The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the February 2022 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of Captain Francis J. Dougherty. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Captain Dougherty at the Vinson Hall Retirement Community in the Summer of 2019 and again in 2021. 

For the past nine years, the United States Navy Memorial has honored, recognized, and celebrated the service of Veterans and family members in this publication. The story of Captain Francis J. Dougherty encompasses memories of the Homefront of World War Two, the air war over Vietnam, and the uneasy standoff between the United States Navy and Soviet Navy during the Cold War.

A unique element to Captain Dougherty’s story is the outpouring of admiration from the men he commanded. After the sixteen interview segments of Captain Dougherty’s story were posted on the Navy Memorial Interview Archive site, past crew members shared memories and directly messaged the Navy Memorial, recalling their time with Captain Dougherty. Personalized messages to their former officer included, “Hand salute sir. One of the best COs I ever had in my 10 yrs of service.” “He led by example and we loved him for it.” “Capt. Dougherty put his men first and was the definition of an exemplary Naval Officer.” The following story highlights key elements of the service history of Captain Doughtery. After reading the story, we invite you to view the sixteen interview segments which showcase his early childhood experiences through his final service memories.

Captain Dougherty was born into a Navy Family in Pennsylvania and learned at an early age of his Father's service in Naval Aviation Supply during the Second World War. His Father was away from home for six to eight months at a time until the conclusion of the war. During the war, his family moved to different locations when his Father received new assignments. One duty assignment was near Atlantic City, New Jersey. He recalled, "As a little kid, walking on the beaches, I remember the oil patches from the sunken oil tankers from the U-Boats... it was an interesting time, people talked about the war all the time and as a young little boy I picked up information that was being shared. My impression at the time was a large National effort to support our guys overseas."

Upon graduating from High School, he attended Gettysburg College and decided to serve in the United States Navy. He shared, "I wanted to fly and passed all of the tests, but at the time there would be a six- or seven-year obligation. At twenty one or twenty two, seven years sounded like an eternity to me. I decided to not go to flight school initially." With flying in the Navy in the back of his mind, he was assigned to the USS Coral Sea CVA 43 and participated in two Western Pacific Cruises before returning to civilian life as a commercial fisherman. While fishing one day, two F-4 Phantoms flew overhead and the sight of the two jets prompted him to revisit his objective to fly. Dougherty returned to the Navy and began the process to earn his place in the Naval Air Forces. 

            After successfully completing the training, he was assigned to VF 11 on the USS Forrestal CV 59. His first deployment on the USS Forrestal was to the South China Sea during the Vietnam War. He shared memories of missions over Vietnam to disrupt North Vietnamese forces on the ground. “We would look for targets we could drop bombs on and the shipyard at Haiphong Harbor.” The mission of the USS Forrestal would change dramatically on July the 29th, 1967. Dougherty shared, "We had already gotten up around 5:30... and launched a mission to Haiphong at 8:00. We came back from that and we were getting ready to go on our second flight of the day at 10:52 in the morning. It was a dramatic experience... An auxiliary rocket ignited and hit a fuel tank under an A-4. That set off a detonation of all the other munitions on all the other airplanes. It looked like the whole flight deck was going to blow up. We felt the ship turning into the wind. It was a grizzly scene, the repair party that ran across the flight deck were all killed by one of the bombs that went off." He shared vivid reflections of the minutes, hours, and days following the flight deck fire aboard the USS Forrestal. He commented, “ It was an interesting time, a lot of guys did a lot of heroic things." Upon returning home, he got married before the USS Forrestal was ordered back to sea.

After extensive repairs, the USS Forrestal participated in a Mediterranean Cruise. After successfully representing the flag at different ports and maintaining the balance of power with the Soviet Navy, the Forrestal returned home. Captain Dougherty was then ordered to VF 101, a training squadron for F-4 Phantoms, based out of Key West Florida. After the squadron was moved back to NAS Oceana, his next sea duty assignment would be with VF 31 on the USS Saratoga CV 60. Aboard the Saratoga, Dougherty would return to combat missions over Vietnam. He shared detailed memories of the air war and efforts of the U.S. Navy to disrupt North Vietnamese troop movements and supplies. 

            When the Saratoga returned home, Dougherty would receive orders to the Armed Forces Staff College. After successfully completing his coursework, new orders were waiting for him to command VF 14 which was attached to the USS John F. Kennedy. Little would he know, in a few short years, he would be named the Executive Officer of the USS John F. Kennedy. Based on his extemporary actions as the XO and successfully screening for command, Dougherty would be named the Commanding Officer of the USS Concord AFS 5 from 1983 to 1985. The Concord was responsible for supplying the fleet with fresh food and equipment. Dougherty made it his mission to ensure that the freshest food made it to the officers and crew of the ships he was responsible for. His final shore assignments would be on the East Coast at Weapons Station Earle and service as Deputy Aviation Plans and Requirements from 1988 until 1990. 

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Captain Francis J. Dougherty, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service

To view this interview please visit the Vinson Hall Veterans Collection on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service page.