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<\/a>John O\u2019Brien, this year\u2019s proud recipient of the Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin Distinguished Community Service Award.<\/p>\nWhen John O\u2019Brien\u2019s Navy service ended, he was filled with optimism for\u00a0the future. His optimism was rewarded 14 years later, when he returned to Coronado and began a successful homebuilding career. While in Coronado, John met and got to know one man who continued to inspire him over the years. That man was Vice Admiral Ed Martin.<\/p>\n
It seems extra special then, that this year, O\u2019Brien is the recipient of the \u201cVice Admiral Edward H. Martin Distinguished Community Service Award,\u201d and O\u2019Brien couldn\u2019t feel more honored.<\/p>\n
The brainchild of former Coronado City Manager Blair King (in 2021), the first award was presented to Carrie Downey. Subsequent recipients have included Tom Crosby, Chuck Lucas, Jim Jamison, John Sexton, and now John O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n The award is intended to honor a current Coronado resident who best exemplifies service to country and community, as characterized by the career and service of long-time Coronado resident Ed Martin.<\/p>\n Specifically, the award recognizes a former member of the military \u2014 retired, reserve, or National Guard. The judges presenting this award look for outstanding community participation and leadership of a sustained and consequential nature.<\/p>\n Each year the award is decided upon by members of the Coronado Chamber of Commerce. Nominations, evaluations and selections are confidential. A sub-committee of the Coronado City Council then selects a recipient. This year\u2019s prestigious award was presented to John O\u2019Brien on Sunday, August 23, at Concert in The Park, by Mayor John Duncan, as thousands looked on and cheered.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien is a 1969 graduate of the US Naval Academy. During that time, he was assigned to the Royal New Zealand Navy on an exchange cruise. He arrived in Coronado the week the Coronado Bridge opened, in August of 1969.<\/p>\n His first duty was on board the USS Rogers, DD-876, a Navy destroyer. While on board Rogers, John did two Vietnam tours as gunnery officer, providing gun support for in-country Marines.<\/p>\n Following that tour, John received orders to Coronado, and Coastal River\u00a0Squadron One (CRS-1), a small combatant unit whose mission was to\u00a0provide boat support for Navy Special Warfare (both Navy SEALS and\u00a0Underwater Demolition Teams).<\/p>\n While at CRS-1, John served as officer in charge of PTF 22, a Vietnam-era PT boat and one of the last wooden boats to serve in the US Navy. \u201cI was transferred to the Philippines,\u201d said O\u2019Brien, \u201cwhere I may have had the best job in the Navy, serving as the Repair Officer in Subic Bay, repairing, testing, and performing sea trials on 80-ton mahogany PT boats.\u201d<\/p>\n As the war in Vietnam wound down and naval forces were being reduced, John left the Navy and began a real estate career with Coldwell Banker Commercial in Newport Beach. His real estate career eventually brought him back to Coronado (in 1989), where he developed a niche as a residential builder and developer in his favorite hometown.<\/p>\n John\u2019s community support runs far and wide. He has volunteered and served in a number of roles in Coronado community service, most often where he could offer his building and real estate expertise.<\/p>\n He was actively involved in the Affordable Housing Commission, the\u00a0Bayfront Zoning Committee, both Residential Standards Improvement\u00a0Committees, and the Historic Review Commission, including a term as chairman. O\u2019Brien also served on the Airport Land Use Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n Last year O\u2019Brien donated hundreds of small American flags for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to hand out at Memorial Day Services in Star Park, an event sponsored annually by local VFW Post 2422.<\/p>\n Under his banners, Flagship Properties and Flagg Coastal Homes, John\u00a0and his company have designed and built more than 80 homes. His homes\u00a0are sheer elegance, with a recognizable coastal theme.<\/p>\n One Flagg home was named \u201cHome of the Year\u201d by Coastal Living\u00a0Magazine. The home, located on Sunset Park, hosted 5,000 attendees and raised significant donations for the Navy SEAL Foundation.<\/p>\n John has also hosted a Vietnam Veterans Day reception at Flagg\u2019s offices in Coronado since 2022, and now works as a Docent at the newly-opened Navy SEAL Museum across the bay in San Diego. His original partner at Flagg (Mark Blore) and the current CEO of Flagg (Brien Gilhooly) are both former SEALS.<\/p>\n \u201cEd Martin was a real hero of mine,\u201d said O\u2019Brien. After receiving notice that he was selected as this year\u2019s recipient, John contacted the National League of POW Families in DC and ordered a replica POW\/MIA bracelet inscribed:<\/p>\n \u201cLCDR EDWARD MARTIN USN \u201cI can\u2019t begin to describe what an honor it is for me to receive the Rear Admiral Edward Martin Distinguished Service Award,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cI intend to wear the bracelet, as a daily reminder of him, for the year that I am the recipient.<\/p>\n \u201cNeedless to say, I\u2019m a huge fan of Ed Martin\u2019s. For someone who spent six years in a prisoner of war camp, to be that positive, that friendly, that excited about life, is so impressive.<\/p>\n \u201cI was fortunate to get to know Ed and his wife Sherry while attending Christ Church here in Coronado, and later, when the Coronado Historical Association honored POWs and their spouses. I continue to be amazed at how well they both were able to set his POW-past aside and look to the future. The other thing I liked about Ed Martin is that he was always impeccably dressed. I never saw him without a pair of perfectly shined Penny Loafers,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cAdmirals Martin and Stockdale, as with all of the former POWs I had the privilege to meet, had the same aura around them,\u201d remembered O\u2019Brien. \u201cIf you didn\u2019t know their past, you would never guess what they had been through \u2014 six years of captivity and torture. They all seemed to be so positive, so engaging, so outgoing.<\/p>\n<\/a>Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin.<\/p>\n<\/a>Mayor John Duncan presents the Ed Martin Distinguished Community Service Award to John O\u2019Brien at Concert In The Park.<\/p>\n<\/a>A young John O\u2019Brien is seen in these images while working in Subic Bay, Philippines on 80-ton mahogany PT Boats.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>While serving in the U.S. Navy, John O\u2019Brien was stationed in the Philippines and tasked with maintaining and sea trialing the last of the wooden PT Boats.<\/p>\n<\/a>John O\u2019Brien and his family, from left, Kristina Vaculik-O\u2019Brien (Sean\u2019s wife), Sean O\u2019Brien, Carrie O\u2019Brien, John O\u2019Brien, Colette O\u2019Brien (Coco). Both Sean and Coco attended school in Coronado from K through 12.<\/p>\n<\/a>Displays at the Navy SEAL Museum, where John O\u2019Brien serves as a Docent.<\/p>\n
7-9-1967 RELEASED 3-4-1973\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>One of the actual POW bracelets worn by tens of thousands of Americans during the end of the Vietnam War Era.<\/p>\n