The death of Freddy Morales, a Marine who fought in the Vietnam War veteran and an officer with the VFW and American Legion posts, has left the Ceres veterans community in mourning.
Morales, 76, passed away at his home in Ceres on Nov. 6 following a lengthy illness. He was laid to rest yesterday in the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella where he had performed countless honor guard ceremonies at the funerals of fellow veterans.
“Freddy was a really good guy,” said John Warren, a friend and fellow member of the VFW and American Legion, of which Morales had served as an officer. “He’s a great loss to all of the veterans out there, the veterans groups that he worked with and to the community. He was just a standup guy.”
Warren became acquainted with Morales when the two were chosen to serve on the mayor’s Veterans Banner Committee. The group was tasked to help draw up the criteria for veterans being honored on banners throughout downtown.
Morales had served as commander of the VFW and American Legion since moving to Ceres in 2007.
Last November Morales was honored by Stanislaus County as the “Veteran of the Year” in Supervisor Channce Condit’s District 5. It was the first time he’d been honored publicly for his 1967-1970 service in the U.S. Marine Corps which included a 13-month tour in Vietnam.
Three weeks after arriving in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, a Viet Cong rifle grenade exploded near Morales sending a piece of flying shrapnel into his face. Because there was no room aboard the medical chopper he was forced to walk back to the base. The surgeon didn’t want to chance removing the fragment from his face so he carried it through the rest of his life.
At the time the honor was bestowed on him, Supervisor Condit called Morales an American hero who “served our country honorably but continues his unwavering commitment to a lifetime of service present in his continued service through volunteerism throughout Stanislaus County.”
Born March 11, 1949 in Hanford to farm laborer parents, Morales grew up on a farm near Kettleman City and graduated from Avenal High School before enlisting in the Marines with the overshadowing Vietnam Conflict. He had difficulty finding work since many employers were reluctant to hire young men of drafting age since they could be pulled away at any time so he decided to enlist.
He remained fighting in Vietnam until his 13-month tour was over.
In 2024 Morales told the Courier: “We think we were pretty well trained but we weren’t trained to face the actual bullets flying around you, the explosions around you and seeing your buddies shot and killed. We lost several of our Marine buddies in the first month we were there. We suffered a lot of casualties.”
The worst loss occurred on his 19th birthday, on March 11, 1968. Morales, part of a four-man machine gun fire team, was scheduled to go on patrol but was told he could stay back that night to celebrate his birthday. His three buddies were killed in a firefight.
He didn’t celebrate birthdays for the remainder of his life for the horrible memory associated with March 11.
Morales felt the entire Vietnam War was a complete waste, saying America made the same mistakes that France did. He summed the experience to “kill as many Viet Cong as we could ‘cause we couldn’t claim territory we conquered.”
Morales earned a number of awards and medals during his service, including the National Defense Service Medal, Rifle Marksmanship Badge, Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with one service star, a Purple Heart medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.
To cope with the post-traumatic stress, Morales turned to the bottle, but he decided to quit drinking for good in 1990. After his divorce in 1995, his job in the oil industry took him from Lemoore to Stanislaus County where he met his second wife, Lupe.
Morales belonged to at least four veterans’ organizations – the American Legion Ceres Post 491, Ceres Post 10293 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American GI Forum (PFC Oscar Sanchez Modesto Chapter), and the Stanislaus County Veteran Advisory Commission representing District 5.
The death of Freddy Morales, a Marine who fought in the Vietnam War veteran and an officer with the VFW and American Legion posts, has left the Ceres veterans community in mourning.
