Former Vietnam Era Marine Continues to Serve Ferndale

Just out of Lincoln and , Frank Flores joined the Marines.

His older brother Jose had joined a few years earlier, and Frank shouldered his responsibility proudly. Though he wasn’t called to front lines of battle, he and his companions stood ready to take the call.

“I joined the Marine Corps, the 2nd Marines,” Flores said. “I went into the service in October of 1970 and got stationed in San Diego for boot camp, and then they sent us to North Carolina.”

Flores’ battle action differed from that of most veterans – it was “political,” he said.

“Basically, the only action we did see was the Democratic National Convention that was held in Florida,” he said. “Our unit was put on standby to help out the armed forces down there. And there were other details we had being a standby unit.”

Flores served from 1970-72 and then joined the Marine Reserves, where he served for 19 years.

“The war was de-escalating, and (President Richard) Nixon was sending the troops home at that time to hopefully end the war in 1973,” Flores said. “So instead of sending us to Vietnam, they send us over to North Carolina to make room for the troops that were coming home to San Diego.”

His tour of duty in the Reserves ended right after the Gulf War in 1991. His unit was activated and was sent to Fort Custer, near Battle Creek, to guard the premises there when the troops were sent overseas.

After 10 years working in maintenance at Credit Union One in Ferndale, the 60-year-old is now semiretired, but his military duties haven’t ended.

“I’m what is called a (the American Legion #330) Post advocate, which is like the secretary of the organization, and I’m the president of the Memorial Home, so I handle mostly a lot of the veterans affairs,” Flores said. “I also handle a lot of the veteran affairs at the museum, and I’m a sergeant-at-arms of the American Legion.

"I do have several titles,” he said.

As a member of the American Legion for the past 35 years, , missing only three when he was living in California. The Ferndale native also spends a lot of his time working on local American Legion programs. He's chairman of the POW/MIA committee and active in the legion's programs for homeless vets and scholarships.

“The weather should be nice and warm (on Memorial Day), and we hope it brings out a nice crowd,” he said. “They have a nice memorial service afterward. If you haven’t seen it, you should come down and see the Honor Guard and service for all the fallen vets.”

Flores has also been recognized for his work with veterans, which helped earn him the Ferndale Elk of the Year Award for 2011.

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