Francis E. Meloy, Jr.

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Francis Edward Meloy, Jr. (March 28, 1917 – June 16, 1976) was a U.S. diplomat assassinated in Beirut in 1976.

Meloy was born in Washington, D.C. 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, and Robert O. Waring, the U. S. Economic Counselor, were on their way to present their 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 a short time later in mainly Muslim west Beirut, which was then controlled by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's guerrillas.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by John Hugh Crimmins	United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic July 1969 – August 1973	Succeeded by Robert A. Hurwitch
Preceded by William G. Bowdler	United States Ambassador to Guatemala February 1974 – April 1976	Succeeded by Davis E. Boster
Preceded by G. McMurtrie Godley	United States Ambassador to Lebanon June, 1976 – June 16, 1976	Succeeded by Richard Bordeaux Parker