Get Involved

The PVA has several types of membership.

Member Profile

John Martinez receives his Purple Heart after 59 years

Mr. Martinez in front of WWII Memorial Southeast Subchapter President and WWII veteran John Martinez attended the WWII Memorial Dedication in Washington, DC as a guest of the National PVA this past May.

Little did John know that he was not just a spectator at the opening ceremonies, but that he would receive a long over due honor. John Martinez never received his Purple Heart after his plane was shot-down by enemy fire.

Our country was already at war when John enlisted in the Army Air Corps while he was still a senior at Milby High School in Houston, Texas. He was excited to have the opportunity to fulfill his dream of flying while serving his country. "When you are young, you feel real patriotic and want to do something," John said. "When you are young like that, you don't feel like you are going to be in danger."

John was based in France, where he served with the 9th Air Force as an aerial turret gunner on an A-20 light bomber. These types of planes flew at low altitudes and carried six bombs. Their missions were primarily to stunt German transportation by hitting targets such as train yards.

On April 11, 1945, John set out to fly his 16th mission; it would be his last. Shortly into flight, John looked out and saw black smoke billowing from the planes wing. He alerted the pilot, who released two of the six bombs in attempt to lighten the load enough successfully land, but the plane continued to rapidly lose altitude. By this time, the crew was too low to bail out. The pilot then told the crew to get into "crash position", as he looked for a spot to try to crash-land the plane. "A lot of people ask me, were you scared? You didn't think about that. All you think about is what they taught you," he said.

John does not remember hitting the ground and he continued to slip in and out of consciousness after the crash. Civilians rescued the crew and took them to U.S. medics. It was not until well after his rescue that he realized he was unable to move his legs. The crash resulted in a spinal cord injury.

At this time, SCI patients experienced short life spans due to infection and other complications. Fortunately, a doctor in London who was a trailblazer in treatment and surgery treated John. Although he does not remember the doctor's name, John is very grateful to him.

Despite the fact that the rest of his crew received their Purple Hearts, John did not. The reason why is not clear. Since John's injury was so close to the end of the war and he spent much of his time moving from hospital to hospital he just slipped through the cracks. John tried to find out why for a while with no success, and eventually gave up.

It was discovered during a conversation at the Chapter office almost 60 years later that John never received his Purple Heart. He said it was not until his grandsons started asking about his service during WWII and his injury that he began to wonder about his Purple Heart again. By that time, it had been so long that John did not even know where to start and figured it was a lost cause.

VA Regional Director, Carmen Gonzalez immediately contacted the National office.

It finally happened after many months of working with many National PVA employees and officials. John Martinez received the Purple Heart just in time to surprise him during his trip to the WWII Memorial.

On May 28, 2004, Washington, DC, WWII veterans were invited to the site for a sneak preview of the Memorial before the official dedication on May 29, 2004. John Martinez posed for pictures in front of the beautiful reflecting pools while reminiscing about friends lost. "When I first went over there, I had so many friends, but many of them never made it back. It is sad."

John was surprised when the sneak preview turned into a ceremony honoring him. Major General John Hudson pinned the medal to John's TPVA Texas flag shirt. "This is especially true of our World War II veterans, referred to by some as the 'greatest generation'. Staff Sergeant John Martinez is an example of one of those brave Americans who, during a time of need in our history, answered the call to fight for his country," General Hudson said.

"I'm really glad I went now, I was not expecting this." John said after he returned home. He is very thankful to all of the people of PVA National and TPVA who made sure that his case did not slip through the cracks again.