South Whidbey’s Col. Richard “Buck” Francisco Marine Corps League Detachment 1451 is still looking for a few more good men and women.

Any Marines or Navy corpsman who served alongside Marines are welcome to join, with the requirement being that they provide their DD 214 documentation showing they received either an honorable or general discharge.

Ed Donery, co-founder of Oak Harbor’s Major Megan McClung Detachment 1210, formed a new detachment for South Whidbey and Coupeville Marines last year.

Marine Corps Leagues serve the community through ceremonial events, funerals and parades. Whidbey’s Leagues are known for the hauls of toys, bicycles and gifts they collect at Christmas and deliver to organizations.

The South Whidbey group is named after Richard “Buck” Francisco, who died in 2016. Francisco was a longtime resident with a long list of military and community service achievements, including flying more than 4,000 hours in a Vought F4U Corsair in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

He started the Forgotten Children’s Fund, an-all volunteer organization that purchases, wraps, and delivers gifts to needy children and their families. It now operates the M-Bar-C Ranch in Freeland where disadvantaged children and their families stay awhile enjoying an Old West-style respite.

Francisco also co-founded Major Megan McClung Detachment 1210 with Donery in 2005.

“He was a war hero,” said Donery, Sergeant at Arms of Detachment 1451.

For more information, contact Ed Donery at 360-331-3721.