How was Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. killed in action during WWII?

Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was born in 1915 in Hull, Massachusetts and was killed in action on August 12, 1944 at the age of 29. At the time he was serving as a land-based patrol bomber pilot.

He died over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England and his remains were never recovered. The cause of his death was due to a naval airplane explosion during 'Operation Aphrodite'- a codename used by the U.S. Army Air Force and U.S. Navy. The operation used B-17 and PB4Y bombers, with precision-guided munitions against bunkers.

Joe Sr. the father, had aspirations for Joe Jr. to become president. When Joe Jr. was killed while participating in a top-secret mission in 1944, the father's expectations fell to younger brother John F. Kennedy, future U.S. President.

The four military awards showed in the picture on his gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery include the Navy Cross. It was awarded posthumously for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy "during a special air mission directed at Mimoyecques, France, on August 12, 1944".

In 1946, the Navy named a destroyer, the USS Jospeh P. Kennedy Jr., aboard which his younger brother, (future U.S. Senator) Robert F. Kennedy briefly served. That destroyer served in the blockade of Cuba during the missle crisis in 1962.

In 1969, Hank Searls wrote a biography of Joe Jr., entitled 'The Lost Prince: Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy'. A television movie based on Sears' book won a primtime Emmy in 1977.