Ace in a Day: 1st Lt. Jeremiah J. O'Keefe, VMF-323, USMC, April 1945, Inspired by the art of Robert Taylor

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. 1ST LT 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.

Text courtesy of: https://navylog.navymemorial.org/okeefe-jeremiah ↗️