a news release from the Ocean
Exploration Trust.

The bow of USS New Orleans sits on the seafloor of Iron
Bottom Sound in the Solomon Islands.

The structure and stamps on the base of the anchor helped researchers confirm the identity of the bow.

On May 8, 1945, Great Britain, the United States and other Allied countries celebrated Victory in Europe Day. Cities in the U.S., U.K.       
and Western Europe, along with in the Soviet Union, Canada and         
Australia put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the         
Nazi war machine during World War II.

On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrendered
at Bataan, Philippines, against General Douglas MacArthur’s
orders—and 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000
Americans), the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to
surrender, were taken captive by the Japanese.

The prisoners were at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on
the southern end of the Bataan peninsula, to San Fernando,
on what became known as the “Bataan Death March.”

At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of
the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat and
kicked them on the way; those who became too weak to walk
were bayoneted.

Those who survived were taken by rail from San Fernando to
POW camps, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least
1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and
starvation.

Prisoners photographed during the march. They have their hands tied behind their backs.

Bataan Death March Memorial featuring Filipino and
American soldiers at the Veterans Memorial Park in
Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The west Pacific volcanic island of Iwo Jima was declared
secured by the U.S. military after weeks of fiercely fighting
its Japanese defenders.

The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese
defense of Iwo Jima in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25
bombers raided the island for 74 days straight.

When all was done, more than 6,000 Marines died fighting for the
island, along with almost all the 21,000 Japanese soldiers trying
to defend it.