James V. Fiorelli, (1940-1994) The late Colonel Fiorelli fulfills the criteria for aerial gallantry, aeronautical achievement, and the importance of aviation in Delaware.
Born on July 31, 1940 in Wilmington, he was the son of Dominic and Margaret Fiorelli. Raised in the Canby Park neighborhood there, he was a member of St. Elizabeth’s parish and went on to Salesianum High School where he was a standout varsity football player.
He led life to the fullest with a marvelous sense of humor, describing himself to others as a “short, squatty guy”. Fiercely competitive, he satisfied his ambition to fly by attending the United States Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in science and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Upon graduation, he attended primary pilot training school at Webb Air Force Base in Texas and then moved on for combat crew training in the F-100 Super Saber at Luke AFB near Phoenix, Arizona.
In 1966 he was ordered to South Vietnam where he commenced twenty months of combat duty assigned to the 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron. There he met his future wife, Mary C. O’Neill, a combat nurse there at Bien Hoa Air Base.
Jim Fiorelli flew 490 combat missions and 58 combat sorties with the “Misty” forward air controllers, an elite organization whose mission was to interdict enemy men and equipment being shipped into South Vietnam.
He earned the Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal with 26 oak leaf clusters. He was also an F-16 flying instructor at the Tucson Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, where, as the first F-16 Squadron Commander at Tucson, formed the brand new 148th Fighter Squadron- The "Kickin' Ass" Squadron.
He died of a heart attack in 1994 during a search mission in Arizona.
