William Allen Kennedy was born at 188th Street and Marion Avenue in the Bronx, NY, on 28 December, 1912. He was the only son of William Patrick Kennedy, a horse trainer/driver, and Mary Margaret Landrigan.
Billy's early years were spent in Huntington, LI, where the family lived mostly with Mary's parents, James and Mary (Power) Landrigan. His earliest memory was standing at the window of his grandfather's second floor rooms on Main Street as the band of John Philip Sousa marched by below (this was about 1917). Delighted, he shouted "The Band! The Band!"
His father's work brought the Kennedy family first to Bryn Mawr, PA, where the elder William ran a riding academy. The family also lived on a farm in Delaware for a while, and perhaps Ohio.
About the time that Billy was in third grade, Mary Kennedy brought her children back to the Huntington area for good. At first, they lived with Mary's brother, Joseph Landrigan, at the Centerport mansion of Henry J. Scudder, for whom Joseph was the property caretaker. In 1925 they resided at 275 Woodbine Ave. in adjacent Northport, NY, and later moved to 38 Ocean Avenue (also in Northport), where Billy's eldest sister, Dorothy, lived with her husband, James Dugan.
He graduated from Long Island's Northport High School in 1933 after six years of basketball with some schoolwork mixed in.
Click here to see a picture of the Northport High School basketball team.
In 1930, William attended a "Citizens' Military Training Camp" at Plattsburg Barracks in upstate NY.
In 1940, he obtained a job as a Tool and Die Maker at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, NY, but at the outbreak of World War II, he resolved to fight for his country. His first effort to enlist was rebuffed due to a build-up of wax in his ears(!). Undaunted, he hopped a train for NYC, had the offending wax removed from his ears and got back to the recruiting station with moments to spare. He was in (20 Oct 1942). At nearly 30 years of age, he was older than most of his comrades-in-arms, who dubbed him, "Pop."
William was assigned to VMB-612 ("Cram's Rams"), commanded by Lt. Col. Jack Cram of Albany, Oregon, which performed special training in night attacks on enemy shipping, using radar to locate and attack the targets. He served as an aerial gunner on a B-25 Mitchell.
In November 1944, VMB-612 was stationed on Saipan. As the nearest shipping targets were near Iwo Jima and Chichi--more than 630 miles to the north--the bombers had to be stripped of excess weight for missions which lasted 10-12 hours.
In April, 1945, VMB-612 moved to Iwo Jima, where it could reach the coast of Japan during its night strikes. Cram's squadron claimed 7 ships sunk and 80 damaged during missions from Saipan and Iwo, with a loss of three PBJs in combat.
On July 28, 1945, VMB-612 departed for its next base on Okinawa.
On 14 January, 1944, Bill married Carol Eva Adams in NYC while home on leave at St. Francis of Assisi RC Church at 135 W. 31st Street, NYC. The marriage was later annulled.
T/Sgt William Kennedy was given an honorable diacharge from the USMC 3 November, 1945
After the war, William returned to his job at Republic and supplemented his income by joining the Naval Reserves. His bus ride to work every day was a pleasant experience due to the presence of a pretty gal named Beatrice Julia Schneider, the youngest daughter of the late Otto Joseph Schneider and Anna Herold. Bill knew Bea, who was ten years his junior, from the local bowling alley, where he would occasionaly keep score for her and her friends.
Bill had joined the naval reserves in order to make some extra money. He returned home from work one day in 1950 to find his mother standing on the front porch, laughing, waving a letter. Thanks to the unpleasantness in Korea, he was back in the service. He was less anxious to go this time, as Bea had promised to be his wife.
William was stationed on the USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116).
From July 1950 until February 1953, the Badoeng Strait completed three tours in Korea: 29 July 1950--23 January 1951; 2 Oct 1951--14 February 1952; and 6 October 1952--11 February 1853.
At the time of his discharge on 15 May, 1952, he was an Aviation Ordnanceman First Class
Bill returned once again to Republic Aviation, where he worked until his retirement at age 65. He married Bea on November 8th, 1952. He was 40 and she 30. They had three children:
William Allen Kennedy died of cancer on 28 September, 2000. Beatrice died suddenly of congestive heart failure on 20 February, 2005.
� 2008
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