Joe Kennedy,Jr WWII Pilot and War Hero

oe Kennedy,Jr., John Kennedy's older brother, a Navy pilot, was killed on August 12, 1944. The secret mission which cost his life was described by a fellow officer after declassification. Lt. Kennedy, an experienced Patrol Plane Commander, and a fellow-officer, an expert in radio control projects, were to take a "drone" B-24 Liberator bomber loaded with 21,170 pounds of high explosives aloft and to stay with the explosive-laden drone until two "mother" planes had achieved complete radio control over the "drone." The B-24 Liberator Bomber is designed for a bomb load of 8000 pounds maximum, yet for the special mission the payload was 21,170 pounds. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************** The two pilots were to bail out over England leaving the "drone" under the control of the "mother" planes, on the mission ending with the drone's crash-dive into a V-2 rocket launching site in Normandy. The airplane was in flight with routine checking of the radio controls normal, when at 6:20 p.m. on August 12, 1944, two explosions exploded the "drone" killing its two pilots. The cause of the explosions was ascertained.