Services set for soldier killed in Iraq

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 | 8:40 a.m.

Services for a soldier killed in Iraq, who lived in Las Vegas and attended Durango High School, have been scheduled for next week.

Army Spc. Joseph L. Martinez, 21, was killed in Tal Afar, Iraq, on Saturday when his dismounted patrol was engaged in a fight with enemy forces who were using small-arms fire, the Defense Department reported. Tal Afar is about 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The 21-year-old 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, Voeller-Gleason said. Johnny Martinez is serving at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Visitation is scheduled from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave.

A rosary has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 130 S. Pecos Road, Henderson.

Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Thomas More, followed by a graveside service at Southern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City at noon.

Born Dec. 10, 1983 in La Mirada, Calif., Martinez had lived in Las Vegas since 1997.

Martinez was active in the Durango High School Junior ROTC program and had planned from a young age to serve in the military. He graduated in 2002.

In addition to his brother in the Air Force, Martinez is survived by his mother and father, Larry and Cynthia Martinez, both of Las Vegas, and another brother, Jason Martinez of Las Vegas.

Martinez was the latest Durango graduate 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.