Photo By Sgt. Rachaelanne Voss | U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Isaac Martinez, a legal service specialist with Marine Wing...... read more read more
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As U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Isaac Martinez approached the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Eric Smith, Martinez only thought he was getting to meet him.
As he drew near, General Smith greeted Martinez with a smile and exclaimed, “Martinez doesn’t know it yet, but he’s out of uniform.”
Martinez, confused, naturally assumed something was wrong with his uniform.
“We’re going to do this the old-fashioned way,” General Smith continued. “Attention to orders.”
General Smith proceeded to meritoriously promote Martinez, a legal service specialist and a native of San Benito, Texas, to the rank of Sergeant.
Prior to his unanticipated promotion, Martinez was selected as Marine Wing Headquarter Squadron 1’s Marine of the Quarter for performing at a level beyond his fellow non-commissioned officers. He utilized his spare time to seek opportunities to improve himself, others, and his community, by serving as a Marine Corps martial arts instructor and volunteering in the local Okinawan community. When asked what about his background set him on this path, Martinez reflected on his upbringing as a second generation Mexican-American from a small town.
“I came up in an economically, pretty down area, but being Hispanic, most of our family is all congregated in one area, which is what brought everyone a lot closer to each other,” he recalled. “I had aspirations of wanting to do something bigger than I could accomplish with where I was from,” he continued. “-being from [one of] the poorest cities in Texas where we didn’t really have an outlet to do something.”
Martinez’s options were limited, but he did not let that stop him. He resolved to make something of himself, regardless of his circumstances. This decision led him toward military service.
“I was in Air Force JROTC and getting to travel to different bases. I got to see all the branches,” he said. “I could always see in the Marine Corps that there was always a stronger brotherhood that was built off a foundation of working the hardest so that they can achieve the same goal.”
Martinez was no stranger to hard work. His grandfather immigrated to America for the opportunity to provide family with a better life. Both his grandfather and father selflessly worked laborious jobs with long hours to provide for their family. This was not lost on Martinez. He, like many others in his community, followed suit and took jobs as a young adult to chip in. It should come as no surprise that Martinez admired the same qualities he saw in the Marines that were instilled in him by his own upbringing.
“It’s almost like I already had my decision made for me before I even decided to raise my right hand,” he said.
Those same qualities continue to inform his decisions well into his Marine Corps Career, culminating in his recent meritorious promotion.
“It set in stone something I realized - that I’ve made a difference up until this point,” Martinez asserted. “As long as you’re doing what you love to do, you will always feel fulfilled.”
Now, Sgt. Martinez sets his sights on his goals for the future.
“I’ve always been very meticulous on constructing, programs and ideas that could work to help people, and I believe that I would have more of an outlet as a commissioned officer,” he said “- to work with, lead Marines, working alongside them towards a common goal, and being able to be a role model from the officer side.”
| Date Taken: | 09.20.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2023 02:34 |
| Story ID: | 453832 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | SAN BENITO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 446 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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