During WWII John F. Kennedy was stranded on a desert island. He carved a distress message into a coconut and managed to have him rescued. He later displayed this coconut in the Oval Office

During WWII John F. Kennedy was stranded on a desert island. He carved a distress message into a coconut and managed to have him rescued. He later displayed this coconut in the Oval Office.

During the war, a Japanese destroyer rammed his boat on the South Pacific. Kennedy swam over three miles to the nearest island. He even towed an injured crewmate by holing his life jacket by his teeth.

He and his crew members stayed on the island for two days and ate coconuts. They doubted that they’d get rescued from such a remote island, so moved to a bigger one. However, that was uninhabited as well.

While looking for food, Kennedy and a crew member spotted two Solomon Islanders. However, the two assumed that they were Japanese and paddled away. Fortunately, they met with the rest of those who were stranded.

The message he carved into the coconut shell said: “NAURO ISL… COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS POS’IT… HE CAN PILOT… 11 ALIVE… NEED SMALL BOAT… KENNEDY.”

Nobody knows how he got the message back. But, it sat as a paperweight on his desk throughout his presidency. 

Did you know of the several affairs that US presidents including Kennedy had? Click here to check them out!