William Frash, 91; Marine veteran, avocado rancher, novelist
deb...@comcast.net
By Jack Williams
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 20, 2006
Nearly 60 years ago, Bill Frash was entrusted with an unusually
sensitive and complex assignment: transferring the Marine
Corps-operated Miramar air base to the Navy.
Aware of the possible pitfalls, which could lead to court martial if
the assignment was botched, the then-Marine Corps lieutenant colonel
left nothing to chance.
But as he prepared Marine aviators for their new home at El Toro in
Orange County, a move that cleared the way for the Navy, there was one
piece of Miramar he refused to give up: a key to the main gate.
"Marines are taught to think ahead," he would say.
Fifty years later, in 1997, Col. Frash's role in the base transfer came
full circle.
This time he visited Miramar, key in tow, for a realignment ceremony
that marked the return of the base to the Marine Corps.
To mark the occasion, Col. Frash wrote the prologue to a book,
"Fightertown USA, A Tribute to NAS Miramar," and joined senior
officers for an honorary pass and review.
Col. Frash, a 22-year Marine Corps veteran, longtime North County
rancher and late-blooming novelist, died May 5 at Palomar Medical
Center in Escondido. He was 91.
The cause of death was complications from a second knee-replacement
surgery, said daughter Karen Hand.
For Col. Frash, the Miramar base had been a special place since spring
1942, when he was assigned there as executive officer for Marine
Fighter Squadron 122.
Originally known as Camp Kearny, a barren mesa where the Army infantry
trained in World War I, the land was purchased by the Navy in 1939.
Runways were built, with separate areas designated for the Navy and
Marine Corps. In 1946, with Col. Frash in command, the base was named
Miramar Marine Corps Air Station for the first time.
The base officially became Miramar Naval Air Station in 1952.
"In spite of all the other things he did in his life, he was
absolutely a Marine," Hand said. "That's what he always considered
himself."
Marine Corps themes were richly evident in Col. Frash's fiction
writing, which began in the late 1980s. "He wrote historical novels,
and his heroes were larger than life," Hand said. "I pushed him to
do an autobiography, and he wrote 'One Lone Marine,' which was
unpublished."
Col. Frash began writing manuscripts in longhand on yellow paper (he
would later type them on a computer keyboard) after being inspired by a
book on the history of Japan.
"I came to a chapter that outlined the direct historical conditions
of James Clavell's 'Shogun,' " he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in
1999. "I thought, well, I've got instances like that. Why not build
on those? They became the heart of my books."
The books, published between 1998 and 2001 by Lost Coast Press, were
titled "Is the Red Witch Dead," "Impending Peril," "Imminent
Engagement" and "Hunter Hunted."
He was writing a manuscript for another novel before he died, Hand
said.
William Mouris Frash was born April 21, 1915, at his parents' home in
the College Area.
He graduated from San Diego High School, attended San Diego State
College and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1937 from the
University of California Berkeley.
While attending college, he worked in Berkeley as an undercover police
officer, earning $150 a month.
After graduating, he worked for a year at General Electric in
Schenectady, N.Y. Then he received a Marine Corps commission. "His
father had served in World War I, and he had always been interested in
the military," Hand said.
Col. Frash earned his wings in Opa-Locka, Fla. When he arrived at
Miramar in 1942, the airfield had a 2,400-foot asphalt runway that had
been carved out of the countryside.
"We had airplanes in the brush all over the place," he said in a
1999 interview. "There were a number of crashes and fatalities. The
training made a real Christian out of me."
Although he went on to fly combat missions in the Pacific during World
War II, he felt unprepared.
"I didn't have enough training, but we needed to put forces in to
stop the advancing Japanese," he said. "It was a political decision
more than anything, and they didn't understand that that is the way you
are going to lose a lot of people."
Col. Frash returned to action in the Korean War, flying Corsairs. While
stationed in Korea, he suffered back and leg injuries after falling
when he walked into a trailer loaded with bombs in a dimly lit area.
The knee became increasingly unstable as he aged, and he underwent a
successful replacement surgery about 15 years ago.
After retiring from active duty in 1960, Col. Frash joined Aerojet
General Corp. in Sacramento as marketing director of its solid rocket
plant. In 1964, he transferred to Northrop Corp. in Hawthorne to market
twin-engine jet trainers.
His last civilian job was as executive recruiter for Heidrick &
Struggles in Los Angeles.
"The day he retired at age 65, he had a moving van in his
driveway," Hand said. His destination: a 20-acre avocado ranch in the
Valley Center area.
Col. Frash and his wife, Jeanette, had a home built on the property. It
was a high-maintenance retirement, one that Col. Frash welcomed. He
became a district commissioner for the California Avocado Commission, a
role in which he used his marketing experience to represent growers.
In 2001, the Frashes sold their ranch and moved to Rancho Bernardo.
Survivors include his wife, Jeanette H. Frash; daughters, Karen Hand
and Julieanne Frash, both of Pacific Palisades; son, Bill Frash of
Manhattan Beach; and six grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station chapel. A private family service is scheduled
for Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.
Donations are suggested to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, 825
College Blvd., Suite 102, PMB 609, Oceanside, CA 92057.