Now, the hero from Riverside is receiving a local honor: the new Eastside Library will bear his name.
The new 15,000 square-foot library will be the third building in Riverside named after a Medal of Honor recipient.
"Riverside understands that it's because of their sacrifices that we have the freedoms we have, and we must honor them," said Riverside Mayor Pro-Tem Chuck Conder.
Duran's daughter, Tina Duran-Ruvalcaba, doesn't remember much about her father, who died when she was only eight, but she's beyond proud of her dad.
"I'm just truly very excited and very honored," she said. "It's such a huge legacy for my family. He was very small in stature, he was about 5'6, 130 pounds, but he was a giant in heroism and courage."
She said like many at the time, her father didn't enter the service voluntarily, but did what his nation required of him, especially his actions on April 10, 1969.
"He had his M60, and the men behind him were feeding him bullets, and it was a five-hour firefight," said Duran-Ruvalcaba. "Sometimes I go, 'Five hours? Like, that's incredible to be that long,' and then I go, 'How did they survive?' There had to be a higher power looking out for him at that moment in time."
Once returning from Vietnam, Duran continued his work in the community he called home.
"He was working with a lot of at-risk youth, and so my understanding is he was doing a lot for this community," said Duran-Ruvalcaba. "He was helping young men find their way, not going down the wrong road. I think that was his way of giving back of being a hero, and not outwardly being a hero."
The new library will replace a vacant building. The project is expected to be finished sometime in 2027.
"It's just a tremendous honor that the city of Riverside, the eastside community, is going to have a local hero. A man that looks like them," said Duran-Ruvalcaba.