He then, while being injured, swam and saved many of his fellow shipmates. He then swam to an island where he and his shipmates camped out. His shipmates and him hid out from the enemy and made contact with the natives of the island. The way they were finally saved was noting less then a miracle. Kennedy wrote a message on the back of a coconut. The natives then took the coconut and eventually it fell in to the hands of allied troops. A search party was then sent out and they were eventually found. When Kennedy came back to the U.S. he was treated like a hero. He had saved his shipmates from certain death. He later received the Purple Heart and the Navy .
and Marine Corps Medal for the bravery he had while dealing with this horrible occurrence. While being back in the U.S he had surgery on his back that he injured during the ordeal. While he was recovering he was able to leave the Navy and go home. He then re joined the Navy for a few more missions. Kennedy then became ill and was forced to retire form the Navy. He then went back home to his family and recovered from the illness. This is when his life would change towards politics (www.Whitehouse.gov).
The Kennedy family had a rich tradition of people in politics. The first step in Kennedy's run at politics was at the 11th District of Massachusetts. He won that election large amount and became a congressman of the state. This is where his popularity grew more and more. He started to be on the cover of magazines and in the news papers. Also during this time he met his future wife and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier. She also came from a very wealthy and popular family. They then fell in love and got married on September 12th 1953 in Rhode Island. Kennedy then went on to have three two year .
terms as the congressman (Chew 1). He then decided to run for the senate. He beat out a republican senator that was fifth teen years older than him.