Hilda L. Solis: “I met four soldiers that had just returned from Iraq, about the same age as Francisco Martinez Flores, and their stories…”

“I met four soldiers that had just returned from Iraq, about the same age as Francisco Martinez Flores, and their stories were also heartening and compelling. They came back to their families, and I had a chance to meet them. Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez Flores, a young man of 21 years of age, did not come back. And people ask me, Congresswoman, why is it that you want to name a post office after this young man? He was not an elected official. He was very young in life and was just barely starting out in his own career and finding his way. One of the things I have to tell the Members is that what when I read the tragic story of his death, one of the first soldiers to die among those in California, I was very moved, very moved to see his family and the community of Duarte that I now represent in the 32nd Congressional District come together. I attended his funeral where there were 1,200 people from outside of that city who came to gather to pay witness to this young man who had served and given his life.”