Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr. (July 25, 1915 – August 12, 1944) was a United States Navylieutenant who was killed in action while serving as a land-based patrol bomber pilot in World War II and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. He was the eldest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969) and Rose Fitzgerald (1890–1995).