News 8 Wednesday, July 16, 2014
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A TRAGIC HISTORY
Sen. Edward
Kennedy
John F.
Kennedy Jr.
Caroline
Kennedy
Kennedys
On this date 15 years ago, John F. Kennedy Jr. - the handsome son of slain President John F. Kennedy was killed, along with his wife and her sister, while flying his airplane to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
It was one more in a long line of heartbreak for one of America’s most prominent political families.
BY CHARLES
APPLE
FOCUS PAGE
EDITOR
A TIMELINE OF KENNEDY TRAGEDIES
70 YEARS AGO NEXT MONTH
45 YEARS AGO FRIDAY
15 YEARS AGO TODAY
AUG. 12, 1944
NOV. 22, 1963
JUNE 5, 1968
JULY 18, 1969
JULY 16, 1999
JOSEPH
KENNEDY JR.
JOHN F.
KENNEDY
ROBERT F.
KENNEDY
EDWARD
KENNEDY
JOHN F.
KENNEDY JR.
The eldest child of Kennedy
patriarch Joseph Kennedy
and Rose Fitzgerald
Kennedy aimed for a career
in politics, planning to run
for a congressional seat in
1940. However, once the
war began, he dropped out
of Harvard Law School to
become a Navy pilot. He
was killed when his B-24
bomber exploded during a
top-secret mission. He was
awarded the Navy Cross
and the Distinguished
Flying Cross. He was 29.
Joseph and Rose
Kennedy’s second child
was also nearly killed
in World War II. “Jack”
recovered from his
injuries, serving three
terms in Congress and
two in the Senate
before being elected
president in 1960 — the
second-youngest in
U.S. history. He was
assassinated during a
motorcade in Dallas,
50 years ago this past
November. He was 46.
The third son of Joseph
Kennedy served as his
brother’s campaign manager
and attorney general.
“Bobby” won a Senate seat
in 1965 and ran for president
in 1968 against the sitting
president — Lyndon Johnson,
who dropped out of the race
shortly after. Moments after
his victory speech following
a win in the California
Democratic primary,
Kennedy was gunned down
in Los Angeles’ Ambassador
Hotel. He was 42.
The youngest of Joseph and
Rose Kennedy’s nine
children, “Teddy” won his
brother John’s Senate seat.
He drove off a bridge into a
tidal inlet on Chappaquiddick Island after a party for
political workers. Mary Jo
Kopechne, 28, was killed.
Kennedy left the scene of
the accident. He received a
two-month suspended
sentence and kept his
Senate seat but lost any
chance he had to be elected
president in 1972 or 1976.
John F. Kennedy’s only
surviving son was born 17
days after JFK’s election to
the presidency. “John John”
published a magazine and
dated a long line of celebrities — Madonna, Daryl
Hannah, Julia Roberts —
before marrying Carolyn
Bessette in 1996. He, his wife
and Bessette’s sister were
killed when Kennedy became
disoriented flying his plane
in the fog off Martha’s
Vineyard en route to a
family wedding. He was 38.
1940
1941
The third
Kennedy
child,
Rosemary,
is
institutinalized
after a
failed
lobotomy.
1945
1950
AUG. 2,
1943
Navy PT
boat
commander
John F.
Kennedy is
nearly killed
when a
Japanese
destroyer
sinks his
vessel.
1955
MAY 13,
1948
The fourth
Kennedy
child,
Kathleen
Kennedy
Cavendish,
28, dies in
a plane
crash in
France.
1960
AUG. 7,
1963
Patrick
Bouvier
Kennedy,
son of
John F.
Kennedy,
dies two
days after
his
premature
birth.
1965
1970
JUNE 19,
1964
Sen. Edward
Kennedy is nearly
killed in a plane
crash near
Southampton,
Mass. He’s dragged
from the wreckage
by Sen. Birch Bayh
and spends
months recovering
from his injuries.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, the Cape Cod Times, PBS’ “The American Experience,”
The London Telegraph, The London Guardian, ABC News, the History Channel, the Biography Channel, InfoPlease.com
1975
1980
AUGUST 1973
Joseph P. Kennedy II,
eldest son of Robert F.
Kennedy, is involved in
an auto accident that
leaves a female
passenger paralyzed.
NOV. 17, 1973
Edward Kennedy Jr.,
son of Edward Kennedy,
loses his right leg to
bone cancer.
1985
1990
APRIL 25,
1984
David Kennedy,
28, the fourth
of RFK’s 11
children, dies in
a Palm Beach,
Fla., hotel after
overdosing on
cocaine,
painkillers and
anti-psychotic
medicine.
1995
DEC. 31,
1997
Michael
Kennedy,
39, the
sixth of
RFK’s
children,
is killed in
a skiing
accident
in Aspen,
Colo.
2000
JUNE 7,
2002
Michael Skakel,
nephew of
RFK’s widow,
Ethel, is found
guilty of the
1975 murder of
a 15-year-old
girlfriend. He
was granted a
new trial in
2013.
2005
2010
MAY 20,
2008
Edward
Kennedy,
77, dies
from
complications
from a
brain
tumor.
2015
MAY 16,
2012
Mary
Kennedy,
estranged
wife of
Robert F.
Kennedy
Jr., hangs
herself in
her New
York home.
ALL PHOTOS: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FILE