On the night of August 1, 1943, 14 Allied PT boats left their base in the Solomon Islands on a mission to intercept Japanese boats. The allies divided into four squadrons, one of them PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy.
At about 2:30 a.m. the next day, a Japanese destroyer rammed PT-109, cutting it in half. Spilled fuel ignited on the water, causing other PT boat crews in the area to believe there were no survivors. In fact, two crew members disappeared and were never seen again. But 11 survivors, all wearing life vests, were able to board the remains of PT-109.
Despite the fact that he suffered a ruptured spinal disk in the collision with the Japanese vessel,
Lt. Kennedy, an outstanding swimmer, managed to tow to safety a crew member who had been severely burned and could not swim.
Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for the courage he showed in guiding his men from island to island, saving them from the horrific fate that awaited them if they had been captured by the Japanese.
In the two decades after that brush with death, Kennedy would return to the United States, where he would have a thriving political career culminating in his election as president in 1960. He married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, and on Nov. 27, 1957, his oldest child Caroline was born.
She was just five days shy of her sixth birthday when her father was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. A half century later, she became the United States ambassador to Japan
— the very nation that came close to killing her father in the South Pacific more than 70 years ago.
In a way,
Kennedy tells "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, the role of ambassador to Japan is a job she has been training for her entire life.
As the daughter of a president and a member of one of the country's most prominent American families, she has needed to develop diplomatic skill at an early age, Kennedy said.
"I feel that I've been representing my family legacy all my life," she told "60 Minutes" correspondent Norah O'Donnell.
While serving as a U.S. ambassador is an extension of some of that work, Japan's status today as one of the world's leading economic powers and a top U.S. ally makes the job "obviously much more important," Kennedy said.
She regards East Asia as a region of the world that is too important to be overshadowed by war, terrorism, and other crises in areas like the Middle East.
As Japan tries to deal with the reality of an increasingly aggressive, hostile China, Kennedy cautions the American people to remember that Washington and Tokyo have a security treaty in effect.
This makes the United States responsible for defending Japan. Today, Kennedy emphasizes the nation the United States destroyed on the battlefield in World War II is one of this country's top allies.
Currently, the Japanese are debating steps to strengthen their military capabilities.
What's being debated today "is the ability of Japan to come to the aid, for example, of us, if we are being threatened," Kennedy said.
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