During World War II, Kennedy was killed in action while serving as a land-based patrol bomber pilot, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

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] 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.

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.

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.

[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] 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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

I crawled back to the cockpit and lowered the wheels so that Bob could make a quick emergency landing,...The 8th CCU film of the event has not been found.

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.

The Navy's informal board of review, discussing a number of theories, discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake.

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.

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.