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Navy Cross Citation: "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. "
(L-R) Lt.(jg) John F. Kennedy and Ensign Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., circa May 1942. Joseph Patrick Kennedy was the elder brother of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy. He served as a lieutenant and aviator during WW2 in England. In 1944 he volunteered for Operation Aphrodite, a secret mission involving the arming of explosives on B-17 bombers that would be dropped on enemy targets in Normandy, France. On August 12 the explosives in the plane carrying Kennedy and fellow co-pilot Lieutenant Wilford John Willy detonated prematurely and neither man was able to evacuate the plane in time. Kennedy was posthumously awarded the Air Medal and Navy Cross for his heroism. Source: Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. : A Dream Unfulfilled John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/joseph-patrick-kennedy-jr-a-dream-unfulfilled.htm