| Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. July 25, 1915 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | August 12, 1944 (aged 29) Over Suffolk, United Kingdom (remains never recovered) |
| Education | Harvard University London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Lieutenant, USN pilot |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Elizabeth (née Fitzgerald) Kennedy |
| Relatives | See Kennedy family. |
| Awards | Navy Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Purple Heart Air Medal |
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Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr. (July 25, 1915 – August 12, 1944) was an American bomber pilot during World War II. He was the eldest of nine children born to Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Elizabeth (née Fitzgerald) Kennedy.
The elder brother of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy, he had been expected to become the family's political standard-bearer,[1] especially after his father's political exile for apparent defeatism during the advent of World War II. However, he was killed in action, and the task fell to his brother John.
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Kennedy first attended the Dexter School in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his brother, John. Joseph graduated in 1933 from The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut. He then entered Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating in 1938. Kennedy participated in football, rugby, and crew, and he served on the student council. Before he went away to war, Joe became engaged to Athalia Fetter, a model and actress. Joseph then spent a year studying under the tutelage of Harold Laski at the London School of Economics before enrolling in Harvard Law School. Kennedy made his first political step as a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention.
During World War II, Kennedy left before his final year of law school to begin officer training and flight training in the U.S. Navy. He earned his wings as a Naval Aviator in May 1942 and was sent to Britain in September 1943. He piloted land-based PB4Y Liberator patrol bombers on anti-submarine details during two tours of duty in the winter of 1943–1944. Kennedy had completed 25 combat missions and was eligible to return home. He instead volunteered for an Operation Aphrodite mission.
Operation Aphrodite made use of unmanned, explosive–laden Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers, that were deliberately crashed into their targets under radio control. These aircraft could not take-off safely on their own, so a crew of two would take-off and fly to 2,000 feet (610 m) before activating the remote control system, arming the detonators and parachuting from the aircraft.
After U.S. Army Air Forces Operation missions were drawn up on July 23, 1944, Kennedy and Lieutenant Wilford John Willy were designated as the first Navy flight crew. Willy had pulled rank over Ensign "FNU" Simpson (who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot) to be on the mission. They flew a BQ-8 "robot" aircraft (a converted B-24 Liberator) for the U.S. Navy's first Aphrodite mission. Two Lockheed Ventura mother planes and a navigation plane took off from RAF Fersfield. Next, the BQ-8 aircraft loaded with 21,170 lb (9,600 kg) of Torpex took off. It was to be used against the Fortress of Mimoyecques and its V-3 cannons, northern France.[2]
Following 300 ft (91 m) behind them in a de Havilland Mosquito to film the mission was Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kennedy and Willy were aboard as the BQ-8 completed its first remote-control turn. Two minutes later and ten minutes before the planned crew bailout, the Torpex detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, vaporizing Kennedy and Willy. Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk, England.
ATTEMPTED FIRST APHRODITE ATTACK TWELVE AUGUST WITH ROBOT TAKING OFF FROM FERSFIELD AT ONE EIGHT ZERO FIVE HOURS PD ROBOT EXPLODED IN THE AIR AT APPROXIMATELY TWO THOUSAND FEET EIGHT MILES SOUTHEAST OF HALESWORTH AT ONE EIGHT TWO ZERO HOURS PD WILFORD J. WILLY CMA SR GRADE LIEUTENANT AND JOSEPH P. KENNEDY SR GRADE LIEUTENANT CMA BOTH USNR CMA WERE KILLED PD COMMANDER SMITH CMA IN COMMAND OF THIS UNIT CMA IS MAKING FULL REPORT TO US NAVAL OPERATIONS PD A MORE DETAILED REPORT WILL BE FORWARDED TO YOU WHEN INTERROGATION IS COMPLETED
— Top Secret telegram to General Carl Andrew Spaatz from General Jimmy Doolittle, August 1944[3]
Roosevelt's damaged Mosquito was able to limp home, the crewmen injured. A total of 59 buildings were damaged in a nearby coastal town. The Navy's informal board of review rejected the possibility of the pilot erroneously arming the circuitry early and suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives. An electronics officer had warned Kennedy of this possibility the day before the mission.[3] Kennedy was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal. His Navy Cross citation reads:
For extraordinary heroism and courage in aerial flight as pilot of a United States Liberator bomber on August 12, 1944. Well knowing the extreme dangers involved and totally unconcerned for his own safety, Kennedy unhesitatingly volunteered to conduct an exceptionally hazardous and special operational mission.
Intrepid and daring in his tactics and with unwavering confidence in the vital importance of his task, he willingly risked his life in the supreme measure of service and, by his great personal valor and fortitude in carrying out a perilous undertaking, sustained and enhanced the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.[4]
Willy was also posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The names of both men are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, a cemetery and chapel near the village of Madingley in Cambridgeshire, Britain, that commemorates American servicemen who died in World War II.
In 1946, the Navy named a destroyer for Kennedy, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., aboard which his younger brother (future U.S. Senator) Robert F. Kennedy briefly served. Among the highlights of its service are the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and the afloat recovery teams for Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, both 1965 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It is now a floating museum in Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts.
In 1947, the Kennedys established the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation and funded the construction of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Hall at Boston College, now a part of Campion Hall and home to the college's Lynch School of Education. The foundation was led by his youngest brother, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, until his death in 2009.
In 1952, Robert F. Kennedy named his eldest son Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, in memory of his brother Joseph, Jr.
In 1957, the Lieutenant Joseph Patrick Kennedy Junior Memorial Skating Rink was opened in Hyannis, Massachusetts, with funds from the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.
In 1969, Hank Searls wrote the most comprehensive biography of Joe Jr. entitled: The Lost Prince: Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy.
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