The Death of Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.

     Joseph
P. Kennedy, Jr. was born on July 25, 1915. The oldest of nine children to
be born to Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he was
groomed by the family to become President of the United States. He entered
Harvard University in 1933 and graduated in 1938. He returned to Harvard
in l940, a student in their prestigious Law School. When Japan attacked
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the older Kennedy boys promptly enlisted
in the armed forces. Joseph Kennedy left Harvard Law School before his
final year to become a naval aviator, earning his wings in 1942. He was
assigned to coastal patrol and antisubmarine duty off the coast of
England. His group operated the Consolidated PB4Y-1 Privateer, the
Navy version of the Consolidated B-24, a long-range heavy bomber. Like his
younger brother Jack, Joe would later be awarded the Navy Cross,
posthumously in his case, for his heroism. He would also receive the Air
Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross to become one of our nation’s
most decorated naval aviators. Kennedy flew many patrols from his base in
Devon. Although a number of enemy submarines were sighted by his crew, no
kills were registered. In mid -1944, his squadron was asked to supply
volunteers for a top-secret mission over Continental Europe. Lt. Kennedy
stepped forward and was selected.
     A base from which the secret mission would
operate was developed at Winfarthing-Fersfield in East Anglia. A small
number of war weary aircraft were assembled at that site along . .
. .