John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. He was born in Brookline Massachusetts, to Rose and Joseph Kennedy. He was also the nephew of John Francis Fitzgerald, the popular mayor of Boston known as Honey Fitz. At the age of three John, known as Jack, was hospitalized for scarlet fever, which at the time was very contagious and deadly, he almost died. He remained in hospital for a month. In 1936 John graduated from Choate, a boarding school in Connecticut. While there he played tennis, basketball, soccer and golf. He was not the best student, although his principal was quoted as saying he was not performing to the best of his ability. Once he graduated, he was immediately accepted into Harvard, just as his brother Joe had been. While there he also played football, but suffered a back injury which took him out of football and affected him for the rest of his life. While he was in school, John's father was chosen to be the United States ambassador to England, which he accepted. This left John and Joe to fend for themselves here in the United States. In the summer of 1937 he went to visit his family in England and during the trip developed his interest in government and politics. When he returned to school he became more involved in school governance. He also became more eager to learn about government history and current events. In 1940 John graduated from Harvard. Immediately he and his brother joined the Navy. While in the Navy he was promoted to lieutenant (lieutenant). And he was assigned to the South Pacific as a crew commander. On 2 August 1943 Johns PT-109 was hit directly by a Japanese destroyer and torn to pieces. 2 of John's men died while the others managed to jump from the ship before the ship was hit. John was thrown into the cockpit, re-injuring his back, but he didn't give up. With a wounded back, he towed one of his men who had been seriously wounded and led the rest of his men to an island several miles away. Within days he and his crew were rescued. His brother Joe wasn't as lucky: a few days after John's accident, Joe's plane exploded during a dangerous mission in Europe. When he returned from the war, John received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his courage and leadership during the incident.