Joseph Wilson Kendall was born on February 18, 1916. No NARA records have been found but American Battlefield Monuments site states he entered service from Washington, D.C.

The first official mention of him occurs in 388th Bomb Group records stating he was assigned to Lt. Felece's crew as Bombardier. This crew was assigned to the 561st Bomb Squadron at Knettishall, England.

Lt. Kendall only flew on three missions. On the first one, the aircraft aborted because the pilot could not find the assembly ship, but joined the wrong Group, and turned back. On the second mission, the pilot aborted because of engine malfunctions. The third mission was the fatal one in which the aircraft was shot down by flak.

On October 2, 1943, this crew was scheduled to participate in a raid on German war facilities at Emden, Germany. The bomber formation arrived over the target to find it was obscured by clouds. The formation bombed through the clouds, but no strike damage assessment was possible.

The aircraft was hit by flak, knocking out # 1 engine. Then # 2 engine caught fire. The aircraft went into a tight spiral spin, and the entire crew bailed out. The aircraft crashed into the North Sea, just off the coast of Denmark and north of Emden. None of the crew survived parachuting into the sea, although 8 bodies were recovered. Sgts Harrington and DeKeyrel were never found.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, airforce.togetherweserved.com