9-11 EMS Technician Serves In Reserve As Part of Operation Essayons

Photo By Shawn Napier | Spc. James Martinez, a combat engineer with the 668th Engineer Company, proudly dons the hard hat he bought at ground zero. Martinez, who is working with the Army Reserves as part of Operation Essayons at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., served as a New York City emergency medical technician during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.  

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, UNITED STATES

06.02.2009

Story by Sgt. Ryan Matson 

372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. -- He wears a hard hat with an American flag and an eagle on it for a reason.

That's because Spc. James Martinez, a carpentry/masonry specialist with the 668th Engineer Company out of Orangeburg, N.Y., was working as an emergency medical services technician the day of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Sept. 11.

It's now May 13, 2009 and almost eight years later. Martinez is still serving as an EMS and is in the Army Reserve working construction; this time as part of Operation Essayons, an exercise to build a forward operating base training site at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. The hardhat with the eagle emerging from the stripes of the flag sits proudly and firmly atop his head as a memento from ground zero that he brought out to California with him.

Martinez reflected back on the day of the attacks.

"The worst thing I remember was people jumping out of the skyscrapers," he said, a bit slowly. "It's crazy to think that's better than what they were going through."

Martinez was working with the Station 20 EMS team out of Bronx, N.Y., the day of the attack. He said he likes his civilian job because he likes working with people, and it allows him to help people "cheat death."

Little did Martinez know, but three years after he was treating casualties at ground zero, he would find himself doing the same thing in a very different place. Martinez was serving with his reserve unit in Mosul, Iraq, when the dining facility there was mortared.

"I think we cheated death a little bit that day, too," he recalled.

Martinez grew up in New York and now lives in Monroe, N.Y., but still works in the city. He spent four years on active duty in the Air Force, from 1986 to 1990, working as an engineer. When he got out, he worked construction for a while before deciding he wanted to pursue a dream and become a civilian emergency medical technician. He accomplished this goal, but missed working as an engineer. In August 2001, shortly before the attacks, he enlisted in the Army Reserve engineering branch.

"Since I had already been trained by the Air Force, I hopped right into the unit," he said.

While Martinez said he loves working as an engineer, his civilian medical training has always come in handy.

"When we were deployed and would go outside the wire, our commander knew I was an EMT in the Bronx, so when we would leave I would always go out with them," he said. "He would always ask me 'Where's your bag?'"

1st Lt. William Cook, the commander of the 668th Engineer Company, said Martinez is not the only member of the unit who played a role in the Sept. 11 rescue efforts.

"We've got a lot of police and firemen in our unit," Cook said. "A lot of them lost friends and family members in the attack."

For Martinez, this was one thing he thought of when re-enlisting.

"People asked me, 'You've got a nine-month-old child, how can you re-enlist?'" he said. "I tell them, 'I've got a nine-month-old child. How can I not re-enlist?'"

• Date Taken: 06.02.2009
• Date Posted: 06.02.2009 13:17
• Story ID: 34440
• Location: FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, US