Photo By Sgt. William Hester | Frankie Ramos’ family attends the wrestling tournament held at Imperial High School,...... read more read more
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Francisco “Frankie” Ramos Jr., an Imperial native, was a competitive wrestler, loving brother, son and U.S. Marine. Lance Cpl. Frankie Ramos passed away in a car accident, March 19, 2010, while serving as a recruiting aid in Imperial. This event devastated his family and community.
After spending two summers working with his wrestling coach, Frankie had built a strong bond with him. His coach wanted to bring honor and remembrance to Frankie and his family after the incident so he started a wrestling tournament in his name.
Imperial High School held the sixth Frankie Ramos Jr. JV Wrestling Tournament, Jan. 7, 2017. In the past, the tournament was held at other schools, but Mark Benedict, the present wrestling coach at Imperial High, felt the tournament needed to be brought home to fully honor Frankie.
“It helps my family a lot,” said Isaac Ramos, Frankie’s brother, who is currently attending college at University of California, San Diego while he waits to attend Officer Candidate School to pursue a future in the Marine Corps. “Everyone has busy lives, but when they have the tournament everyone comes together and it turns everything around. It’s not a depressing event. Everyone here is happy celebrating Frankie’s life.”
When Frankie’s mother, Adriana, found out it was coming home, she was enlightened.
“It’s really an honor,” said Benedict, a prior Corporal in the Marine Corps serving from 1989 to 1993. “It’s a tournament to commemorate someone that was not only a Marine, but a great friend and wrestler. We try to embody that in this tournament. He was all about service and helping others.”
After Frankie’s passing, Isaac wanted to continue to compete with Frankie based on his accomplishments.
“He always kept me going,” said Isaac. “He wanted me to go to school, but I wanted to become a Marine. I found out about Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and a way to go to school and do what I wanted.”
Marines from Recruiting Sub-Station El Centro, Recruiting Station San Diego, 12th Marine Recruiting District, Marine Corps Recruiting Command came out to show support with a pull-up bar challenge and by participating in the opening ceremony color guard.
“It makes me proud to see that Marines are still always there to honor their own,” said Benedict. “It’s been awhile since Frankie passed away, but the Marines haven’t forgotten. It makes me stand taller as a Marine myself to know the Marines today are carrying on those traditions we’ve had for more than 200 years.”
| Date Taken: | 01.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2017 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 221168 |
| Location: | IMPERIAL, CA, US |
| Hometown: | IMPERIAL, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 384 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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