World War II
Knights of the Sea

IN THE BEGINNING

P T Boats, Inc. was founded by Jimmy "Boats" Newberry, a prominent business man in Memphis, Tennessee, who was also a WW II PT boat veteran.  PT Boats was chartered in 1967 as a non profit historical and educational corporation, and is approved by the IRS for tax deductible contributions. Prior to incorporation, this organization started in 1946 as a hobby and a way that Mr. Newberry could keep in touch with former squadron (RON 9) members.  He began a mimeographed Christmas letter to keep his fellow friends informed about squadron news.  To his surprise, other PT veterans heard about this and wanted to be involved.  Before long, it grew into a 20 page newsletter, "PT Boat All Hands Newsletter," with a mailing list of thousands.  A later discovery revealed very little information relating to PT boats.  Mr. Newberry used the newsletter to start a drive to commemorate the boats, and the veteran squadron members.       

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