Marco Martinez
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Tags: Military & Government, Navy Cross, Iraq By: galdwen |
Former Gang Member Receives the Navy Cross
From a gang member to Iraq War hero, and the first Latino Marine fighting in Iraq to receive the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for bravery.When former Marine Corps Sergeant Marco Martinez looks back on his life as a "gangbanger" in New Mexico, he believes he was one step from going over the edge.
Here is a young man who once sat in a car with a gun on his lap, waiting to kill a rival gang member.A few years later, Marco Martinez is ignoring intense enemy fire to save two fellow Marines from almost certain death.
"I was basically a leech on the side of America's body, sitting there, sucking blood out, not doing anything productive. Finally, when I joined the Marine Corps, I understood what it was to be an American," said Marco. You do not have to spend much time with Marco to realize that is his true belief.
On April 12, 2003, Marco, serving with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, responded to a call to reinforce a platoon that had been ambushed. Under fire, Marco moved his team into supporting positions to assault the enemy. He eliminated two hostile fighters on the initial attack after his squad leader was wounded by a grenade blast. Marco took control and led the assault into the area where the ambush had began. Marco and his outnumbered men cleared a nearby building held by enemy fighters. As they entered another area, they took stronger small arms fire from the hostile forces inside. Marco and his men fought their way through the building into a courtyard, where the Fedayeen continued to engage the Marines from a garden shed.
Marco saw that the enemy had left a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and two rounds on the ground on their way to the bunker. As his team provided cover fire, Marco ventured into the open and grabbed the RPG launcher and sprinted behind a palm tree. The hostile forces targeted Marco – but his assault had allowed his men to safely evacuate the wounded Marines. While the rest of the team took care of the injured men, Marco single-handedly attacked the bunker. Dodging bullets, he ran up to the shed and threw a grenade into the building, killing four enemy forces and ending the firefight.
"Our first casualty ended up losing about a liter of blood within about a 35-minute time frame," said Marco. "And the second wounded Marine was paralyzed from the waist down and bleeding out pretty good, too, so if I hadn't have done what I did, both those Marines would probably be dead right now."
Marco has written a book he calls "Hard Corps," about his experience that led to the awarding of the Navy Cross.
What you hear from Marco is a honest expression of the way he feels. He believes in the war in Iraq and he was ready to make for the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow Marines and his country.
"I really thought I was going to die, and I was at peace with that, because I had done so many things beforehand, where I might have died over misinterpreted glances, colors, girls," said Marco.
Today he attends a community college, studying business and working as a nuclear plant security guard. Fellow students don't know about his heroism. He is uncomfortable with the attendition he has received, as the first Hispanic and first Marine in Iraq to be awarded the Navy Cross.
"I kind of felt that since we were all in it together, why am I the only one receiving this award? I kind of felt the award was for everybody," said Marco. "I really felt that I was just doing my job. And all the accolades I was receiving were unnecessary, anyone else in my squad or my platoon would have done the same. If I hadn't done it, someone else would have done it."
Despite his humility, the Navy Cross is something that's awarded to only a relatively few people. As a Marine colonel once said, you don't "win" the nation's second-highest military honor; you earn it.
From a gang member to Iraq War hero, and the first Latino Marine fighting in Iraq to receive the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for bravery.When former Marine Corps Sergeant Marco Martinez looks back on his life as a "gangbanger" in New Mexico, he believes he was one step from going over the edge.
Here is a young man who once sat in a car with a gun on his lap, waiting to kill a rival gang member.A few years later, Marco Martinez is ignoring intense enemy fire to save two fellow Marines from almost certain death.
"I was basically a leech on the side of America's body, sitting there, sucking blood out, not doing anything productive. Finally, when I joined the Marine Corps, I understood what it was to be an American," said Marco. You do not have to spend much time with Marco to realize that is his true belief.
On April 12, 2003, Marco, serving with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, responded to a call to reinforce a platoon that had been ambushed. Under fire, Marco moved his team into supporting positions to assault the enemy. He eliminated two hostile fighters on the initial attack after his squad leader was wounded by a grenade blast. Marco took control and led the assault into the area where the ambush had began. Marco and his outnumbered men cleared a nearby building held by enemy fighters. As they entered another area, they took stronger small arms fire from the hostile forces inside. Marco and his men fought their way through the building into a courtyard, where the Fedayeen continued to engage the Marines from a garden shed.
Marco saw that the enemy had left a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and two rounds on the ground on their way to the bunker. As his team provided cover fire, Marco ventured into the open and grabbed the RPG launcher and sprinted behind a palm tree. The hostile forces targeted Marco – but his assault had allowed his men to safely evacuate the wounded Marines. While the rest of the team took care of the injured men, Marco single-handedly attacked the bunker. Dodging bullets, he ran up to the shed and threw a grenade into the building, killing four enemy forces and ending the firefight.
"Our first casualty ended up losing about a liter of blood within about a 35-minute time frame," said Marco. "And the second wounded Marine was paralyzed from the waist down and bleeding out pretty good, too, so if I hadn't have done what I did, both those Marines would probably be dead right now."
Marco has written a book he calls "Hard Corps," about his experience that led to the awarding of the Navy Cross.
What you hear from Marco is a honest expression of the way he feels. He believes in the war in Iraq and he was ready to make for the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow Marines and his country.
"I really thought I was going to die, and I was at peace with that, because I had done so many things beforehand, where I might have died over misinterpreted glances, colors, girls," said Marco.
Today he attends a community college, studying business and working as a nuclear plant security guard. Fellow students don't know about his heroism. He is uncomfortable with the attendition he has received, as the first Hispanic and first Marine in Iraq to be awarded the Navy Cross.
"I kind of felt that since we were all in it together, why am I the only one receiving this award? I kind of felt the award was for everybody," said Marco. "I really felt that I was just doing my job. And all the accolades I was receiving were unnecessary, anyone else in my squad or my platoon would have done the same. If I hadn't done it, someone else would have done it."
Despite his humility, the Navy Cross is something that's awarded to only a relatively few people. As a Marine colonel once said, you don't "win" the nation's second-highest military honor; you earn it.
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