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Remember...Okey Bertrum Kennedy Jr.
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In 1940, the family was still living in Clarksburg. Mrs. Kennedy's father was no longer living, but her brother Thomas still lived with the family and was a machine operator in the glass factory. Mr. Kennedy was, by then, a building contractor. Lillian was working as a checking clerk in the tumbler glass factory. Okey Kennedy Jr. was, by that time, known as "Bert."
In 1941, Bert Kennedy graduated from Victory High School in Harrison County. There, he'd been class president, a member of the Hi-Y group, and the recipient of the Danforth Foundation Award for outstanding leadership. ("Okey Kennedy," The Pennsboro News, 16 September 1943.)
Bert Kennedy registered for military service on June 30, 1942. According to his draft card, he was working for Southern Price Lumber Company in the planing mill.
In 1943, Bert and his parents were living in Staunton, Virginia, where Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy worked in a "war plant." Bert Kennedy was inducted into the Army on March 1 and served first at Camp Kearns in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then transferred to Buckley Field in Colorado. The "field" in Buckley Field referred to an airfield. It was the home of the 460th Bombardment Group, Heavy, and was a technical and basic training school during War World II. The base had been grown and expanded to accommodate a school for fighter armorers. It was officially activated on April 1, 1942. (Christopher McCune, "Buckley Field in World War II: Part I," accessed 16 July 2021, https://www.buckley.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1233614/buckley-field-in-world-war-ii-part-i/.)
| According to the death notice in The Pennsboro News (16 September 1943), Okey Kennedy Jr. died just two days before he would have completed his courses for technical service. The death notice reports he died of an accident at Buckley Field, but other newspaper accounts of the accident reported that Okey Kennedy was in Denver at a hotel. He was seen hanging from the roof coping when he fell 50 feet to the street below. He survived the fall and was taken to Denver General Hospital, where he was in critical condition. However, he died of his injuries. The Pennsboro News (Ritchie County, the home county of Pansy Kennedy) reported that Okey Kennedy's squadron attended services held in his memory at Buckley Field and a military escort brought him back to West Virginia. He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Harrison County, a cemetery that is only a few blocks away from the family home, when they had lived on Roane Avenue. |  Name stone for Pfc. Okey B. Kennedy Jr. in Greenlawn Cemetery |
 Kennedy family headstone in Greenlawn Cemetery, Harrison County. Photos courtesy Cynthia Mullens |
One article reported that police were investigating the circumstances of Okey Kennedy's death, but they did not have an explanation at the time of the report. No follow-up was found during research for this memorial. ("Private Dies after Fall from Roof," The Pasadena Post, 8 September 1943; "3 Die in Accidental Deaths in State over Holidays," Greeley Daily Tribune [Colorado], 7 September 1943; "Soldier Hurt," The Independent Record [Helena, Montana] 5 September 1943.)
Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
July 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
