World War II Chronicle: December 7, 1942
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American soldiers with the 509th Parachute Infantry and 1st Infantry Division are getting their first taste of battle with the Wehrmacht in Tunisia’s Faid Pass. A war correspondent tells the story beginning on page two… On page eight Lt. Col. John R. Kane gives a first-hand account of how the 98th Bombardment Group caught the Italians “napping” at Naples during the first U.S. raid on Italy. Kane — later dubbed “Killer” by the Germans — will fly 43 combat missions for a total of 250 combat hours in Europe, Africa and the Middle East
Sports section begins on page 14… Lt. Cmdr. Paul Clifford Smith, the 30-year-old former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, has resigned his Naval commission to enlist as a Marine Corps private (see page 38). While a cursory search netted Smith’s middle name and age, no details can be found on his service.
Today’s Naval Communique reports that a flotilla of motor torpedo boats, including PT-109, has turned away a force of eight Japanese destroyers attempting to resupply their stranded soldiers at Guadalcanal. PT-109 is currently commanded by Lt. Rollins E. Westholm, who will move to PT-112 and earns a Silver Star for an attack on an enemy destroyer in January 1943. Meanwhile the man destined to command PT-109, Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy, is assigned his first command on this day, commanding PT-101 until February at the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island. Westholm will move on to command the destroyer USS Bush and earns the Navy Cross at Okinawa.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 7 December 1942. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-12-07/ed-1/