Francis E. Meloy, Jr. | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Lebanon | |
In office 1976 – June 16, 1976 |
|
President | Gerald Ford |
Preceded by | G. McMurtrie Godley |
Succeeded by | Earl Anthony Wayne |
United States Ambassador to Guatemala | |
In office February 7, 1974 – April 19, 1976 |
|
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | William G. Bowdler |
Succeeded by | Davis E. Boster |
United States Ambassador to Dominican Republic | |
In office July 16, 1969 – August 6, 1973 |
|
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | John Hugh Crimmins |
Succeeded by | Robert A. Hurwitch |
Personal details | |
Born |
Washington, D.C. |
March 28, 1917
Died | June 16, 1976 Beirut, Lebanon |
(aged 59)
Nationality | American |
Profession | Diplomat |
Francis Edward Meloy, Jr. (March 28, 1917 – June 16, 1976) was a U.S. diplomat assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon in 1976.
Meloy was born in Washington, D.C. on March 28, 1917 and served in the United States Navy during World War II.
He later become a Foreign Service officer, serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 1969 to 1973, to Guatemala from 1973 to 1976 and to Lebanon until his death. He was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon.
On June 16, 1976, in Beirut, Meloy, the incoming U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, accompanied by Robert O. Waring, the U.S. Economic Counselor, was on his way to present his credentials to the new Lebanese President. Meloy, Waring and their driver, Zuhair Mohammed Moghrabi, were kidnapped by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members as they crossed the Green Line, the division between Beirut's Christian and Muslim sectors. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found later that day on a beach in Ramlet al-Baida.