JOSEPH N. KANEVSKY, LT, USN
Joseph Kanevsky '49
Lucky Bag
From the 1949 Lucky Bag:
Joseph N. Kanevsky
Racine, Wisconsin
Gifted with the glib tongue of a super salesman, Joe has many times sold and re-sold the Brooklyn Bridge, and never could be matched when it came to jokes. While at the Academy, he won his numerals in varsity swimming and also had a hand in batt lacrosse, company Softball and fieldball, besides being a member of the Boat Club and Foreign Language Club. Joe was able to do without wine, as his special interests are concentrated on women and song in that order, and finally on literature. While Joe's superior officers may gray a little at the temples as a result of his capers, we are sure they will never be able to complain of boredom as long as the Pride of Racine keeps smiling.
Joseph N. Kanevsky
Racine, Wisconsin
Gifted with the glib tongue of a super salesman, Joe has many times sold and re-sold the Brooklyn Bridge, and never could be matched when it came to jokes. While at the Academy, he won his numerals in varsity swimming and also had a hand in batt lacrosse, company Softball and fieldball, besides being a member of the Boat Club and Foreign Language Club. Joe was able to do without wine, as his special interests are concentrated on women and song in that order, and finally on literature. While Joe's superior officers may gray a little at the temples as a result of his capers, we are sure they will never be able to complain of boredom as long as the Pride of Racine keeps smiling.
Loss
Joseph was lost on June 6, 1957 when the FJ4B Fury he was piloting crashed on approach to Crows Landing Naval Auxiliary Field runway, California.
From the California Tombstone Project:
Kanevsky was assigned to All Weather Fighter Squadron 3 at Moffett Field was practicing carrier landings, utilizing the mirror and lights signal system and had made five approaches prior to crashing into the ground and skidding almost 200 yards in a sheath of flames. The plane caught fire on impact, carrying the burning body of the pilot as it skidded. The first crash crew was at the scene in less than a minute and three other crews arrived in a minute and a half. Lt. Kanevsky was pronounced dead on arrival at Del Puerto Hospital. Lt. Commander R. G. Baker, acting officer in charge of the base, said the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
As a teenager, Joseph was a member of Beth Israel-Sinai congregation in Racine and was very active in the Junior Congregation’s programs.
In May 1941, Joseph was inducted into the Honor Society at Franklin junior high school. In February 1943, he was a script writer for the radio station at Washington Park High School. He graduated in January 1944: Hi-Y, Co-Rec, Einsteinites. He then attended the University of Wisconsin for four semesters as a chemistry student and enlisted in the Navy in May 1945.
Joseph was appointed to the Naval Academy by Rep. Lawrence Smith. In March 1949, he was a member of the cast of “Arsenic and Old Lace;” all parts, male and female, being played by midshipmen. At the Naval Academy, Joseph received the Admiral William S. Sims Memorial award. After graduation, he reported to Pensacola for flight training.
Joseph won the Distinginguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart after being wounded in Korea while leading a jet fighter section in a raid on the Yalu River border town of Musan in North Korea. This was a famous raid on September 1, 1952, conducted by the United Nations.
Per The Journal Times, Racine, October 18, 1952: “Lt. Kanevsky’s jet flight wove an impregnable defense about the area and prevented enemy MIG jet fighters from interfering with the low level attack planes from Task Force 77 as they leveled targets in the North Korean city. It was the first occasion since the outbreak of hostilities on June 25, 1950, that United Nations aircraft have approached the Russian border in the vicinity of the jet center of Vladivostok. Lt. Kanevsky, a jet fighter pilot attached to fighter squadron 23 aboard the aircraft carrier Essex, also took part in the massive, daylight, low-level strike at the North Korean capitol of Pyongyang on August 29."
Joseph married Jeanne Mary Stolcis in 1953 in California. In November 1955, Joseph was a lieutenant in the Naval Air Force on active duty with the industrial relations section in Pasadena.
In addition to his wife and children, he was survived by his father William, a composing room printer for the Racine Journal-Times, mother Minnie, and two sisters, Mrs. Edward (Ann) Mitchell and Mrs. David (Frances) Barstow. Joseph’s parents were born in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 1913. In 1942, his sister Ann was special attorney for the U.S. department of justice case regarding a new powder plant erected at Merrimac, Wisconsin. In March, 1943, his sister Frances was industrial information secretary of the Chicago YWCA and executive secretary of the Illinois child labor committee. She participated in a conference panel discussion on “Labor Legislation Affecting Women Workers in Industry.”
He was survived by his wife, Jeanne Mary, one son, and two daughters. (Information from September 1957 issue of Shipmate.)
Photographs
From The Journal Times on July 20, 1945
From The Journal Times on December 30, 1952
From The Journal Times on October 18, 1952
From the Journal Times on June 7, 1957
Distinguished Flying Cross
From Hall of Valor:
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Lieutenant, Junior Grade Joseph N. Kanevsky, United States Navy, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving with Fighter Squadron TWENTY-THREE (VF-23), in action against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on 17 October 1952.
General Orders: All Hands (January 1954)
Action Date: October 17, 1952
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Company: Fighter Squadron 23 (VF-23)
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