By Mary Malloy
He was a jokester and a ladies' man - one of the popular guys.
Twenty-four-year-old J.R. Martinez stood in front of a large audience at East Rockaway High School on April 3, and told the students how all of that changed in one horrible moment in Iraq when a Humvee he was driving ran over a land mine.
"Until then, everything in life was pretty easy for me," said Martinez. "Even though my dad walked out on us, I was independent from an early age. I learned about sports - and girls - by myself."
Martinez, who lives in Dalton, Ga., said he envisioned college as "parties, girls and football," but when he was told that he couldn't play football because of his grades, he recalled, "That was the first major disappointment in my life." Shortly afterward, he saw a TV commercial beckoning young men and women to join the Army and, he said, "I thought that was the answer." He enlisted at 19, soon after graduating from high school in May of 2002.
At basic training and advanced training in Fort Benning, Ga., Martinez became an 11-B Infantryman. "I was in the mix, man," he said. "I was an infantryman trained in combat. I wanted to come back and tell cool stories." He soon got his wish, and was deployed to Iraq in February 2003, with the 101st Airborne.
On April 5, 2003 - a day Martinez refers to as his "new birthday" - his Humvee was escorting a convoy to the city of Karbala, southwest of Baghdad. As the convoy neared the city, it stopped because of an enemy threat up ahead. "I had been in the back, because I had all the firepower back there," Martinez said. "They brought my truck to the front so I could take care of the enemy. I drove a very short distance when my front left tire went over a land mine."
The blast ejected three other soldiers who were riding with Martinez. The explosion, he said, shot one of them straight up into the air. They suffered minor injuries, but Martinez was trapped inside, engulfed in flames. "I was awake through all of this, and all I could think was, I'm gonna die ... I screamed, 'Get me out!' as I felt my body burning. I saw skin melting away from my hands, but I thought, I have to hang on ... someone will come and get me out."
Martinez said it's true what they say about your life flashing before your eyes. But then he was pulled out of the vehicle and thrown to the ground. "I felt the sun hitting my face, and it was so hot," he said, squinting as he recalled the moment. "It took all of the energy out of me. I heard my helper's voice as I grabbed his jacket, and I begged him to tell me what happened to me. They put me on a helicopter and then my mind knew I was safe. I remember looking down, and my eyes closed."
The road to recovery
Martinez, who had burns over 40 percent of his body, was transported to a medical station in Iraq. He was on a ventilator because he had suffered internal inhalation damage. Then, after a three-day stay in a hospital in Germany, he was sent to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he lay in a coma for 3 1/2 weeks. When he awoke, his torturous rehabilitation began.
"They would scrub my burns to get the old, dead skin off my face, hands, legs, back and chest," he said. "Yeah, it hurt - a lot."
He continued, "I asked to see myself - I didn't want to wait. I had to get this over with." Medical personnel sat him down and brought him a mirror. "I lifted my head to look," he recounted. "I was not the same pretty boy."
Martinez said he had to learn to walk and feed himself all over again. He was angry and depressed. "My mom came in, who is all of 4 feet 11 inches tall, and said, 'I'm tired of your attitude. If anyone is going to love you, they will love you for who you are as a person, not what you look like.'"
Martinez spent 2 1/2 years in hospitals, undergoing 32 operations, including painful plastic surgery. "I had a fear of going out in public places, and every single day I faced that fear," he said.
"What is the message here?" he asked the students, who by this time were hanging on his every word. "Never give up on yourself, believe in yourself, and help someone in need. And dream - dream big, whether you want to be a doctor, teacher, lawyer or whatever. Don't get discouraged, because all things happen for a reason."
J.R. Martinez was the honoree at Bay Park's first Building Homes for Heroes 5K run last Sunday. The run raised $24,000 and attracted hundreds of participants. See page 15 for story and photos.
Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
Photos Mary Malloy/Herald
