thedrifter
03-10-06, 02:15 PM
Va. Marine Had Dreamed Of Buying His Own Plane
By Dan Zak and Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 10, 2006; A15
Marine Justin Martone had hoped to buy a plane to make cross country trips to see his family in Arizona when he returned home.
"Justin was a flier," said his mother, Paulette Martone of Prescott Valley, Ariz. "He actually carried a pilot's license. He loves flying. Someday he hoped to start a [flying] business with his friend."
On Tuesday, those dreams were dashed.
Just two weeks after arriving in Iraq, the 31-year-old gunnery sergeant from Bedford County, Va., was killed by an improvised explosive device in Anbar province, where he was assigned to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan, the Defense Department said.
Martone arrived in Iraq on Feb. 20, according to a military spokesman.
Before that, he was assigned to Okinawa for about a year, according to one of his neighbors in Fredericksburg, where Martone lived with his wife, Renee, for about three years.
Martone grew up in Moneta, a small town south of Bedford and east of Roanoke, and played football at Staunton River High School.
A licensed pilot, he loved to fly in his free time and was very proud of his career in the Marines, his mother said.
"He moved through the ranks very quickly," Martone said. "And he had been asked a number of times to go into officers training, but he didn't want to be an officer. He wanted to be a Marine."
She said he was scheduled to be out of Iraq by August and back in the United States by the end of the year. He and his parents planned to go hunting in Arizona upon his return.
In December 2004, Martone was featured in an online Marine newsletter article seeking recruits for an explosive ordnance disposal recruitment seminar. A photo showed Martone in a 98-pound, full-body bomb suit, crouched over a small bomb.
The article described the high level of skills required for the work but also warned that those who do it "have one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet."
Staff researcher Donald Pohlman contributed to this report.
By Dan Zak and Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 10, 2006; A15
Marine Justin Martone had hoped to buy a plane to make cross country trips to see his family in Arizona when he returned home.
"Justin was a flier," said his mother, Paulette Martone of Prescott Valley, Ariz. "He actually carried a pilot's license. He loves flying. Someday he hoped to start a [flying] business with his friend."
On Tuesday, those dreams were dashed.
Just two weeks after arriving in Iraq, the 31-year-old gunnery sergeant from Bedford County, Va., was killed by an improvised explosive device in Anbar province, where he was assigned to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan, the Defense Department said.
Martone arrived in Iraq on Feb. 20, according to a military spokesman.
Before that, he was assigned to Okinawa for about a year, according to one of his neighbors in Fredericksburg, where Martone lived with his wife, Renee, for about three years.
Martone grew up in Moneta, a small town south of Bedford and east of Roanoke, and played football at Staunton River High School.
A licensed pilot, he loved to fly in his free time and was very proud of his career in the Marines, his mother said.
"He moved through the ranks very quickly," Martone said. "And he had been asked a number of times to go into officers training, but he didn't want to be an officer. He wanted to be a Marine."
She said he was scheduled to be out of Iraq by August and back in the United States by the end of the year. He and his parents planned to go hunting in Arizona upon his return.
In December 2004, Martone was featured in an online Marine newsletter article seeking recruits for an explosive ordnance disposal recruitment seminar. A photo showed Martone in a 98-pound, full-body bomb suit, crouched over a small bomb.
The article described the high level of skills required for the work but also warned that those who do it "have one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet."
Staff researcher Donald Pohlman contributed to this report.