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| Name: | Francis James Feneley |
| Rank/Branch: | O3/US Air Force |
| Unit: | (unknown) Cam Ranh Bay |
| Date of Birth (DOB): | 30 January 1930 |
| Home City of Record: | Curtis, MI |
| Loss Date: | 11 May 1966 |
| Country of Loss: | North Vietnam |
| Loss Coordinates: | 174257N 1063457E (XE678593) |
| Status (in 1973): | Killed/Body Not Recovered |
| Category: | 3 |
| Acft/Vehicle/Ground: | F105D |
| Refno: | 0337 |
| Other Personnel in Incident: | (none missing) |
| Source: | Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998. |
| Remarks: | |
| Synopsis: | |
| Captain Francis Feneley was returning from what was to have been his last mission in Vietnam when he was shot down in the Gulf of Tonkin north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
In his last letter home, dated two days before the apparent crash, he told his mother he expected to be home for her birthday on May 12. Feneley also wrote that he regretted that his squadron was not being allowed to bomb key targets he felt would have hastened the end of the war. Feneley was based at Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam, a huge U.S. military installation northeast of Saigon that is now used by the Soviet Navy as a long-sought warm water port to base its fleet. U.S. Air Force records do not list his unit of assignment. His military occupational specialty (MOS) is classified. The career Air Force pilot was shot down only two months before North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf. The U.S. retaliated with what was claimed at the time to be the first aircraft bombing of North Vietnam. Feneley's F105D was part of a Rolling Thunder mission on May 11, 1966. As he was returning from the mission, and was on the coast of North Vietnam, over Quang Binh Province, approximately halfway between the cities of Dong Hoa and Quang Khe, Feneley's aircraft was struck by hostile fire and immediately had a flame out. The aircraft was observed to impact in water. By May 27, the Air Force had accumulated what they felt was sufficient evidence that Feneley was killed at the time of the crash of his aircraft, that they classified him Presumed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. No trace of him was ever found. Francis Feneley was not among 591 American prisoners released at the end of American involvement in the Vietnam war. Military experts expressed their dismay that "hundreds" who were expected to be released were not. Since that time, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities believe there are large numbers of them alive in captivity. Francis Feneley's family has not given up the quest to discover exactly what happened to him on May 11, 1966. His mother is convinced that he may some day come home alive. She refused the Air Force's offer of a memorial service saying she will not have services for her son until she knows he is dead and has his body. Like the majority of POW/MIA family members, she is prepared for the worst, hopeful for the best. She wants the truth, and wants her son home. |
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All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided by OpJC have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates. |
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| FRANCIS JAMES FENELEY
MAJ - O3 - Air Force - Regular 36 year old Married, Caucasian, Male Date of Birth - Jan 30, 1930 From CURTIS, MICHIGAN Length of service 14 years. His tour of duty began on May 11, 1966 Casualty was on May 11, 1966 in NORTH VIETNAM Hostile, died while missing FIXED WING - PILOT AIR LOSS, CRASH AT SEA Body was not recovered Panel 07E - - Line 48 |
Source: The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page. |
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