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John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; National Archives Records Administ…
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; National Archives Records Administration
Coconut Shell Bearing Rescue Message
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; National Archives Records Administration

Coconut Shell Bearing Rescue Message

Artifact IDMO 63.4852
Date 1943
Maker (35th President of the United States 1960-1963, American 1917-1963)
Place MadeSolomon Islands
Medium coconut shell, wood, polystyrene
DimensionsOverall H 3 in x Diam 7 in (7.6 cm x 17.8 cm)

Physical DescriptionCoconut shell with message from Lieutenant John F. Kennedy carved on surface. Message carved on coconut shell reads "NAURO ISL…COMMANDER…NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT…HE CAN PILOT…11 ALIVE…NEED SMALL BOAT…KENNEDY." The coconut shell is encased in plastic and mounted on wood to create a desk paperweight. Writing on the shell was enhanced by embedding the letters with carbon at the time it was encased in 1944.
Historical NoteOn the night of August 1, 1943, the PT boat commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy was sunk after being hit by a Japanese destroyer in Blackett Strait, south of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. Four days after they had been given up as lost, Kennedy and his surviving crew were discovered by Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, two indigenous Solomon Islands scouts working for the Allies. Kennedy carved the message into this coconut husk that 11 crew members were still alive and passed it along to two Gasa and Kumana, who carried the message to a nearby Australian coast watcher. The chance encounter with the islanders resulted in the rescue of PT-109's crew.

Joseph P. Kennedy had the inscribed coconut shell fragment encased in plastic and mounted to a wood base for his son. The object became a treasured memento, one that served as a reminder of a turning point in young Kennedy's life that would shape him as a man and a president. He kept it prominently displayed on the desks he used throughout his political career. The coconut husk was on the President's desk in the Oval Office on the day he died.


Additional Details
Custodial History NoteItem is from the personal collection of President and Mrs. Kennedy. It was donated to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum by the Estate of President John F. Kennedy in 1965.
Credit LineJohn F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; Gift of the Estate of President John F. Kennedy
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedUse Restriction NoteReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Exhibitions
On view
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