by The Hon. Francisco Pedro Briseño

Today, I’m very fortunate to serve as the Senior Judge and the longest serving Superior Court Judge in the history of Orange County. I would not be here but for my service in the Marine Corps. A good friend is fond of saying “better to be lucky than good,” a phrase that sums up my life.

When I was 17 I made the most important decision of my life, unbeknownst to me—I joined the Marines. A poster of a young Marine Officer at El Camino Junior College with the motto “You too can become an Officer if you have a degree” did the trick. College was difficult financially and academically to the point I would have abandoned the effort but for the need for a degree to become an Officer.

I graduated and was commissioned in June 1961 at Long Beach State. After a three-year tour as an infantry officer with 2/9 and 1/3 including a 16-month tour overseas at Okinawa, I was assigned Provost Marshal at the Marine Air Station in Tustin, California. This afforded me the opportunity to go to night school at Loyola Law School. The Marines allowed me to stay at one post, even after Vietnam broke out, for four years so I could complete night law school at Loyola with the clear proviso I only had one time to pass the Bar examination and then I would go to Vietnam—a commitment they lived up to: I took the Bar in August 1968 and was on my way to WESTPAC in September 1968.
Family, Marines, and Vietnam

I was married in 1964 and had two daughters in 1965 and 1967. The most difficult time for me was not going to Vietnam, but saying goodbye to my daughters when they were one and three years old—prime time when you are a young dad. Saying goodbye to them was almost impossible. The other hard part was, to my surprise, my dad coming to see me just before we loaded aboard the midnight flight from El Toro. My dad is the best man I have ever met but he had one shortcoming: he never attended any of the milestones of my life, including my wedding. So, his appearance that night told me that he had concluded there was a good chance I would not return—a sobering thought. 1968 was the bloodiest year in Vietnam. The United States suffered 10,000 deaths; the highest of the war. I should also note that it is the family that carries the heaviest burden when one is deployed to war. Each time the news reports a rocket or mortar attack they believe you are involved. Each day they wake up with anxiety and go to sleep with worry.

Tanks Not Infantry
Only in the Marines would an infantry officer be assigned to tanks. No one is less mechanical than me. My car breaks down, I call AAA. Upon checking in to the First Marine Division at Danang, Vietnam, the Adjutant promptly sends me to First Tanks to serve as commanding officer (CO) of “A” Company First AT’S, a unit that had 15 ONTOS (a tracked vehicle with six 106 mm recoilless rifles). The company also had responsibility for two bridges and three combat outposts. Three months later I was promoted to Major and was assigned company commander of H&S Company First Tanks. I was so involved that I lost track of the Bar until I received notice of a true miracle—I had passed the Bar! The Tank Battalion CO swore me in, in Vietnam December 1968. Thereafter I called the Division Adjutant to inquire about being reassigned from infantry to JAG. An inquiry that brought a terse “you came over as an infantry officer, you go back an infantry officer” in true Marine tradition.

Any Judge will tell you it is an honor and privilege to serve this community as a Trial Judge. At times the proceedings are egregious and people are not at their best, but the chance to apply yourself to matters that require your best efforts and occupy a position where each day you learn from others is a special gift . . . all as a result of a decision I made when I was 17.

Semper Fidelis
USMC

Hon. Francisco P. Briseño, Judge Superior Court of California, County of Orange. Judge Francisco Pedro Briseño served in the Marines: USMC Reserves—1957-1961; Private—Sergeant; Service Number 1660981; 15th Rifle Company Santa Monica USMC Active Duty—1961-1969; Lieutenant—Major; Service Number 082529; Infantry, 1st and 9th Marine Regiment, Provost Marshal, Tustin Air Station, 1964-1968; Company Commander, Company “A” First AT’S. First Tank Battalion, First Marine Division, Company Commander; H&S Company, First Tanks, MACV, Vietnam, (1968-1969), USMC Reserves 1972-1996; JAG 4th Marine Air Wing, El Toro; Captain—Colonel, Deputy District Attorney, Orange County, 1969-1977; Municipal Court Judge, Orange County, 1977-1979; Superior Court Judge, Orange County, 1979-present.