SAN ANGELO, Texas — When Luis Martinez III joined the US Air Force in 1996, it was to support his family. What he didn’t realize, however, was how big his family was about to get.
The Disabled American Veteran Chapter 237 commander, veteran resource and referral specialist and former staff sergeant now spends every day working to make sure his siblings, no matter what branch of his extended family tree they come from, get help when they need it.
“The reason why I stayed in the military was not because of my original intentions. I stayed because after I had gotten into the military, all the troops I was with became another family.”
Martinez served close to 16 years as a member of the 820th Red Horse Squadron and 99th Civil Engineering Squadron, including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was wounded in 2009 in Tikrit, Iraq, after the vehicle he was traveling in hit an improvised explosive device.
Martinez was recently inducted into the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor as the Texas representative in the 2023 Purple Heart Patriot Project, which salutes men and women who were wounded or killed while in service. The September ceremony took place in New York and included veterans ranging from ages 37 to 100.
“It was amazing. I can’t even talk about it. I was speechless the entire time,” Martinez said. “When we came down to the ceremony, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. Because I was onstage with so many amazing people. I was blown away. And then the crowd that was there. I just didn’t feel like I deserved it.”
It’s safe to say the West Texas veteran community strongly disagrees.
“Without Luis in the veteran community? It would be scattered. It would be broken,” Veteran Services Officer Troy Crosby said. “He’s always coming up with new ideas to help people, he’s always coming up with ways to bring resources together. He’s always working to do something to better people’s lives. Whether it’s in the veteran community or the community itself, he’s completely dedicated to what he does.”
Martinez said his own struggles after his service led the way to helping others.
“The reason I first started taking care of veterans is because when I got out of the military, I had to do everything by myself. So I struggled. And I didn’t know where to go, who to turn to. Every resource I went to, it was more like, ‘Call here, call here, call here,’ and I never got an answer.”
The veteran community has changed for the better in San Angelo, thanks in large part to Martinez. And he’s just getting started.
“When I talk to most people who join the service, they do it either to get out of a small town, to join for a job or for college reasons. But once they join, and they see the bigger picture, their mindset changes. Because now, instead of, ‘me, me, me,’ it becomes ‘we.' And that’s why I love this community. I’m not from here, but I’ve lived here for 10 years. San Angelo is my home.”
And he lives here with about 19 million brothers and sisters.
