There was no myth about PT 109. old Joe may have promoted the story, but his kid was stationed in a zone of heavy combat in a small boat whose task was to attack large ships. Lots of them were sunk and lots of their sailors were lost in the AO that the guys son was serving in. The boat was in fact rammed at night, probably by accident, by a Japanese ship. Two crew were killed immediately and Kennedy managed to keep the rest of the crew together and they swam to a small uninhabited island that had neither water or food. Kennedy decided to swim to another distant island for help across several miles of shark infested waters. His effort was successful and the crew was rescued.The truth is difficult to find in a military situation. Only a few might be around to verify or attest to the act. The military tries but its not like a baseball player where the acts have been visible to many for some time. Until we find a better method maybe it is still best for the military to be the judge and their award as the best evidence. It is a shame for a serviceman to commit a brave act and have it shot down later by politicians because the act threatens their political ambitions.The truth is easy to find but you have to get beyond the media spin.Where does this story come from?First of all nobody wants to second guess the heroism of WW2 Veterans or Veterans of any other conflict ....unless the heroism is the basis of a political career. Then it becomes a legitimate subject for dissection and discussion. After being busted out of a cushy job in Naval Intelligence for allegedly fraternizing with a female Nazi agent old Joe Kennedy pulled some strings and his son was reassigned to the PT Boats even though he suffered from a congenital painful back problem requiring constant medication. Apparently the young skipper ran a loose command. P.T. Boats were fast and maneuverable and built for quick hit and run attacks. While P.T. Boats suffered incredible casualties from daylight plane attack and gunfire JFK's boat was the only one to be run over by an enemy ship during the war while sitting idle in the shipping lanes in the middle of the night. The Navy wanted to Court Martial the young skipper for losing his boat until old Joe Kennedy pulled some more strings and hired a Hollywood script writer to romanticize the incident and publish it in some pop magazine and the Navy backed off.
It wasn't the Military that promoted the myth of PT 109, it was old Joe Kennedy and his Hollywood connections and later the "Camelot" infatuated media.
What part of the short synopsis of that account is myth? Why shouldn't old Joe brag about his son John? He bragged about his oldest son too. Joe flew the required missions as a bomber pilot in Europe and could have come home but he volunteered for hazardous duty instead and was killed while flying an experimental bomber on a mission to bomb Germany. The guy had two of his four sons in dangerous combat duty.