WWII · Battle Death Record
Joseph Kennedy
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy · Massachusetts
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Joseph Kennedy
- Entered the Service From
- Massachusetts
- Rank
- Lieutenant
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Unit / Regiment
- Bombing Squadron 110 (VB-110), Special Air Unit 1
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- August 12, 1944
- Awards
- Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
- Grave
- Tablets of the Missing
Their story
Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest brother of future President John F. Kennedy, was a U.S. Navy B-24/PB4Y Liberator pilot who had completed his combat tour but volunteered for Operation Aphrodite/Anvil, flying an explosive-laden BQ-8 drone aircraft intended to be guided by remote control into a German V-weapon site. On August 12, 1944, his aircraft detonated prematurely in mid-air over Blythburgh, Suffolk, England, killing him and co-pilot Lt. Wilford Willy. His remains were never recovered, and he is memorialized on the Wall/Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.