Water in My Veins - Ted Robinson

Merriam Press Military Monograph 73. Second Edition (March 2012). As the Radar Officer of the lead boat in the attack, standing next to LT Brandingham, the CO of the entire attack, LCDR Ted Robinson is probably the best still-living person to know what happened that fateful night of August 1-2, 1943 when JFK's boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. He was also one of some 12 men that went in on the boat that rescued him, and was the first to talk to JFK and his crew as to what happened during and after the ramming. A month later Robinson lost his boat and was to spend over a month with JFK alone in a tent when both were recovering. There he learned first-hand JFK's version of it all. The rest of Robinson's roller coaster ride through life is equally fascinating. His being partially brought up by the descendants of Adm. Sampson and the President of the Army-Navy stores during the Roaring Twenties. His being the poorest kid that ever went to Duke. His terrifying rescue of an Army group trapped behind enemy lines while Captain of an LST late in the war. Also his experiences while being the first American Naval vessel to be in drydock at Yokosuka Naval Base immediately after the end of the war while totally surrounded by recently damaged enemy ships. This, after surviving the greatest typhoon in history at Okinawa. Also, not to be missed, is his amazing experiences while on the major speakers circuit giving hundreds of speeches as Director of possibly the largest Executive Speakers Bureau in California. This is not just a military book but a history book as to what it was like winding one's way from the bottom of the heap to the top through the Twentieth Century. Contents: * The Ready Boat: How am I going to get out of this mess? Just an example of what World War II was like. * My Forebearers Were an Adventurous Lot: Linked to the sea, some of their water must have passed into my veins. * The Lamplighter. * Givin' Beats Gitten' Every Time: Grandpa Oelkers and the Great Depression. * "Poor Fish" Aunt Abby: And the little seafaring town of Thomaston, Maine. * Uncle Frank-The Odd Duck: The eccentric millionaire and his grounded yacht. * My Fairy Princess and the Major at Tara North. * My Dream Disappears: My surrogate Navy family, the Scotts. * My Duke Daze or The Phantom of the Campus. * Ginny Wray-My Little Ray of Sunshine: My collage sweetheart. * I Join the Navy to See the World: Midshipman's School to Guadalcanal via Panama. * Welcome to My War: PT Boats at Tulagi. * Respite in the Russells. * JFK and PT 109-An Eyewitness Account: The ramming and rescue of JFK. * JFK as My Tentmate: What he was like as a young Naval Officer. * Thirty-eight Days of Sheer Terror: The Munda campaign and how we eventually lost PT 118. * Safari Robinson Becomes an Expediter: From Lever Harbor to steeling reefer boxes on Guadalcanal. * Let the Good Times Roll: I return to Newport. Then on to Amphibious Base in Maryland. * Camp Bradford and Boston: I train for and become Captain of LST 1062. * Off to War Again: This time on a Large Slow Target. Norfolk to Panama to Hawaii to Seattle to Saipan to Okinawa. * The Rescue: An act of uncommon valor saves my ship during a typhoon under fire at Okinawa. * The Matthew Perry of World War II: My long journey from hate to love of the Japanese people. * Home Again-This Time for Good: Tokyo, Biak, Saipan, Los Angeles, New York & Newport. * Travails and Triumphs on the Way to Becoming a Speaker: From Santa Claus in Kindergarten to speaking in place of Governor Reagan. * Because of JFK I Become a Mini-Celebrity: Victories and vicissitudes on the major speakers circuit. * 68 photos * 3 maps.