JFK PT 109 Song

While listening to satellite radio on American Thanksgiving Day, low and behold, a song came on about JFK. It very accurately related the story of PT 109 and the escapades and rescue of JFK and his men. The sentiments in the song expressed the strengths of JFK and made me think about what the country lost and has never had replaced by presidents since.

At the end of the song the name of the singer flashed across the radio screen: JIMMY DEAN.

I'm wondering if you have heard of that song and if you could look it up on You Tube to listen.

Thanks for telling me about that PT-109 song which I didn't think I'd heard of until I tracked it down and listened on You Tube:

watch PT-109, by Jimmy Dean, YouTube

In '43 they put to sea thirteen men and Kennedy
Aboard the PT 109 to fight the brazen enemy
And off the isle of Olasana in the straight beyond Naru
A Jap destroyer in the night cut the 109 in two

Smoke and fire upon the sea
everywhere they looked was the enemy
The heathen gods of old Japan
yeah they thought they had the best of a mighty good man

And on the coast of Kolombangara looking through his telescope
Australian Evans saw the battle for the crew had little hope
Two were dead, some were wounded, all were clinging to the bow
Fightin' fire and a fightin' water, trying to save their lives somehow

Smoke and fire upon the sea
everywhere they looked was the enemy
The heathen gods of old Japan
yeah they thought they had the best of a mighty good man

McMahon the Irishman was burned so badly he couldn't swim
Leave me here, go on he said 'cus if you don't we'll all be dead
The PT skipper couldn't leave him, a man to die alone at sea
And with a strap between his teeth he towed the Irishman through the sea

Smoke and fire upon the sea
everywhere they looked was the enemy
The heathen gods of old Japan
yeah they thought they had the best of a mighty good man

He led his men through waters dark, rocky reefs and hungry sharks
Braved the enemy's bayonets, a thirty eight hung round his neck
Four more days and four more nights a rescue boat pulled into sight
The PT 109 was gone but Kennedy and his crew lived on

Now who could guess or who could possibly know
that this same man named Kennedy
Would be the leader of the nation, be the one to take command
The PT 109 was gone but Kennedy lived to fight again

Smoke and fire upon the sea
everywhere they looked was the enemy
But JFK and his crew lived on
Which proves it's hard to get the best of a man named John
(Big John, Big John, Big John)

While listening it all came back to me and I remembered hearing the song before (could even sing along to the chorus). It turns out, from a Wikipedia search, that PT-109 came out in 1962 when JFK was president (and I was 12 years old). Indubitably it would have been played on the radio alot in those days because it was a really big hit - by the same guy who did BIG BAD JOHN (a mega-mega hit I still listen to, it being in a DVD collection of GOLDIE OLDIE CLASSIC COUNTRY songs I play sometimes when driving).

The PT-109 Song was by Jimmy Dean about the adventures of John F. Kennedy and the crew of the PT-109. The boat was famous even before Kennedy ran for office because it was cut in two after being rammed by a Japanese destroyer, after which came a survival story, and rescue by native islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana by canoe, though the islanders were not included in this version of the story. In 1961 Dean had recorded Big Bad John, a song that would become his biggest hit ever, and echoed at the end of PT-109. It went to number one on the country and pop charts. He had five more top forty songs in 1962. PT-109 was his biggest hit in 1962, reaching the top ten as Kennedy was still president. It peaked at #3 on the country chart and peaked at #8 on the pop chart. It was one of the few military themed singles of the 1960s, along with the Ballad of the Green Berets, "Billy and Sue," "Gonna Raise A Rukus Tonight," "Sky Pilot (Part One)" and "Soldier Boy."

It's godcidental you heard PT-109 and I'll add it to the JFK section of the website. It's kind of an American version of the Irish ballads JFK loved - folklore passed down through the ages.