A teacher at Bishop Neumann High School called Flahive as a "normal, red-blooded American kid," He was a member of the foot-ball and track teams and Stage crew. After graduating in 1964, Flahive worked as a packer. He enlisted In the Marine Corps in November 1965 and arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam, in September 1966. The rifleman was as-Signed to Company C of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, The 20-year-old lance corporal drowned less than a month later on Oct. 23, 1966, and He was survived by his mother.