1st Lt. Felix Eugene Moncla, Jr.
"Gene"
Lt. Gene Moncla was born October 21, 1926 in Mansura, Louisiana. His father, Felix Moncla, Sr. was a high school science teacher and principal. His mother, Yvonne, was a seamstress and looked after the family for many years while Gene's father was hospitalized. Gene had two older sisters, Leonnie and Muriel.
Some time after his father was hospitalized, Gene's family moved to Moreauville, Louisiana and moved in with his mother's brother Herman Beridon and a great aunt. He attended high school in Moreauville where he excelled in athletics. He was popular with the girls in high school who voted him Prom King. On graduation, he attended Southwest Lousiana Institute on an athletic scholarship. There, he played football and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree.
After graduating, he enlisted in the US Army and served overseas in the post World War II occupation of Japan. Returning to the US, he enrolled at the University of Louisiana in New Orleans where he was studying to be a doctor. When the Korean War started in 1950, Gene enlisted in the USAF as an officer pilot trainee.
After spending a few months working at a desk job in Dallas, Gene was sent off to Connally Air Force Base in Waco, Texas for his basic pilot training. It was here that he met and married his wife, Bobbie Jean Coleman. Gene took his advanced pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas and further training on the F-89 at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. It was here that Gene and Bobbie had their first child, a son.
Gene and family moved to Madison, Wisconsin in July 1952. Gene and Bobbie had a daughter in Madison, who was five months old at the time of Gene's disappearance. The last time Gene's sister Leonnie saw Gene was the summer of 1953, when he had a brief stopover at Denver Airport, while flying a refit F-89C from California to Madison.
At the time of Gene's disappearance, he was looking forward to returning to civilian life and going back to school.
Plaque on Gene Moncla Memorial
at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Moreauville, Louisiana
Gene Moncla Memorial
