After his PT boat was sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, Jack—towing an injured crewmate by a belt clamped in his teeth—and the other surviving members of his crew swam to an island three and a half miles away. Four days later, he scratched a message into a coconut and asked two Solomon Islanders to take it to an Australian coastwatcher, which resulted in the crew’s rescue. In this photo, Jack examines the coconut with the rescue message. Palm Beach, circa 1944.