Honoree: Timothy C. Fennelly
Timothy Fennelly proudly served our nation from 1964 to 1968 in the United States Navy. Tim was born in June 1946 in Dearborn, Michigan and was raised in Detroit. He spent his early years growing up with the music of Motown. In addition to his parents Tim had seven brothers and a sister, so growing up in his household was quite an adventure. Tim graduated from Lincoln Park High School in 1964 and decided that his patriotic calling was to serve his country. He followed two of his brothers into the Navy in July right after graduation.
Like so many Navy veterans, Tim attended boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Station. While there, he was selected as training company commander mostly because, in his opinion, his booming voice was great for counting cadence and giving commands! After boot camp, he volunteered for submarine training at Groton, Connecticut, but because a car accident damaged his ear drums, Tim could never pass the submarine pressure tests for submarine service.
In January 1965, Tim was assigned to the U.S.S Newman K. Perry (DD 883), a refurbished Gearing class destroyer in the Boston Ship Yard. The ship’s first assignment was to be the flagship for destroyer squadron anti-submarine operations (DESRON). Tim went from trying to serve on U.S. subs to tracking and destroying enemy subs. After a shakedown cruise in Cuban waters, the Newman K. Perry was assigned to the Mediterranean Sea with approximately 200 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ships. Their assignment was to protect aircraft carriers from foreign subs and to rescue downed NATO pilots. During operations one night, the destroyer collided with the carrier Shangri- La, resulting in 40 feet of damage to the bow and the loss of U.S. sailors. The crippled ship had to sail in reverse all the way to a ship yard in Naples, Italy for repair.
In May 1966, the ship received orders for Vietnam. After stops in Cuba, the Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Japan and the Philippines, the ship arrived in the Mekong Delta at Phu Qua Island, providing fire support for Army ground operations. The Newman K. Perry was now fully engaged in the “brown water navy” of the Vietnam War. In November 1966, the ship and crew were exposed to Agent Orange. Fortunately, Tim has not suffered any ill effects from this experience, but many shipmates did.
Tim recalls an incident when the destroyer was returning from Vietnam and anchored outside of the Suez Canal waiting for their turn to transit the canal. The crew was enjoying a quiet evening on the deck watching an Annette Funicello movie when the alarm sounded throughout the ship. This was no drill; hostilities were about to break out in the Middle East and the Pentagon wanted ships out of that confined area as quickly as possible. Tim never saw the end of that movie.
Tim returned from Vietnam in June 1967 and while visiting a shipmate from Riverhead, he met his wife, Elizabeth from the wonderful town of Hampton Bays. He was honorably discharged from the Navy as an E-5 in April 1968. Tim left all thoughts of Michigan behind and called Hampton Bays his home. He remembers the way Vietnam veterans were treated after returning from Nam and is glad to see recent vets today are treated with more respect.
One of his most pleasant memories of his Navy service is the camaraderie he shared with his ship mates on the Newman K. Perry. Upon arriving home, Tim joined the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, where he rose to the rank of sergeant as a Park Ranger. In 1972, Tim joined the ranks of the Southampton Police Department where he served for 20 years before retiring as a detective. In his retirement, Tim started his own security company which he ran for 37 years.
In 2000, Tim married his second wife, Susan. Tim is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and has been a member of the Rotary Club of Hampton Bays.
Tim has three sons and a daughter and six grandchildren. As an old retired Navy Chief once said, “life is good.”