[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13575]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF STAFF SERGEANT ANSELMO MARTINEZ III

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 22, 2007

  Mr. ORTIZ. Madam Speaker, like so many young soldiers fighting for 
this Nation in Iraq--whose tours have been extended by the current 
surge in Iraq--Army SSG Anselmo Martinez III, from Robstown, Texas, was 
due for a 2-week leave from his first tour duty in Iraq around Mother's 
Day, but it kept getting pushed back.
  He was due to come home sometime in July. On May 18, after the 
armored vehicle he was riding in ran over an improvised explosive 
device in Tahrir, Iraq, his time on this Earth ended, and he won't see 
his mother or his wife and two children ever again.
  Each time we lose a soldier, it breaks my heart. It hurts all the 
more when it is a soldier from South Texas. This one is from my 
hometown.
  SSG Anselmo Martinez was stationed in Fort Hood, where his wife 
Christina Martinez lives their two daughters. He graduated from 
Robstown High School in 1998 and joined the Army in 2002 for job 
security.
  Sergeant Martinez deployed to Iraq in October with the 1st Battalion, 
12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, 
out of Fort Hood, Texas.
  Everyone called him B.J., short for ``Baby Junior,'' because no one 
wanted to call him a number; he was the third in his family sharing the 
same name.
  He loved to fish, and the first thing he would want to do when he 
came home was grab a fishing pole and head to Oso Bay.
  BJ loved to work with his hands, to shape things. At Robstown High 
School, he was a member of the woodshop club. He was a funny, sweet, 
and polite young man who was loved by everyone and who was proud to 
serve his country.
  A fellow soldier from Robstown who knew him said Sergeant Martinez 
was an excellent role model and a great noncommissioned officer. He 
thought of his men while in Iraq; yet he was missed badly at home.
  On February 4, his wife told him: ``Hola papa. I feel so bad that you 
couldn't be here today for baby's birthday.''
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in paying tribute 
to the life and service of Army SSG Anselmo Martinez III, from 
Robstown, Texas, who gave the last full measure of devotion to his 
country.

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