Decorations: Purple Heart
Joe entered the Navy at age 17, and trained in Newport, Rhode Island. In less than six months he went to sea as a gunner on the Victory Ship Louise Lykes. On 12 June, 1943, the ship, which was off the coast of Scotland, was torpedoed and 10 men were lost, among them, Joe Kearney. His neighbor, Buddy Shropshire, remembers him as an easy going young man, with a circle of close friends, one of whom who was George I. Russell, later killed in combat in Normandy. Joe Kearney is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Battery Park, New York City. He was the youngest Millis serviceman to lose his life in World War II. His memorial in Millis is at the corner of Winter Street and Buddy Kearney Lane.

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