JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - Jeffrey Scott Martin, 42, a former Marine Corps Staff Sgt. who served on a five-man machine gunner quick-reaction force in Abu Ghraib, Iraq for 1st Battalion 1st Marines, has mixed feelings about receiving a Purple Heart.
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - The Purple Heart is America’s oldest military award. On Aug. 7, 1782, Gen. George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit during the Revolutionary War to recognize troops for either a tremendous act of courage or for doing something essential to the success of the Continental Army. On Feb. 22, 1932, the Badge of Military Merit became known as the Purple Heart and was designed to commemorate bravery and recognize soldiers with wounds sustained during combat. The award criteria have changed over time to include different types of injuries and different types of combat.
More than 1.8 million Purple Heart medals have been presented to military service members since the award was created in 1792, according to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor.
Jeffrey Scott Martin, 42, a former Marine Corps Staff Sgt. who served on a five-man machine gunner quick-reaction force in Abu Ghraib, Iraq for 1st Battalion 1st Marines, has mixed feelings about receiving a Purple Heart.
“It’s an honor to have it, but then again, the reason why you get it, it’s not the greatest thing, but I am very thankful that I survived. The biggest thing is, it’s hard having one because the guys that died also have one … they sacrificed a lot more than I did for the same medal, so it’s hard to put it in perspective that I deserve the same award … it’s a bittersweet thing,” said Martin, who talked about the medal in the days leading up to National Purple Heart Day, celebrated on Aug. 7 to give Americans an opportunity to thank the men and women who fought for our nation’s freedom and bear the physical scars of war.
While serving in Iraq, Martin’s team provided heavy machine gun support for any line, company, or platoon that needed it. The missions frequently involved route clearance for counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) missions.
“We would do seven-day patrols, so we would leave the forward operating base, the FOB, go out and do patrols through whatever AO [Area of Operations] we were working at that time. It could be down in Zaidon, it could be Abu Ghraib area, Al-Kharmah, Fallujah, pretty much whatever they tasked us with, we would patrol for seven days and then come back to the FOB, reset, and get tasked with another mission,” he explained.
Martin recalled the events of April 25, 2006, that caused the injuries that would later make him eligible for the distinguished military decoration. Martin’s team had a mission to go to Baghdad International Airport to obtain the location of a weapons cache from an informant. They secured the route with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (commonly known as a Humvee). On the return trip from the airport, Martin’s Humvee proceeded to an off ramp, and he instructed the driver to turn the vehicle towards an Iraqi Army checkpoint. This forced the driver to maneuver through an obstacle course of concrete barriers. As they took the first turn, Martin and the Humvee’s driver spotted an explosive planted on the ground in front of them.
“There was a surface-laid 155mm artillery round. It looked like half of it was sticking out of a burlap sack,” he said. “When we went over it, it was triggered by an infrared laser beam, so … when the Humvee hit that it had a one and a half second delay, so it went off directly underneath my driver.”
The blast knocked most of the men unconscious and four of the five Marines in the Humvee suffered shrapnel and burn injuries. Fortunately, one Marine escaped with only minor injuries.
“After the IED struck our vehicle, my gunner helped pull me out of the vehicle after I regained consciousness, then I ran over to the driver side, grabbed and carried my driver out of the truck, and carried him over to another truck in our platoon and started first aid on him,” explained Martin. “Our corpsman made it over to the vehicle and took over first aid on my driver while I got accountability of the platoon and our weapons. Another platoon came to our aid and helped medivac our wounded out.”
Nine Marines were injured during the attack that day, and four Marines received Purple Hearts because of their injuries.
After the attack, Martin developed numerous medical complications including paralysis on the left side of his body along with balance and speech issues, which required approximately 18 months of rehabilitation care. This included physical therapy, occupational health therapy, and speech therapy to get Martin back to his prior level of function.
Martin eventually received a medical discharge from the Marine Corps and saw it as an opportunity to run in another direction.
“I was a competitive half-marathoner, but after I got out of the hospital, I could never get my weight down low enough, so I transitioned and started doing triathlons for fun,” he said.
Martin competed in the first ever Department of Defense Warrior Games in 2010, which is now an annual adaptive-sports competition that highlights the physical skills and mental toughness of wounded, ill, and injured active duty and veteran service members. Martin won the ultimate champion title for the pentathlon, a competition that includes a 100-meter run, a 1,500-meter run, a 50-meter swim, shooting a 10-meter air rifle, and shotput. In 2011, Martin transitioned to competitive cycling, and went on to qualify for the Paralympics.
“From 2011 to 2017, I cycled on the U.S. Paralympic National Cycling Team. My specialty was the individual time trial on the track, the 4-kilometer pursuit,” Martin explained. But his reasons for competitive sports run deeper.
“I use sports as a way to heal mentally. It was always something to focus on, take my mind off thinking about the past, the war, any of that stuff, and when I made the national team, it was a newfound respect for even just myself,” he said. “This was another way to represent my country and race for myself and the guys that didn’t make it.”
During the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Martin earned 4th place in the Bronze Medal Match Final.
Martin said his father, Sgt. Jeffrey Steven Martin, inspired him to join the military.
“He was a lot of the reason I joined the Marine Corps. He was a scout sniper with the 26th Marine Scout Sniper Platoon in Vietnam from 1968-1969, explained Martin, who pointed out that relatives from his mom’s and dad’s side of the family served in the military. His sister, a Petty Officer 2nd Class, served in the U.S. Navy from 1996-2000 as a radioman, a position focused on communication technology.
Currently, Martin works as a training instructor for the U.S. Army as a Department of Defense civilian at the Training Support Center, Hawaii located on the Schofield Barracks Army base. He teaches military personnel about what he calls “laser tag,” the Instrumentable-Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System Individual Weapon System 2, which “is a man-worn system, providing real time casualty effects necessary for tactical engagement training in direct fire force-on-force and instrument training scenarios,” according to the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Simulation Training and Instrumentation website.
Martin continues to grow and build community with about 13 other Purple Heart recipients at monthly Military Order of Purple Heart gatherings.
Edward R. Cruickshank, 79, a fellow Purple Heart recipient as well as the chapter commander of Oahu’s Military Order of Purple Heart, Chapter 43, and the president of the Oahu Veterans Council, said the Purple Heart gatherings help recipients maintain connections.
“It keeps people alive. It keeps them abreast of their fellow warriors. It’s important because as people get older a lot of friends pass on, so they have a place to come back to and not only associate with the Purple Hearters but also American Legion and so many other organizations here as well.”
Cruickshank added that the Oahu Veterans Center and the Oahu Veterans Council work with 55 organizations and provide services for all military veterans including bringing speakers from the military and from Veterans Affairs to help veterans and service members resolve issues they might be facing.
Cruickshank said National Purple Heart Day is an opportunity for the community to thank all military personnel for serving, especially the Purple Heart recipients.
“I think it’s a big day for all of us, but the real thing is to honor those that are no longer here and honor their families for the sacrifices that everybody made.”