Gerard Flood, Korean War Veteran, Dies at 75

He enjoyed Oklahoma and other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, the soothing sounds of Johnny Mathis and Irish tenors and the company of his Jack Russell terrier. But all of these were a respite to his true devotion.

Gerard Flood, a long-time Long Beach resident, was first and foremost a decorated Korean War veteran (U.S. Marines, 2nd Division) who devoted his time and energies to veterans’ causes.

“He spoke about the Korean War constantly,” said Kerri DeStefano, Flood’s daughter and a Long Beach resident. “Those were his glory days. And they were four years of his life, but the way he spoke about it you would think it was his whole life.”

Flood died in South Carolina on Oct. 25. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, Stephanie, three daughters and six grandchildren.

A lifetime member of V.F.W. Post 1384 in Long Beach, Flood served as the lodge’s vice commander and chaplain, and later he joined the Marines Corps League in Lynbrook.

During his earlier years, he would often visit veterans at VA hospital in Northport, as well as cemeteries to decorate the graves of fallen military men. 

Flood also decorated his car windows with American flags, and each he could be spotted in his signature red jacket in the processions at Memorial Day parades in Long Beach and at other military-related ceremonies.

“He was real patriotic,” DeStefano said. “I can’t say enough about that. If they told him to go back and fight now, he would go.”

Born in Brooklyn, Flood and his family later moved to Hollis, where he grew up. After his post-war honorable discharge from the Marines, he met and married Jean Burns, and the couple had a daughter, Kelly Flood.

After his divorce to Jean, Flood attended a party for divorcees and met Patricia McLaughlin. They married in 1972 and had two children together, Terrie DeFestano and Kim Feldman.

Flood lived in a bungalow on Oregon Street for more than 30 years. He earned his keep as the manager of a maintance crew for a company in Manhattan, and in his later years he worked in security.

When Patricia died in 1997 and Flood married Stephanie, the couple moved to Freeport in 2000. About eight years later they moved to Greenville, South Carolina.

“He was what we liked to call a tough, old Irish jock,” DeFestano said. “And he was the most patriotic person you could ever meet.”