In Memory of Captain Michael R. Martinez

Attorney and Missouri Bar member Michael R. Martinez, a captain with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), has been killed while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. CPT Martinez was one of 12 personnel killed when the Black Hawk helicopter in which they were traveling went down near Tall Afar, Iraq, shortly before midnight on January 7, 2006.

CPT Martinez was assigned to Fort Carson as the Chief, Legal Assistance. He volunteered to deploy in support of 3rd ACR in November 2005.

CPT Martinez's previous assignments as a Judge Advocate were at 24th Infantry Division and Fort Riley and the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth. He was a member of the 147th Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course. Prior to his appointment as Judge Advocate, CPT Martinez served as a Paralegal Specialist and later Court Reporter, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6). His enlisted assignment included tours at Fort Riley, Kansas, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and the Missouri Army National Guard.

He was a 1998 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia. He received his undergraduate degree from the Upper Iowa University in Fayette, IA, in 1995.

CPT Martinez was 43 years old and married. He is survived by: his wife, Kelly; his three sons, Alexander, Colby, and Benjamin; and his stepdaughters, Kathryn and Samantha.

Following his death, CPT Martinez was posthumously promoted to the rank of Major.