Aviation Electrician's Mate Third Class Kennedy was a crew member of AD-4N Skyraider night dive bomber with Composite Squadron 35 aboard the USS BOXER (CV-21). On July 14, 1953, while on a night combat air patrol, radio contact with the aircraft was lost. He was presumed dead on September 1, 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.