Richard Franklin is an Earthforce General in command of the 356th Infantry Division and the father of Dr. Stephen Franklin. His second in command was an officer named Frank.
History
Richard Franklin was a career Earthforce military officer, a veteran of both the Dilgar War and the Earth-Minbari War. Nicknamed "Old Firestorm," by 2259 his career highlights also recognized him as the "Hero of the Canal War," "Liberator of the African bloc," and the "Scourge of Janos 7."
Franklin married and had five children, with the only son being Stephen Franklin. A better soldier than family man, Richard and his son often had a strained relationship, made all the worse by the father's long absences in highly dangerous campaigns.
When Stephen was an adolescent, shortly before the Dilgar War, Richard was was first officer on the Lares when it was shot down and captured by hostile alien forces during a civil war between two midrange colonies. It took Earthforce almost two months retake the enemy base. He would have died had he not been treated by an alien doctor. Despite this one event, a lifetime of battling alien races in so many actions left him with a low opinion of all non-humans, considering them threats to mankind.
After graduating with a medical degree from Harvard, Stephen decided to travel the galaxy, hitchhiking on various starships. His father was not pleased at all, and the two did not speak for several years until Stephen joined Earthforce at the onset of the Earth-Minbari War.
In 2259, he led 25,000 Earthforce Marine Corps to Babylon 5 on their way to planet Akdor. Earthforce had been asked by the Sh'lassen Triumvirate for relief in putting down a rebel uprising. Codenamed "Operation Sudden Death," General Franklin first stopped at the station as a cover story, and to strategize with Captain John Sheridan, who had briefly served on Akdor. Serving as chief medical officer on the station is Stephen, and the two have a tense reunion followed by a reconciliation. Operation Sudden Death is a success, but not without losses to Earthforce.[1]
Notes
- According to J. Michael Straczynski, General Franklin was a member of the loyalist forces to President Morgan Clark during the Earth Alliance Civil War.