San Diego -- There are many reasons why one decides to join and serve in the military. For Pfc. Nicholas Martinez, his came from a desire to honor and carry the torch from where his brother left off.
Martinez, Platoon 3203, India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, honored his brother by enlisting in the Marine Corps and attending recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
Martinez was born in Barrington, Ill., and grew up in Elgin, Ill. At the age of three, his mother and father separated and both remarried. His family of just one brother grew to an additional four half-brothers and five half-sisters. One of those half-brothers was Alex, the future Marine that Martinez and his brother looked up to.
“My brother and I copied everything he did,” said Martinez, who was recruited out of Recruiting Station Milwaukee. “If he wore a black hoodie, we went and wore a black hoodie. Whatever music he listened to, we sat there and listened to that same song. He was our role model.”
Martinez explained that when he was growing up, his father, who served in the Navy at the time, taught them to not settle and always try to better themselves. Alex had taken it to heart, and made a decision to embark on one of the toughest challenges one could face.
“It shocked us because nobody knew he wanted to join the Marine Corps,” said 18-year-old Martinez. It was a sudden decision he made himself, and no one else pressured him to do it. He didn’t even want to tell anyone; not telling us until two weeks before he shipped to recruit training.”
Martinez explained that his brother graduated his military occupation specialty school as a combat engineer, and applied his training by sweeping for explosives as the lead man during infantry patrols. Unfortunately, in 2012, Alex was killed by an improvised explosive device while on a patrol during combat operations in Afghanistan.
“We received a phone call, and shortly after my mother and father were crying hysterically,” said Martinez. “We had no idea what was going on, but when I saw two Marines approaching the door of my house I just went into shock; I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what else to do besides be there for my father. At the time, I thought it was unfair to be selfish and cry myself. I knew my father needed me the most.”
Martinez stated that he had been interested in joining the military as well, but the loss of his brother had made him reconsider. He didn’t think it was fair to put his parents through the stress and worry again.
“It wasn’t until my senior year that I decided to join,” said Martinez. “It went through my mind every day; trying to balance my desire to join with the feelings of my family.”
Martinez had made the decision to not only join the Marine Corps, but enlist in the infantry, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Corps. His mother supported his decision to join but struggled with the idea of him being in the infantry. His father was deployed at the time he had made his decision and decided not to tell him so that he could focus on coming home safely.
“My brother chose a job that he knew was very dangerous, said Martinez. “He knew he wanted to do it though, because he saw himself as a protector.”
Going through recruit training, Martinez had the second thoughts that almost everyone has during the first weeks.
“When you get here and you’re getting yelled at constantly, told how to eat, when to sleep, hygiene, it’s something different,” said Martinez. “It makes you get thoughts like, ‘why am I here? What did I volunteer for?’ Then I put that behind me and thought that it was for my brother and to protect the people I love.”
Chosen as the guide, Martinez had distinguished himself as someone who could handle the role and pressure of having to lead his platoon. It was a role his drill instructors would notice fit him perfectly.
“He’s probably one of the best guides I’ve ever had,” said Sgt. Tyler T. Huber, senior drill instructor. “He’s tough on the recruits, takes initiative, gets things done before I even have to tell them to, holds the squad leaders accountable and did everything I asked a guide to do.”
The third brother, Brandon Martinez is a student at University of Wisconsin- La Crosse and has also made the decision to follow his brother's footprints. He is
scheduled to ship to recruit training in June of 2015 to be a musician in the Marine Corps Band.
With his brother in his heart and the Marine Corps now in his soul, Martinez marches on to his infantry training at the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He will then be sent to the Fleet Marine Force to fill the role of protector and carry on the legacy that his brother once held.