Frank Sada Menchaca was born April 3, 1919. He served as a U.S. Army Military Police soldier assigned to Military Police Detachment No. 2 at Richland, Washington, where he helped guard the Hanford Engineer Works during and after the Manhattan Project. He originally trained with Company A, 744th Military Police Battalion beginning in 1942 before transferring into MP Detachment No. 2 in 1944.
At Hanford, MP Detachment No. 2 handled site security, access control, patrol duties, escorting personnel and materials, and responding to incidents across the restricted areas of the project. He described to us how he and other soldiers played baseball to pass the time, and how officers valued his knuckleball when the detachment played against other teams. He also mentioned an incident involving a parachute‑type device landing near the facility, consistent with the Japanese balloon bombs that were sent across the Pacific in an attempt to disrupt the West Coast during that period.
He rose to the rank of Corporal, and his Good Conduct Passes from 1945 and 1946 confirm his active duty in Richland during and after the Manhattan Project’s peak years. After his service, he returned to San Antonio, Texas, where he lived across the street from Fort Sam Houston Army Base for the rest of his life. He worked as a delivery courier for pharmacies and other companies, and he married and raised two sons and a daughter. He passed away on February 22, 1993, and is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.