Daniel Flores would have been 70 years old Sunday.
His name, along with thousands of others, was on a mobile Vietnam memorial wall able to be viewed at the Miramar Air Show.
The air show wrapped up on Sunday, and this year there was a special remembrance for Vietnam vets who for many years after they came home did not get the recognition they deserved.
“In a time of upheaval and tension inside the country you were not necessarily welcomed home with open arms,” a speaker told the families of fallen service members in front of the wall Sunday.
Flores, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 13, graduated from high school in San Diego. He was killed in action in 1970. He was 22 years old.
Nearly five decades later his family still mourns his loss.
“He loved this country,” Flores’ niece, Amanda Shapouri, said. “I feel extremely proud for someone who came in so young, and developed a love for his country, and wanted to serve.”
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The Flores family, like the other military families in attendance, hopes to keep Daniel's heroic story alive for generations to come.
