Army 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin

Remember Our Heroes

Army 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, of Ward, Ark.

1st Lt. Martin was assigned to 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died Oct. 14, 2007 in Al Busayifi, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms fire during combat operations.

An Eagle Scout, Thomas M. Martin took on cleaning up an old red train caboose as a service project.

"He remodeled it to make it where people could go inside. If you saw it before and looked in it after he was through _ it was daylight and dark," said his former principal, Robert Martin, who is no relation.

Martin, 27, of Ward, Ark., died Oct. 14 in Al Busayifi of wounds from small-arms fire. He was assigned to Fort Richardson.

He enlisted in the Army in 1998 after graduating high school and served in Korea before accepting an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 2005.

"He was very polite and respectful. I can't think of him ever overreacting; he had a wonderful, good-natured personality," said Pat Hagge, a family friend.

"It's a terrible tragedy; he was a great young man."

He is survived by his parents, Edmund and Candis.

"Tom was involved in Key Club, German Club and band, making All-Region Band his sophomore year," said his former principal.

"He was a wonderful young man. Those that knew him knew he was funny and outgoing."

Alaska governor honors soldier killed in Iraq
The Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska — Governor Sarah Palin has offered her condolences to the family and friends of a Fort Richardson soldier who died Oct. 14 in Iraq.

First Lieutenant Thomas M. Martin of Ward, Arkansas, died when insurgents attacked his unit during combat operations in Al Busayifi, Iraq.

The 27-year-old Martin was a cavalry scout officer who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 2005 and was assigned to the Alaska fort in June 2006.

He was assigned to C Troop, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Palin will fly an Alaska flag over the state Capitol in his honor.

The flag will be sent along with a letter of condolence to his family.

Anchorage Daily News -- A West Point graduate killed in Iraq on Sunday and whose parents live in San Antonio will be buried in West Point National Cemetery next week.

Army 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, died in Al Busayifi, Iraq, after his unit was attacked by insurgents, the Defense Department said.

He was with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Born in Huron, S.D., he attended school in San Marcos and graduated from high school in Cabot, Ark.

Martin served in Korea after enlisting in the Army in 1998. He accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 2005.

Survivors include his parents, Edmund and Candis Martin of San Antonio; three sisters, Sarah Hood and Becky Martin, both of Fayetteville, Ark., and Laura Martin of San Antonio; his fiancée, 1st Lt. Erika Noyes, currently serving as a Medevac pilot in Iraq; and his grandmother, E. Jean Martin of Huron, S.D.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary North, 2102 N. Loop 1604 East at Gold Canyon Drive.

The funeral is set for Monday at University United Methodist Church, 5084 De Zavala Road, with viewing at 10 a.m. and the service at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the 1st Lt. Tom Martin Memorial Scholarship, Cabot Scholarship Foundation Inc., 200 West Main St., Cabot, Ark. 72023, or to the Returning Heroes Home, 1162 E. Sonterra Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78258.

Army 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin was killed in action on 10/14/07.