Cluster gave Kennedy a perfect 4.0 for his leadership as "PT-59"s commanding officer, writing that Kennedy "demonstrated a cool effectiveness under fire and exhibited good judgement and determination in entirely strange conditions." With Kennedy suffering from a host of ailments, Cluster relieved him of command on 18 November, after a routine patrol off Redman Island in Choiseul Bay. Kennedy had lost twenty pounds in the three previous months and had put back little of the weight, weighing only around 145 pounds at six feet of height. In Lambu Lambu's hospital, Dr. Wharton, concerned about Jack's worsening back problems and continued weight loss, diagnosed "chronic disk disease" and colitis, and passed the news to Cluster who worked to get Kennedy back to the states. First sent to Tulagi for medical care and diagnosis, Kennedy was sent home to the States on 23 December 1943, aboard the "USS Breton", and arrived in San Francisco on 7 January. He obtained a Navy desk job at the Submarine Chaser Training Center in Miami in March, was back in the hospital by May, and was finally given an honorable discharge in December 1944. After working as a journalist, he would begin his run for the House of Representatives in 1946, using his war time experience as a major feature of his candidacy.