Talk:Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana

Untitled
Here is the story from the guy's nephew!

http://thricehanged.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!CDB442DDCE5C376A!252.entry

August 02 PT109 revisted August 2nd 2006 is the 63rd anniversary of the sinking of the torpedo patrol boat PT109, and that reminds me of Uncle Biuku Gaza's story.

Biuku was my wife’s uncle, and a kindly old man.

Sadly, Biuku died late last year. Coincidentally we were told of his death on the anniversary of John F Kennedy’s assassination. That is November 22nd, which also happens to be my younger daughter's birthday.

For a very long time little was known about the role that Biuku and Eroni played in world events. Only very late in his life did uncle Biuku got a little of the fame he deserved. For a long time, though famous in Solomon Islands, the world knew nothing of him.

I am pleased that at last thanks to National Geographic, the world knows a little more about Biuku, Eroni, J F K and the coconut.

John F. Kennedy was assigned to PT 109 in April of 1943.

I don’t know what it says about JFK’s navigation skills, but PT 109 was cut in two by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri on August 2, 1943 in SOLOMON ISLANDS. Two crew members died, and others were injured, mainly by fire.

The survivors first came ashore on a small island known locally as Kasolo, or Plum Pudding island, nowadays often referred to as Kennedy island. Later Kennedy swam his men over to Naru island, which was larger, and provided more shelter and cover from the eyes of Japanese patrols, as well as coconuts for sustenance.

Kennedy personally assisted many of the wounded men across, making several trips. A heroic deed in shark infested waters.

Kennedy and his crew were rescued after Biuku came paddling by with his friend Eroni Kumana.

Kennedy called the two ashore and asked them to deliver a note to the nearest coastwatcher. Biuku refused to carry anything incriminating that might be connected to Americans, in case the Japanese searched him.

Instead, he offered Kennedy a green coconut and suggested that he scratch a message on that. He could hide it amongst a pile of other coconuts in the canoe and it would probably go unnoticed.

Biuku says that Kennedy patted his head, said he had a good brain in there and took the coconut. On it he carved the following:

NAURO ISL

COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT...

HE CAN PILOT... 11 ALIVE

NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY

Biuku and Eroni delivered the coconut and the rest is history. The coconut was kept in the oval office all through JFK's presidency and was then for a time in the Smithsonian. I understand it is now kept in the JF Kennedy Library in Boston.

What most of the world has never heard is the way it all seemed from the point of view of Biuku and his friends. Biuku was invited to JFK's inauguration but the bureaucrats in Honiara decided that such a junket was too good to waste on an ignorant local and sent someone else instead.

Kennedy wrote later to Biuku expressing his disappointment that they did not meet again. Until he died, Biuku keenly felt the injustice of it.

He received a medal. It was "borrowed" and never returned. The correspondence from JFK to Biuku was "borrowed" and never returned.

Biuku told us to whom he gave them but that person has not responded to our enquiries. If those items ever turn up on E-Bay or anywhere else, be aware that they should be considered stolen! They belong to Biuku’s family.

Whether you liked or disliked Kennedy, and his presidency, there is no denying that the world we live in might have been very different indeed had a certain Melanesian native not delivered a scratched green coconut.

Ils sont ces circonstances qui font les héros

There is a nice article, with pictures, here:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pt109

There was a movie about Kennedy’s adventure made in 1963, titled, reasonably enough, PT109.

Read about it here. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057393/

It does not mention in the credits, who were the actors who portrayed the two natives, Biuku and Eroni.

If anyone can tell me I will send the first to do so a full size print of their choice of one of my photos.

No, I am not conceited, I just can’t afford to offer anything else.

Email me at babbacombe-lee@ihug.co.nz That is now freshh2o@ihug.co.nzFreshh2o (talk) 20:54, 5 February 2008 (UTC) I have a recording of Biuku telling his story and photos of him for thse interested. I have put the recording onto a cd.

SEND ERONI AND GASA'S SON TO THE UNITED STATES
I'm the guy offering to send these guys to the US to get their just recognition. Contact me for more info. I can afford the airfare and putting these guys up in my house. Sending them to see the President and Disneyland will take a big letter writing campaign and fundraising. Watch the National Georgraphic DVD to see who these guys were. --Sugarcaddy 16:08, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:PT-109_%28boat%29"

PROFILES IN COURAGE
http://scootergrrl.com/ 7-6-2006 04:56:54 Extract from Profiles in Courage Here you go Phil. Extract from Introduction written by Caroline Kennedy.

