Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, the daughter and grandson of John. F. Kennedy, are recreating one of the famed swims the late president took to rescue fellow sailors while he was serving in the U.S. Navy.
“Eighty years ago, President Kennedy swum between Plum Pudding Island (now known as Kennedy Island), Naru Island, and Olasana Island — multiple times, at night — to save himself and his stranded PT-109 crew,” according to a Wednesday post on Instagram by the U.S. Embassy in Australia.
A day earlier, Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, and her 30-year-old son “swam the route between Naru and Olasana Islands to commemorate the heroism and perseverance of the President and his crew,” the embassy’s social media message said.
Kennedy’s rescue — he aided an injured sailor by pulling him through the waters with a life-vest strap — earned him a Purple Heart and a Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
Following his swim, two Solomon Island locals, Eroni Kumana and Biuku Gasa, helped Kennedy to reconnect with the U.S. Navy.
“It gave me a renewed appreciation of the heroism of my father and his crew, and the Solomon Scouts. It was so meaningful to do this with my son, Jack,” Caroline Kennedy said of the swim.
The mother-son duo reportedly swam about 1 mile of the 3-mile stretch that Kennedy did in 1943.
In a video posted on Instagram, Kennedy is seen exclaiming to her son as they approach the water and high-five, “Look at this! This is incredible!”
“The swim was pretty difficult, I will say that. And so I have a lot of appreciation and admiration for what my grandfather did and the perseverance it must’ve taken to survive,” Schlossberg said in a “Today” show interview.
“I’ve been training all my life for this moment. I’m so happy to be able to do it with my mother, who beat me in the race, I might add,” he added with a smile.
“It’s really a story of great courage, and skill and bravery on all sides,” Kennedy said.