PT 105

By: Dick Keresey

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Admittedly small and vulnerable, PT boats were, nevertheless, fast - the fastest craft on the water during World War II - and Dick Keresey's account of these tough little fighters throws new light on their contributions to the war effort. As captain of PT 105, the author was in the same battle as John F. Kennedy when Kennedy's PT 109 was rammed and sunk. The famous incident, Keresey says, has often been described inaccurately and the PT boat depicted as unreliable and ineffective. This book helps set the record straight by presenting an authentic picture of PT boats that draws on the author's experience at Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bougainville, and Choiseul Island. Action-filled, his account describes evading night bombers, rescuing coast watchers and downed airmen, setting down Marine scouts behind Japanese lines, engaging in vicious gun battles with Japanese barges and small freighters, and contending with heat, disease, and loneliness. First published in 1996, the book has been hailed for telling an exciting yet fully accurate story.

©1996 Dick Keresey (P)2017 Tantor

Great Audible narration of an interesting story

I enjoyed the book and the Audible narration was great. It was less about the action they encountered and more about the life of PT boat captain, Dick Keresey, during the war (which is still amazing). It does seem to reflect the reality of the PT boat life versus the glamorous one that is often depicted., but I liked that dose of reality.

A great first hand account of PT boat action

If you could sum up PT 105 in three words, what would they be?

Exciting Naval story

What did you like best about this story?

The author had a great experience with the PT boat's story from the beginning, and then was stationed throughout the war in key campaigns.

Which scene was your favorite?

Hard to say , from the trials and tribulations of training, to the battle accounts, they are all very good and the book flows almost as effortlessly and with as much excitement, as the its namesake boat in the title.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The author generated empathy in me as he told of a number of quite humorous incidents and with honesty and candor in the light it showed him.in and how the loss of friends affected him

Any additional comments?

The narration was one of the best I have ever heard in an Audio book You will think you're listening to the author extemporaneously spinning tales of his time in the war.

Phenomenal

Dick Kersey is an excellent author who gives great insight into a life of constant stress on the front lines. excellent narration makes this for a perfect audiobook.

A Great War story!!

This guy was a leader! A Great WWII story of a guy who just happened to work with JFK skipper of PT109

Firsthand account, moving, real, raw

Really enjoyed this book. Keresey was not a historian. He was a man who found himself in life and death situations. His account is honest and told from a human point of view. His rescue of enemy sailors is especially moving. May Dick Keresey rest in peace.

Well worth listening to.

Well written, well narrated,good story and captivating a sure enjoying narrative of the war and the participants

A unique contribution to an area of war literature

The pace of the telling here is beautifully handled. It has a sustained drive and a clear direction. As I read/listened to the book each page seemed to have been perfectly weighted for reader interest. The text gave me needed education about nearly everything related to PT boat fighting in the Pacific. I would add that I grew up in the period of John Kennedy's ascendency and so it was impossible not to have acquired much information about the small boat war.

I'd noticed in recent years that a denigration of PTs and their role in the conflict had emerged and seemed to have become predominant. I accepted this revisionism suspecting that JFK's appearance in American history had led to a natural inflation of the role of small boats in that vast fight.

I'd seen revision of the air war in Europe, the diminution of The Battle of Britain,and so much more over the years. I am not an expert and am a man of my times so I tended to accept the new critiques.

However, so many of these modern accounts and estimates were written in reaction to the early versions of WWII turned out to have less value than I had been led to believe. They were also often heavily seasoned with a newfound animosity towards the West and all of its works. Keresey put the PT contribution to victory in context with his first-hand understanding and long term study.

As an example, his discussion of Kennedy, a man that he served with and whose abilities he was in a position to asses rings true. He makes no more of Kennedy than he deserves, but Kennedy deserves admiration as do so many of his peers and fellow sailors. The amount of ink spilled on JFK is perfect and necessary and this is indicative of Keresey's presntation of so much in the book. From coast watchers to small unit USMC actions to the handling of POWs everything seems to be given its just weight.

I was very sorry to finish the book. The reader was also excellent. A problem that was present for me was the Obamaish pronunciation of the word corpsman. It is a conspicuous failure on the part of the editor and a very sad statement on the public's general knowledge of the American military

Highly Recommend!

Once you start, you will not want to stop. This book is written excellently and Sean Pratt’s narration is superb. The two bring it to life. Many of the stories are unbelievable and shared as one can imagine you would hear in conversation with a close friend. His brief story about “Coast Watchers” is both telling and amazing as I heard similar accounts from my Father who served in the Pacific during WW2. When you realize beyond the story it was another person’s personal experience, you realize it is another example how this generation’s sacrifice must never be forgotten.

Over the Bounding Main

Dick Keresey’s memoir of captaining the PT 105 is fantastic. I always love a good WWII Navy story, as that is where my father fought. Keresey’s stories are so authentic you almost get seasick. Sean Pratt’s narration is mellow.

Highly recommended I couldn't stop listening!

Well done all the way around. Outstanding storyline, good narration, great ending. I highly recommend.