Kennedy's father had aspirations for him to become president of the United States. Kennedy was a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention and planned to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after his military service as the first stepping stone on the path to the presidency.[1] Kennedy's death while participating in Operation Aphrodite in 1944 caused his father to transfer his aspirations to his next-oldest son, John F. Kennedy,[1] who followed the path first planned for his older brother by advancing from the House to the U.S. Senate and then to the presidency.[1]
From a very young age, Kennedy was groomed by his father and predicted to be the first Roman Catholic U.S. president.[1] When he was born, Kennedy's maternal grandfather John F. Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston, told reporters: "This child is the future president of the nation."[5]
Kennedy had expressed approval of Adolf Hitler before World War II began. When his father sent him to visit Nazi Germany in 1934, Joseph Jr. wrote back and praised the Nazi sterilization policy as "a great thing" that "will do away with many of the disgusting specimens of men."[6] Kennedy Jr. explained, "Hitler is building a spirit in his men that could be envied in any country."[7][8]
U.S. Navy
Kennedy left before his final year at Harvard Law School to enlist in the U.S. Naval Reserve on June 24, 1941.[9] He entered flight training to be a naval aviator, received his wings, and was commissioned an ensign on May 5, 1942.[9] Kennedy was assigned to Patrol Squadron 203 and then Bombing Squadron 110.[9] In September 1943, he was sent to Britain and became a member of Bomber Squadron 110, Special Air Unit ONE, in 1944. Kennedy piloted land-based Consolidated B-24 Liberator patrol bombers on anti-submarine details during two tours of duty in the winter of 1943–1944.
Kennedy was appointed a lieutenant on July 1, 1944.[9] He had completed 25 combat missions and was eligible to return home. Kennedy instead volunteered for an Operation Aphrodite mission.[10]
Operation Aphrodite was the use of Army Air Corps Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Navy Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers that were converted into flying bombs and deliberately crashed into their targets under radio control from an accompanying bomber.[10] They were to be used for precision attacks on well-protected targets. These "drone" aircraft could not take off safely on their own and so a crew of two would take off and fly to 2,000 feet (610 m) altitude before they activated the remote control system, armed the detonators, and parachuted from the aircraft. After trials, the first mission took place on August 4, 1944, against targets including the Fortress of Mimoyecques, an underground military complex under construction in northern France. There was little success.[11]
The U.S. Navy also participated in Operation Aphrodite, with its portion referred to as Operation Anvil.[12] Kennedy had been appointed a lieutenant on July 1.[9] After the U.S. Army Air Corps operation missions were drawn up on July 23, lieutenants Wilford John Willy[13] and Kennedy were designated as the Navy's first Anvil flight crew.[14] Willy, who was the executive officer of Special Air Unit 1, had also volunteered for the mission and pulled rank over Ensign James Simpson, who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot.[11][15]
Last known photograph of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. on day of flight, August 12, 1944
On August 12, Kennedy and his co-pilot Willy flew a BQ-8 "robot" aircraft (a converted B-24 Liberator) for the Navy's first Aphrodite mission. Initially, two Lockheed Ventura mother planes and a Boeing B-17 navigation plane took off from RAF Fersfield, Norfolk, England at 1800 on Saturday, August 12, 1944. Then the BQ-8 aircraft, loaded with 21,170 lb (9,600 kg) of Torpex explosive, took off to be used against the suspected V-2 development site at Mimoyecques.
Following them in a USAAF photo-reconnaissance F-8 Mosquito to film the mission were pilot Lieutenant Robert A. Tunnel and combat cameraman Lieutenant David J. McCarthy, who filmed the event from the perspex nose of the aircraft.[16][page needed] As planned, Kennedy and Willy remained aboard as the BQ-8 completed its first remote-controlled turn at 2,000 ft (610 m) near the North Sea coast. Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin, arming the explosive package, and Kennedy radioed the agreed code Spade Flush, his last known words. Two minutes later, and well before the planned crew bailout near RAF Manston in Kent, the explosives detonated prematurely, destroying the Liberator and killing Kennedy and Willy instantly. Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk, England, causing widespread damage and small fires, but there were no injuries on the ground. According to one report, 59 buildings were damaged in a nearby coastal town.
Attempted first Aphrodite attack Twelve August with robot taking off from Fersfield at One Eight Zero Five Hours. Robot exploded in the air at approximately two thousand feet eight miles southeast of Halesworth at One Eight Two Zero hours. Wilford J. Willy Sr Grade Lieutenant and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr Grade Lieutenant, both USNR, were killed. Commander Smith, in command of this unit, is making full report TO US Naval Operations. A more detailed report will be forwarded to you when interrogation is completed
According to USAAF records, the trailing Mosquito "was flying 300 feet above and about 300 yards to the rear of the robot. Engineer photographer on this ship was injured, and the ship was damaged slightly by the explosion."[18] The Mosquito, which made an immediate emergency landing at RAF Halesworth, belonged to the 325th Reconnaissance Wing, a unit under the command of the son of President Franklin Roosevelt, then Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, who years later claimed to have been aboard that trailing aircraft, and his version of the event has gained wide currency.[19][page needed] However, Air Force records cannot substantiate it. Instead, an after-action account by the 8th Combat Camera Unit (CCU) noted:
...the Baby just exploded in mid-air as we neared it and I was knocked halfway back to the cockpit. A few pieces of the Baby came through the plexiglass nose and I got hit in the head and caught a lot of fragments in my right arm. I crawled back to the cockpit and lowered the wheels so that Bob could make a quick emergency landing,...
— Lieutenant McCarthy reporting from his hospital bed.[20]
The 8th CCU film of the event has not been found.[21]
The 20th Fighter Group out of RAF Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire had provided an escort of four North American P-51 Mustang fighters (two each from the 55th and 79th Fighter Squadrons). VIII FC, Field Order 509 stated "20 GP (P-51's, 4 A/C) will proceed to Fersfield and land coordinating with operations where to provide close escort support to one B-34 special Operation."
Lieutenant John E. Klink noted in his mission summary report: "Took off to excort BXXX, 1 B24, 1 B17, 2 B34s, and 3 photo Recons (2 Mosq. -1 P38). When specially loaded B24 was at approx. 2000 ft. NE of Ipswich it exploded and crashed near small lake. No one got out of the plane. Rest of ships OK in spite of terrific concussion from explosion. All returned to base." [sic][22]
Accident investigation
Drone operations were paused for a month while equipment was re-evaluated and modified,[11] and there would be no further Navy missions. The Navy's informal board of review, discussing a number of theories, discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake. It suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives. An electronics officer, Earl Olsen, who believed the wiring harness had a design defect, had warned Kennedy of that possibility the day before the mission but was ignored.[17]
Later reports that Kennedy's final mission was kept top secret until many years later[23][page needed] are negated by a detailed public account of the operation and Kennedy's death released in 1945.[24]
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.'s Navy Cross citation reads:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Joseph Patrick Kennedy, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Commander of a Navy Liberator Patrol Plane in Bombing Squadron ONE HUNDRED TEN (VB-110), Special Air Unit ONE (Europe), during a special air mission directed at Mimoyecques, France, on August 12, 1944. Well knowing the extreme dangers involved and totally unconcerned for his own safety, Lieutenant 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.[27]
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