Special boat teams can trace their history back to the PT Boats of World War II. Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three rescued General Douglas MacArthur (and later the Filipino president Manuel L. Quezon) from the Philippines after the Japanese invasion and then participated in guerilla actions until American resistance ended with the fall of Corregidor. PT boats subsequently participated in most of the campaigns in the Southwest Pacific by conducting and supporting joint/combined reconnaissance, blockade, sabotage, and raiding missions as well as attacking Japanese shore facilities, shipping, and combatants. PT boats were used in the European Theater beginning in April 1944 to support the Office of Strategic Services in the insertion of espionage and French Resistance personnel and for amphibious landing deception. The PT boat was the primary platform for quick maritime mobility in the war. Other great American stories include the famed PT boat operations throughout Guadalcanal and the Philippine Islands along with famed Patrol torpedo boat PT-109 which was commanded by later President John F. Kennedy.