"John F. Kennedy began his public service career as a PT-boat commander in the South Pacific in World War II. While on patrol on the night of August 2, 1943, the PT-109 was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri, and exploded into flames, throwing crew members into the burning water. Two were killed and one was burned so badly he couldn't swim. Clutching a strap of the injured man's life jacket in his teeth, Lieutenant Kennedy towed the wounded sailor to the nearest island, three miles away. For the next six days, with little food or water, the men hid, fearing they would be captured by the Japanese. Each evening Kennedy swam through shark-infested waters to other islands seeking help, until he was spotted by two Solomon Islanders, Eroni Kumana and Biuku Gasa. They picked a coconut, onto which Kennedy carved a message, which they took to the hideout of a nearby Australian coast watcher who arranged rescue. In the summer of 2002 a National Geographic Society expedition found that the legend of John F. Kennedy's courage lives on in the far-away Solomon Islands. Using remote-controlled vehicles with underwater cameras, explorer Robert Ballard and his team discovered the sunken PT-109. Expedition members met Eroni Kumana, the man whose simple canoe saved my father's life and changed the course of history, and his son, John F. Kennedy Kumana.

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0012/671751/7762096.html Man Who Saved President's Life Sends Him Letter MAIMDOU, WANA LA- GOON, BRITISH SOLOMON IS- LANDS (UPI) The silver letters on a U.S. dime may now be added to this coconut village's favorite real-life legend how Nebuchad- nezzar Biuku Gasa once saved the ife of a young lieutenant who grew up to be President of the United States. Biuku Gasa, paddling a canoe as 96.

http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/article/0,13673,503050815-1091374,00.html From TIME pacific Magazine, issue dated August 15, 2005 / No. 32 Monday, Aug. 08, 2005 A Friend in Deed Working with Coastwatchers, Solomon Islanders played a crucial role in the Allied victory - and rescued a future U.S. President

BY TOM DUSEVIC He and Kumana, who lives on Ranongga Island near Gizo, were invited by President Kennedy to his 1961 inauguration. But the pair never got to Washington; they were duped en route in Honiara, the capital, by colonial officials who sent other Solomons' representatives.

http://www.geocities.com/dangermakersresearch/Indexes/Ships/SeaHunters2/NamesAM.html Gasa, Biuku (Gizo Scout, rescuer of PT-109 crew) 384, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 400, 401-402 The Sea Hunters II: More Adventures With Famous Shipwrecks By Clive Cussler with Craig Dirgo Berkeley, 2004 (Paperback edition)

Indexed by Barbara Peterson

Sermon inspired by PT-109 http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kt3ikSRIBosJ:sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp%3FContributorID%3D%26SermonID%3D91874+Biuku+died&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=17&client=firefox-a SermonCentral.com (use browser's print feature to print out this page)

Borders, Boundaries and Illegal Immigration by Brian Buriff C. As A Footnote: For JFK And The Men Of PT 109 - Help Came From An Unexpected Source

1. Not from a US Warship passing through the area 2. But by way of 2 “Strangers”, “Foreigners” – native scouts from Solomon Islands area - Aaron and Biuku Gaza 3. Had they not come along – US History may have been very different.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19970406/ai_n10328573/pg_2 Solomons sprinkle the sea with history, stunning beauty Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The, Apr 6, 1997  by JANET FULLWOOD "As the story goes, Kennedy had to do some fast talking to convince the islanders that he wasn't Japanese. "White people, they all looked the same to me," Biuku Gasa, the scout who held a tommy gun on the man who would be president, is famously quoted as saying. "We have photos of these gentlemen who helped Kennedy. Some of them are still living around here and they love to tell the story," says Kerri Kennedy,"

reported as still alive by obit site
http://msu.edu/~daggy/cop/bkofdead/alive-g.htm Caskets On Parade ... Cumulative Database ... Still Alive: "G"

Solomon Islands resident Biuku Gasa   as a scout for the U.S. military made first contact with JFK (with partner Eroni Kumana) after the sinking of the PT-109 (August 1943) born on 7-27-1923 in Madou, Solomon Islands

http://www.pt109swim.com/The%20Results.htm "As Biuku Gasa, now 80, of Vavudu Village, Kauvi Is, and Eroni Kumana, who says he is 78, of Konqu Village, Ranongga Island, looked on, seven swimmers completed the 5 km circuit from Kennedy Island, by Naru and Olasana islands and back to Kennedy Island."

on ebay
SIGNED JOHN F KENNEDY JFK PT109 NATIVES WHO FOUND HIM Item number: 7770201411

