WW2 Fighter Ace/Biloxi Mayor Jerry O'Keefe dies at 93

http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article97325037.html



BILOXI, MISS.
Former Biloxi, Mississippi, Mayor Jerry O'Keefe, who received the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as a fighter pilot in World War II, died Tuesday. He was 93.

A granddaughter, Justice O'Keefe Duhon, told The Associated Press that he died early Tuesday.

As a young Marine pilot, O'Keefe shot down seven Japanese airplanes, The Sun-Herald reported

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In 1976, he revoked a parade permit the Ku Klux Klan had secured. Klan members wound up being arrested, City Hall was vandalized and a cross was burned on O'Keefe's front lawn.

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He also was a major donor to community causes, including the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, partially named in his honor. He raised millions of dollars for the museum and for other charities.

The gold medal, the highest honor bestowed by Congress, was presented to him in June 2015.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Joseph_O%27Keefe


On Okinawa in April 1945: Maj Axtell, CMC Vandegrift, MajGen Mulcahy, Maj Dorroh, and Lt O'Keefe (left to right)