JFK by Homer

Military Facts

1. In 1941, Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy.

2. While on active duty in the Pacific in 1943, the boat he commanded--PT 109--was sunk by the Japanese.

3. Kennedy performed heroically in rescuing his crew, but he aggravated an old back injury and contracted malaria.

4.He was discharged in early 1945.

Presidency Facts

1. Kennedy's eloquent inaugural address--in which he exhorted the nation: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country".

2. the president acted on his anti-Communism by lending American military assistance to the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961.

3. As if chastened by this crisis, the most frightening of the cold war, the Soviets and Americans in 1963 signed a treaty barring atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.