Sold for:	US $174.99 Ended:	May-31-06 09:21:13 PDT Starting bid:	US $174.99

Seller:	assassinologist( 1147Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999) Description 	(revised) OFFERED HERE IS A FIRST DAY COVER (FDC) ENVELOPE POSTMARKED ON MAY 29, 1964 - THE 47TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY'S BIRTH - WITH THE 5 CENT COMMEMORATIVE KENNEDY STAMP - POSTMARKED FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND IT CONTAINS THE AUTHENTIC SIGNATURES OF ONE CREW MEMBER OF PT-109, MAURICE L. KOWAL AND.....AND THIS IS VERY RARE, BOTH SIGNATURES OF THE TWO ALLIED SCOUTS WHO RESCUED PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND HIS PT-109 CREW - BIUKU GASA AND ERONI KUMANA!!!!!!! ALL THREE SIGNATURES ARE SIGNED IN INK! IT IS VERY RARE TO FIND A FIRST DAY COVER WITH NOT JUST THE SIGNATURE OF A CREW MEMBER OF PT-109, BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, TO FIND ONE WHICH ALSO HAS THE TWO AUTHENTIC SIGNATURES OF THE NATIVES WHO FOUND THE SHIPWRECKED CREW - BIUKU GASA, ONE OF THE NATIVES WHO FOUND JOHN F. KENNEDY AND HIS CREW AND THE OTHER NATIVE, ERONI KUMANA - BOTH OF THEM ALLIED SCOUTS WHO DISCOVERED THE MEN! LOOK!!! SEE ALL THE PHOTOS! THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL CACHET ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ENVELOPE COMMEMORATING JOHN F. KENNEDY AS THE "FIGHTER FOR WORLD PEACE". ALL OF THESE SIGNATURES ARE AUTHENTIC!!!! IT IS VERY RARE INDEED TO FIND A MULTIPLE SIGNED FIRST DAY OF ISSUE ENVELOPE WITH THESE THREE AUTHENTIC SIGNATURES - GASA, KUMANA, AND KOWAL!!!!!!!! A FULL REFUND IF SIGNATURES PROVEN OTHERWISE. IT STARTS AT A REASONABLE PRICE FOR SUCH A SIGNED PIECE, AND I AM ALSO OFFERING A "BUY IT NOW" FOR THE COLLECTOR WHO MUST HAVE IT. WILL ONLY TAKE IMMEDIATE PAYPAL AS PAYMENT. DO NOT BID IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO PAY WITH PAYPAL IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS A RARE, RARE FIND, AND I AM RELUCTANT TO AUCTION IT, BUT I HAVE HAD MANY PRIVATE OFFERS FOR IT, AND THOUGHT I WOULD LET THE HIGHEST BIDDER ON EBAY OBTAIN IT. THIS WILL NOT LAST LONG - SO GET IT IF YOU REALLY WANT IT - NOW! PLEASE DON'T CONTACT ME TO BUY THIS OFF OF EBAY. THIS IS A FANTASTIC COLLECTIBLE FOR ANYONE WHO COLLECTS KENNEDY MEMORABILIA, ESPECIALLY FOR SOMEONE EAGER TO FIND ITEMS RELATED TO THE KENNEDY FAMILY OR WHO COLLECTS KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RELATED MATERIAL OR ITEMS OR THOSE WHO COLLECT PT-109 MEMORABILIA! CONSIDERING RECENT KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL AND FAMILY AUCTIONS, THIS IS A REAL BARGAIN! WHAT A FIND! I AM ALSO LISTING OTHER ENVELOPES WITH THE SIGNATURES OF PT-109 CREW MEMBERS AND ONE WITH JUST BIUKU GASA ALONE! CHECK THEM ALL OUT ALSO! SHIPPING AND HANDLING IS $5.00 WITH PRIORITY MAIL. INSURANCE IS A MUST! THIS IS FOR THE VERY, VERY SERIOUS COLLECTOR! "GOOD LUCK" AND "HAPPY BIDDING"!

The tv show looks like a Jeopardy video clue section to me.

http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/summer/pt109.html Arriving at Olasana, Kennedy discovered that the two men he and Ross had seen at Naru had made contact with the rest of the crew. The two men, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, were islander scouts for the Allies. Their hasty departure from Naru had left them tired and thirsty, and they had stopped for coconuts at Olasana, where Thom had been able to convince them that the crew was American. The next morning, August 6, Kennedy returned with Gasa and Kumana to Naru, intercepting Ross along the way as he was swimming back. The islanders showed the two Americans where a boat had been hidden on Naru. When Kennedy was at a loss for a way to send a message, Gasa showed him how it could be scratched into a green coconut husk. Gasa and Kumana left with the message—

NAURO ISL COMMANDER. . . NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT. . . HE CAN PILOT. . . 11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT. . . KENNEDY

— as well as a backup note that they got from Thom when they stopped at Olasana.

Cleanup
Not only does the whole "Death" section need to have all that first-person stuff removed, but a) the source probably isn't authoritative (an unverified blog post?) and b) what the hell is up with that dugout canoe sidebar? It's a canoe! "Displacement: two islanders?" What? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by S. Ugarte (talk • contribs) 18:19, 20 March 2007 (UTC).


 * Yep,I'm taking both out now. Lisiate 03:27, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Bias within the article
I really don't see how this part of the article can be included without bias, "This was a sad outcome for the two heroes, who had willingly helped U.S. forces with disregard to their own safety or wellbeing, and who had known full well what the retributions would have been if they had been discovered by the Japanese." I believe it should be removed since it doesn't provide any information except for the person who keeps adding it into the article's opinion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bab1147 (talk • contribs) 01:49, 24 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Agreed, taking it out now. I can understand the sentiment, but it's not fitting for an encyclopedia. --Benli1123 (talk) 17:19, 23 December 2021 (UTC)

Brian and Sue Mitchell
Who are they? The article never says

2601:600:A37F:F111:3547:4999:2681:D029 (talk) 06:54, 18 April 2020 (UTC)