Joe Kennedy was not shot down (“Now Post Time,” May 7).

I flew B-17s during the war and was part of a top-secret project called Aphrodite, which included Kennedy and other personnel.

In this project a mother ship would guide an explosive-laden drone into a target. Then, after transferring control to the mother ship, a pilot and copilot would bail out.

We manned the navigation ship, which would fly to make sure the target, in this case the launching pens for V-1 rockets in Pas De Calais, France, was clear. The drone blew up over England before Kennedy and the co- pilot could bail out.

The B-24 bombers that Kennedy flew did not have wingmen.

Peter K. Inglima
Huntington