LV soldier killed

Stephen Curran and David Kihara

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

A soldier who lived in Las Vegas and attended Durango High School was killed in Iraq on Saturday, the Defense Department said Tuesday.

He was the second Durango High school graduate to be killed while serving in Iraq.

Army Spc. Joseph L. Martinez, 21, was killed in Tal Afar, Iraq, when his dismounted patrol was engaged in a fight with enemy forces who were using small-arms fire, the Defense Department reported.

Tal Afar, about 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, is a city with heavy insurgent activity, according to news reports. One soldier was killed and another was wounded on Monday night in Tal Afar when hostile fire forced their helicopter to land, according to the Associated Press.

Funeral services have not been scheduled yet for Martinez.

Martinez was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based in Fort Carson, Colo. He was sent to Iraq on March 7, said Michelle Voeller-Gleason of Fort Carson's public affairs office.

Martinez also has a brother who is currently enlisted in the Air Force, she said. His brother, who was not identified, was serving at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., Voeller-Gleason said.

Durango Principal Mark Gums, who was not in his current post when Martinez attended the school, said school officials were likely to plan a ceremony for the fallen soldier. He did not know where or when it would take place.

Gums said Martinez was active in the school's Junior ROTC and had planned from a young age to serve in the military.

"He was a good guy," Gums said. "He was very focused and was very determined that he wanted to make the military his career. He was doing what he wanted to do."

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jim McEvoy, the school's Air Force Junior ROTC instructor who taught Martinez for four years, said in a written statement that the program planned to create an award in Martinez's name.

McEvoy described Martinez as "an excellent young man who had one desire, and that was to enlist in the U.S. Army and see combat."

While the school's program is typically geared toward preparing students for college, McEvoy said Martinez was determined to enlist in the Army.

In his senior year Martinez wrote in the yearbook "please don't be mad at me but I have enlisted in the Army, because that is my choice," McEvoy said.

After speaking with McEvoy, Gums said he was proud to count Martinez as a Durango alumnus.

"It can't help but fill you with pride that these young men are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to do what they strongly believe in," Gums said. "But it's unfortunate that they're so young."

Martinez enlisted in the military in January 2002 and completed his basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., Voeller-Gleason said.

He received several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Expeditionary Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal, she said.

Martinez was the latest Durango alum to be killed in Iraq. In October, Marine Pfc. John Lukac, 19, died in combat when an SUV filled with explosives slammed into the convoy he was riding in.

Lukac, a 2003 Durango graduate, was one of eight Marines killed in the attack.

There have been 18 Nevadans killed since fighting began in Afghanistan in 2001.

At least 1,880 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to the Associated Press.