Joseph P . Kennedy , Jr . Lt . Joseph Patrick " Joe " Kennedy , Jr . ( July 25 , 1915 – August 12 , 1944 ) was a junior officer in the United States Navy , a Naval Aviator , and a land - based bomber pilot during World War II . He was the eldest of nine children born to Joseph P . Kennedy , Sr . ( 1888 — 1969 ) and Rose Fitzgerald ( 1890 — 1995 ) . He was the elder brother of future U . S . President , John F . Kennedy ( " Jack " ) . As boys , their father wanted the best for Joe , making Jack envious . Joe had been expected to become president , especially after his father ' s political exile for supporting the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain in the advent of World War II . However , Joe was killed in action , and the high expectations then fell upon Jack . Early life and education . Kennedy first attended the Dexter School in Brookline , Massachusetts , with his brother , John . Joseph graduated from The Choate School ( now Choate Rosemary Hall ) in 1933 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 , he became engaged to Athalia Ponsell ( 1917 — 1974 ) , a model and actress . Kennedy then spent a year studying under the tutelage of Harold Laski at the London School of Economics before enrolling in Harvard Law School . Political career . From a very young age Joe was groomed by his father and predicted to be the nation ' s first Roman Catholic - Irish President of the United States , when he was born his grandfather John F . Fitzgerald ( 1863 — 1950 ) , then Mayor of Boston told the news , " This child is the future President of the nation " . He often boasted that he would be president even without help from his father . He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940 . Joe planned to run for Massachusetts ' s 11th congressional district in 1946 . He and his father had begun laying the groundwork for the campaign when he was killed . World War II service . 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 . 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 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 James 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 Boeing B - 17 navigation plane took off from RAF Fersfield at 1800 on 12 August 1944 . Then the BQ - 8 aircraft , loaded with of Torpex , took off . It was to be used against the Fortress of Mimoyecques and its V - 3 cannon s in northern France . Following behind them in a USAAF F - 8 Mosquito to film the mission were pilot Lt . Robert A . Tunnel and combat camera man Lt . David J . McCarthy , who filmed the event from the perspex nose . As planned , Kennedy and Willy remained aboard as the BQ - 8 completed its first remote - controlled turn at 2 , 000 feet 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 words . Two minutes later ( and well before the planned crew bailout , near RAF Manston ) , the Torpex explosive detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator , killing Kennedy and Willy instantly . Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk , England , causing widespread damage and small fires , but no injuries on the ground . According to one report , a total of 59 buildings were damaged in a nearby coastal town . 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 . " 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 D . Roosevelt , then Colonel Elliott Roosevelt . Years later , Roosevelt claimed to have been aboard this trailing aircraft , and his version of the event has gained wide currency . However , Air Force records cannot substantiate this . Instead , an after - action account by the 8th Combat Camera Unit ( CCU ) noted that : " . . . " ' 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 , ' Lt . McCarthy reported from his hospital bed " . " The 8th CCU film of the event , has , so far as is known , not been found . The Navy ' s informal board of review , discussing a number of theories , discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake , or that suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives . An electronics officer who believed the wiring harness had a design defect had warned Kennedy of this possibility the day before the mission . Kennedy was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross , the Distinguished Flying Cross , and the Air Medal . His Navy Cross citation reads : Willy also was 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 . Later reports that Kennedy ' s final mission were kept top secret until many years later are negated by a detailed public account of the operation and Kennedy ' s death in 1945 . Legacy . In 1946 the Navy named a destroyer for Kennedy , the , 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 Ted Kennedy , until his death in August 2009 . 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 a biography of Joe Jr . , entitled " The Lost Prince : Young Joe , the Forgotten Kennedy " .