Service and Sacrifice

Staff Sergeant Michael Robert Torres was born on June 28, 1950, in El Paso, Texas, to Roberto and Carmen Torres. He grew up in a close-knit family on the west side of El Paso, the second of five children. His father worked the railroads; his mother kept the household and the family together with equal skill. Michael was known in the neighborhood as the kid who was always moving — playing ball, fixing bikes, looking for the next thing to do. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1968 at the age of eighteen and served two tours in Vietnam, seeing combat in Quang Nam Province in 1969 and 1970. He was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in action in April 1970, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" for valor during a firefight in which he shielded two fellow Marines from enemy fire. He completed his service in 1974 at the rank of Staff Sergeant. Michael returned home to El Paso and spent the next thirty years working as a machinist at Phelps Dodge, raising a family, and quietly carrying the weight that many Vietnam veterans carried alone. In his fifties, he found community and healing through the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Tucson, where he had relocated with his wife in 1998. He became a chapter officer, a peer support volunteer, and an advocate for veterans seeking VA benefits — helping dozens of fellow veterans navigate a system that had not always been easy to navigate. He was a devoted husband, a proud father, and a grandfather who showed up for everything. He coached youth football for eight years, built a workshop in his garage that became the neighborhood gathering place, and made the best carne asada anyone in Tucson had ever tasted. Staff Sergeant Michael Robert Torres passed away on July 10, 2026, at the age of 75. Semper Fidelis.

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