Marine veteran’s stoic march is for those “who didn’t make it back” from Vietnam

For the last 33 years, Fresno Veterans Day Parade spectators have tried to get the attention of retired Marine Sgt. Frank Rentería as he marches the parade route alone.

He won’t smile.

He won’t wave back.

He won’t acknowledge friends.

Even parade announcers have failed to get his name.

It was the same at Friday’s Veterans Day Parade.

“I don’t wave to anybody. People call me by name and I won’t acknowledge them. I’ve been doing this forever,” said the 75-year-old Rentería, who moved from his native Fresno to Salinas about two years ago.

His stoic demeanor is his way of acknowledging those who didn’t return from the battlefield.

“I dedicate my march to young veterans, men and women in Vietnam who didn’t make it back alive, and to all the ones who came back disabled,” said Rentería, who signed up for the Marines when he was 17 after his mother gave him written permission.

He saw action in Vietnam, and came back a changed man.

“As you get older, you realize that just like the gangs (the military) wants you young and naive,” he said. “You realize you were just being used, and most of us were minority and low income who had nothing else really going for you.”

It wasn’t easy, however.

“When I came back, like a lot of veterans, I didn’t know where to go, what to do. I was in disarray for years,” said Rentería. “I hit a bottom point. I couldn’t go down any lower and make excuses for the jobs I was holding.”

He went back into the service, thinking the military was his future.

“I decided not to,” he said. “The Marine Corps gave me the one thing I was missing in life, and that was discipline.”

“I chose education because I thought that’s my way out of the field,” he said.

Rentería went to Fresno State where he earned a bachelor’s and masters’ degree in social work and went into counseling. He went from D’s and F’s in high school to almost straight-A work in college.

Rentería, who was born into a family of seven siblings, was the first Latino to be named social worker of the year at Fresno County.

He became a counselor at West Hills Community College after he earned his masters. He interned at the women’s facility in Chowchilla where he was known as “Mr. Frank.”

Rentería, who retired in 2008, remains fit. He marches in the parade in his “boot camp issued” uniform. He shines the same leather boots he wore after he enlisted.

He has competed the last 17 years in the National Veterans Golden Age games in cycling, swimming and track. He plans to compete again next year.

The stoic marcher wants the fallen to be remembered.

When the pandemic postponed the parade, Rentería showed up in full uniform in front of Fresno City Hall, gave a prayer and a salute, and walked the route like he normally would. No smiles. No waves.

People still recognized him.

“I’m honored that they call out my name or thank me for my service,” said Rentería, “but that’s not why I’m marching.”

Parade highlights

Ge Pao Xiong, a Warrant Officer One assigned to the 1-140th Assault Helicopter Battalion, was this year’s grand marshall.

The Blackhawk pilot was among the National Guard who flew in to rescue hundreds of trapped campers, hikers and residents from the 2020 Creek Fire in the Sierra Nevada National Forest.

Miss Fresno County 2011 Valerie Salcedo, who usually performs the national anthem at veterans events, was the organizer for this year’s festivities.

Among those who spoke at the ceremony prior to the march were Congressman Jim Costa, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, and Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama.

Fresno’s Veterans Parade is the largest west of the Mississippi River.