Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana were indigenous people of Solomon Islands , of native Melanesian descent , who found John F . Kennedy and his surviving PT - 109 crew following the boat ' s collision with the Japanese destroyer " Amagiri " near Plum Pudding Island on 1 August 1943 . They were from the Western Province of the Solomon Islands . PT - 109 search and rescue . During World War II , Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana were tasked with patrolling the waters of the Solomon Sea near Gizo with Australian coastwatcher Sub - Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans , who manned a secret observation post at the top of Kolombangara island ' s Mount Veve volcano . Evans had spotted an explosion on 1 August , and later decoded news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost " PT - 109 " . On 2 August Gasa and Kumana were dispatched by Evans to search in their dugout canoe for possible " PT - 109 " survivors . Kennedy and his men swam to tiny Olasana Island and survived on its coconuts and fresh water for six days before they were found by the two islander men . The canoe couldn ' t accommodate all of the PT - 109 crewmen safely , and the islanders and English - speaking crew had difficulty communicating with each other . In absence of writing utensils , Biuku Gasa suggested that Kennedy should inscribe a message on the husk of a coconut he had climbed plucked from a nearby palm tree . This carved message , after rowing their dugout canoe at great risk through of hostile waters patrolled by the Japanese , was then delivered to the nearest Allied base at Rendova . They enabled the ensuing return to Olasana and the successful American rescue operation . Later years . Kennedy later invited Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana to attend his presidential inauguration in 1961 , but the pair was duped en route in Honiara , the Solomon Islands capital , by British colonial officials who sent other representatives instead . Another version of the story is that they were turned back by British officials at the airport . As far as is known , no one has since offered them a visit to the United States nor with any American president . Recognition . Another scout , Alesasa Bisili , wrote of his experience during the 1942 Japanese landing at Munda in " Scouting in Western Solomons " . He expressed sadness and anger over the unjust lack of recognition or award given to Solomon Islanders for their services during the war . However , in recognition of his help , Biuku Gasa lived in a house paid for by the Kennedy family ( $ 5k ) , National Geographic ( $ 5k ) and the balance ( $ 15k ) by Brian and Sue Mitchell . The BBC reference that the Kennedy family paid for the entire house is incorrect . The house was designed by Brian Mitchell in co - operation with a Brisbane - based Australian architect . Melody Miller , Senator Edward Kennedy ' s Press Secretary , was responsible for pulling all the parties together after being approached by Brian and Sue Mitchell . The Kennedys also constructed a house for Eroni Kumana . It fell down in the 2007 tsunami , but Kumana survived the storm . Gasa and Kumana were interviewed by National Geographic in 2002 , and can be seen on the DVD of the television special . They were presented a bust by Max Kennedy , a son of Robert Kennedy . The National Geographic had come there as part of an expedition by the " Titanic " wreck hunter Robert Ballard , who did find the wreck of the PT - 109 . The special was called " The Search for Kennedy ' s PT 109 " . In 2003 , a swim was organized to raise money for Biuku Gasa ' s community . Lives . Biuku Gasa was born 27 July 1923 , in Madou , Solomon Islands , and lived in Vavudu Village , Kauvi Island , in the Western Solomons . He went to a Seventh - day Adventist missionary school , but did not speak English well . After the war Gasa and his wife Nelma had six children . They lived off coconuts and crops . They also caught fish in Vonavona lagoon . Gasa was the local patriarch , as most of the residents are descendants of the " old man " – as he was known – and he rarely left the island . Gasa was still alive in August 2005 when the Pacific edition of " Time " magazine wrote that he was sick in the hospital . His children built a dugout canoe just like the ones the old man had made in his youth , to send to the United States " so they would not forget " . Biuku Gasa died on 23 November 2005 , the day after the 42nd anniversary of Kennedy ' s assassination . Eroni Kumana said he was 78 in 2003 , and would have been 18 in 1943 . Also schooled by Adventist missionaries , he still lives in Konqu Village , Ranongga Island . He is seen in National Geographic photographs with a hat and a T - shirt that read " I rescued JFK " . Kumana created a shrine with an obelisk to JFK , and appointed him honorary chief .