Courtesy of Sgt. Jeremy Ross
Lance Cpl. Samuel Martin Jr. (right), 20, of Henderson, Nev., a rifleman and scout with Apache Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, receives the Purple Heart medal from Lt. Col. Kenneth Kassner, 3rd LAR Battalion commander, at Patrol Base South Station, Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 5. Martin was wounded by an improvised explosive device while on patrol, Jan. 26.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 | 5:50 p.m.
Lance Cpl. Samuel Martin, Jr., (center) 20, of Henderson, Nev., and a rifleman and scout with Apache Co., 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, poses with his Purple Heart medal after receiving the award at Patrol Base South Station, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on March 5.
A Henderson Marine stationed in Afghanistan received a Purple Heart medal earlier this month after being wounded by an improvised explosive device.
Lance Cpl. Samuel Martin Jr., a rifleman and scout with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, was on patrol in the southern Helmand province when he was wounded Jan. 26.
Martin was patrolling with his platoon to check out a suspected insurgent weapons cache when he stepped on the device. The blast broke his jaw, and he suffered shrapnel wounds to the face.
Staff Sgt. Ronnie Jimenez, a platoon sergeant with Martin’s Apache Company, was at the company operations center when Martin was wounded and called in a helicopter to evacuate him.
“When I found out Martin was hit, it was a bit of a gut check,” Jimenez said in a statement. “He has a heart of steel and cares about the Marines that are around him. He gives it 100 percent all the time.”
Martin was awarded his Purple Heart medal during a ceremony at Patrol Base South Station in the Helmand province.
“It’s an overwhelming feeling,” Martin said in a statement. “It makes you think about all the guys who have lost their lives.”
After a month-long recovery at a military hospital in Afghanistan, Martin said he hopes to rejoin his platoon, which has been deployed in the southern Helmand Province since November.
“I hope they’re being safe out there, and I can’t wait to get back out there with them,” he said.
The Purple Heart medal is the oldest decoration still awarded by the U.S. military and is awarded to service members killed or wounded in action.
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