O'KEEFE-JEREMIAH

BECAME  ACE  IN  ONE  DAY

Jerome Joseph “Jerry” O'Keefe was born on July 12, 1923, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  He joined the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Navy in June 1942, and was commissioned a 2NDLT in the U.S. Marine Corps and designated a Naval Aviator on June 16, 1943.  He joined VMF-323, the Death Rattlers, in August 1943 at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and moved with the squadron to NAAS El Centro, California, in January 1944, and to Hawaii in July 1944.  1STLT O'Keefe then deployed with the squadron to the Southwest Pacific in September 1944, and to Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.  He became an ace in a day when he shot down five enemy aircraft in aerial combat over Okinawa on April 22, 1945, adding two more victories on April 28 for a total of seven victories.  1STLT O'Keefe returned to the U.S. in June 1945, and left active duty at the end of the war in September 1945.  After the war he graduated from Loyola University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1948, and later bought his father's funeral home business in 1953, which became the Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Jerry served as a Mississippi State Legislator from 1960 to 1964, and was Mayor of Biloxi from 1973 to 1981.  He and his wife Annette Saxon O'Keefe had 13 children together and lived in Biloxi until her death on May 16, 1998.  Jerry married Martha Peterson on July 27, 1999. 

On June 5, 2015, O’Keefe received Congressional recognition for his service in helping disrupt Japanese kamikazes during the Battle of Okinawa by presenting him with the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in his home town of Ocean Springs.  O’Keefe is one of the last remaining fighter aces from the “Greatest Generation” and reportedly started Easter Sunday, April 22, 1945, by volunteering to assist the Chaplin with the morning’s service.  By the time the sun set that fateful day he would come face to face with the enemy and shoot down five Japanese dive-bombers to earn in only one day the title of ace.  During his air battle O’Keefe raced in at point-blank range in his gull winged F4U Corsair, often very close, and quickly shot down four Japanese bombers.  A fifth he took head-on and only managed to avoid a collision with it at the last moment by pulling up violently as the Japanese plane smoked down to the earth below him.  Upon landing only two of his six 50-caliber machine guns still had ammunition remaining.  The presenter who gave O’Keefe the Congressional Gold Medal remarked, “I can say without a doubt that what Mr. O’Keefe accomplished was not only incredible but had a considerable impact on the United States of America.  O’Keefe, a man of few words but with a great smile simply replied, “I’m proud and humbled by this recognition.  Thank you, thank you again.”

NAVY  CROSS  CITATION

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe, First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Section Leader and a Pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron Three-Hundred Twenty-Three (VMF-323), Marine Air Group Thirty-Three (MAG-33), Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing, in aerial combat against enemy Japanese forces during the assault on Okinawa Shima, Ryukyu Islands, on 22 April 1945.  Fighting his plane aggressively in two engagements against a total of more than fifty Japanese suicide dive bombers, First Lieutenant O'Keefe pressed home a series of bold attacks in the face of hostile fire to destroy five of the enemy aircraft.  By his resolute courage, skillful airmanship and devotion to duty, he aided materially in preventing the numerically superior force from reaching its objective, and his gallant conduct throughout reflects the highest credit upon First Lieutenant O'Keefe and the United States Naval Service.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)