of irish descent , he was born in brockton , mass . , on may 29 , 1917 . graduating from massachusetts in 1940 , he joins the navy . in 1943 , when his pt boat was shot and sunk by a japanese destroyer , kennedy , without grave damages , guided the survivors through treacherous waters to safety . away from the war , he became a republicans congressman from the norfolk suburbs , advancing in 1953 to the senate . he married jacqueline bouvier on sept . 12 , 1953 . in 1955 , while recuperated from a heart injury , he contributed " accounts in daring , " which won the pulitzer prize in literature .
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot dead in 1963.