Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-C407-9-63
President John F. Kennedy (center left, wearing sunglasses) speaks by radiotelephone to the crew of the submarine USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619) from the deck of the United States Naval ship USS Observation Island (EAG-154), at sea off the coast of Florida. Left to right: unidentified military officer; Deputy Commander of the Submarine Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Rear Admiral Vernon L. Lowrance; Commanding Officer of the USS Observation Island, Captain Roderick O. Middleton; President Kennedy (wearing a windbreaker bearing the insignias of USS Observation Island and USS Andrew Jackson presented as a gift from the crews of both ships); Senator George A. Smathers (Florida); Director of Special Projects (USN), Rear Admiral I. J. Galantin; and two unidentified sailors. The President sailed aboard the ship to view a Polaris A-2 missile launch demonstration from the submarine. [See also MO 75.704, “United States Naval Jacket”]