The 1940s were a tumultuous decade for the Kennedys, along with millions of American families whose lives would be utterly changed by World War II. American involvement in the war lasted from 1941 to 1945; sixteen million Americans participated in the war effort, and more than four hundred thousand Americans were killed. The aftermath effects of the war would last far beyond the decade.
As the war effort ramped up, the Kennedy family was in transition. Joe returned from London to the United States in the fall of 1940, and was called upon to testify before Congress that winter about the war. With the older children all out of the house and the younger ones at boarding school, Joe and Rose sold the Bronxville house in 1941, and then divided their time between Hyannis Port and Palm Beach. Aware that the impending war would disrupt their lives, Rose took Eunice on a cruise to the Caribbean and then on to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil that spring, where they were joined briefly by Jack. Having spent a semester at Stanford University auditing business courses in the fall of 1940, Jack had decided that the business world was not for him, and he was “having a hard time deciding on a career,” Rose wrote.
The summer of 1941 was the last summer the entire Kennedy family would be together. Rose remembered the ambiance of the house in Hyannis Port that summer, with a cacophony of radios and phonographs operating morning, noon, and night, along with ringing telephones, barking dogs, the bounce of tennis balls, splashing in the ocean, and the cries of welcome and farewell.
The year 1941 also saw the tragic decline of Rosemary, who, despite being born with an intellectual disability, had led a fairly active life. As her condition deteriorated, specialists recommended a new procedure that they considered promising. When the lobotomy performed on Rosemary went tragically wrong, Joe and Rose made the heart-wrenching decision to send her to St. Coletta’s School in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where she could receive proper care for the remainder of her life.
With war looming, Joe Jr. decided not to return for his final year at Harvard Law School and instead signed up for the naval aviation cadet program, earning his wings in May 1942. Then Jack enlisted in the navy. After attending the Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School at Northwestern University during the summer of 1942, Jack requested assignment to a motor torpedo boat squadron in the South Pacific.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. immediately sent a telegram to President Roosevelt, writing, “Mr. President, in this great crisis all Americans are with you. Name the battle post. I’m yours to command.” But the president never responded, and Joe Kennedy waited on the sidelines, “suffering in silence,” as he wrote to a colleague in Britain.
Back row: Rose, Teddy, and Jean. Front row: Pat, Bobby, and Kathleen. Joe appears in the doorway. Hyannis Port, summer 1941.
Jack left the United States for the South Pacific on March 6, 1943, as a lieutenant in command of a motor torpedo boat, the PT 109. Jack and his crew of twelve men were assigned to patrol the waters of the Solomon Islands and stop Japanese ships from delivering supplies to their soldiers stationed there. On the night of August 2, 1943, PT 109 was suddenly rammed at full speed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. The impact split the PT 109 in half and two of Jack’s men were killed instantly. The others managed to jump overboard as their boat went up in flames. Their subsequent ordeal and Jack’s heroic efforts to save his surviving crew members, despite his own injuries, became famous at the time as the subject of several news stories. After their rescue and a brief period of recuperation, Jack requested and was granted the command of another patrol boat, the PT 59.
In June 1944, Jack was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his leadership and courage, and was honorably discharged from the navy in March 1945.
Joe Jr. was in England, having been stationed there in September 1943. By June 1944, he had flown thirty missions, which completed his tour of duty and made him eligible to return to the United States. However, in late July, Joe Jr. wrote to his parents that he was postponing his return home and had volunteered for a top secret mission, later identified as Operation Aphrodite, “that is safe and there is no need to worry.” Operation Aphrodite was intended to cripple the Nazi V-2 rocket-building program. Joe Jr. also wrote in a similar vein to Jack on August 10, 1944: “… Tell the family not to get excited about my staying over here. I am not repeat not contemplating marriage nor intending to risk my fine neck… in any crazy venture.”
In the early evening of August 12, 1944, Joe Jr. with his copilot, Wilford (Bud) Willy, took off for the last time in a PB4Y Liberator, which was packed with explosives. Somewhere over the English Channel, the explosives prematurely detonated, destroying the bomber and killing both men.
After leaving Finch College in 1941, Kathleen began working for the Washington Times-Herald, in Washington, D.C., and was eventually promoted to reviewing plays and movies under her own byline. However, she wanted to help in the war effort and soon joined the Red Cross. On June 25, 1943, she left America and set sail for England, where she was to assume her official position as the program assistant at Hans Crescent, a club in London that offered food, supplies, and accommodations for officers. Once back in London, Kick resumed her acquaintance with old friends, especially William (Billy) Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, and the son of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Kick and Billy’s relationship developed quickly and they decided to marry. After months of careful deliberation and much opposition from both their families because of religious differences, Kick agreed to wed Billy, an Anglican. On the morning of May 6, 1944, Kick, accompanied by her older brother, Joe Jr., made her way to a London registry office. There in a private ceremony, surrounded by Joe Jr., a few friends, and Billy’s family, Kathleen Kennedy married William John Robert Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington.
After a wedding reception at the home of Lord Hambleden in Eaton Square, Kick and Billy traveled to Compton Place in Eastbourne, where they were to spend part of their honeymoon. Like most war brides, Kick’s time with her new husband was relatively short, and within five weeks Billy was called back to the battlefield. On their last evening together, Billy recorded the following entry in their diary:
June 13th
“ ‘This time tomorrow where shall I be, not in this academy.’
Although I’ve been expecting it daily, it is quite a shock now that it has come. I shall always remember this last month as the most perfect of my life.
How beastly it is always to be ending things. This war seems to cause nothing but goodbyes. I think that that is the worst part of it, worse even than fighting.”
Kick completed Billy’s diary entry with her own thoughts: “This is the saddest evening. Ever since May 6th I have had a wonderful sense of contentment. B is most perfect husband.”
In September, Kick, who had returned to the United States to join her mourning family in Hyannis Port after learning of Joe Jr.’s death, received the devastating news that Billy had been killed in battle in Belgium on September 10, 1944. Arrangements were quickly made for Kick to return to England to be with the Devonshires during their time of grief. After Billy’s death, Kathleen made London her permanent residence.
While the war years had brought tragedy to the Kennedy family, there were many accomplishments for the younger children. Having previously attended Manhattanville College in New York, Eunice transferred to Stanford University, receiving a bachelor of science degree in sociology in 1943. Following graduation, she served in the Special War Problems Division of the Department of State.
Pat attended Rosemont College in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, and became interested in the theater. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Rosemont in 1945. After graduation, Pat decided to pursue her interest in theatrical activities and began working as an assistant in NBC’s New York production department.
Bobby attended Milton Academy and entered the V-12 program for naval training. He served aboard the USS Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., a newly commissioned navy destroyer that had been christened by Joe Jr.’s goddaughter, Jean, in 1945.
Like her older sisters before her, Jean was enrolled at Sacred Heart in Noroton, Connecticut. Teddy, who had attended a variety of schools since the sale of the Bronxville estate, was enrolled at the Fessenden School in Waltham, Massachusetts. Since Waltham was less than twenty miles from Boston, Teddy was able to enjoy regular visits with his maternal grandfather, Honey Fitz.