Local veteran made military his career

Clovis' Felipe Martinez is a veteran of the United States military. Which branch of service? Almost all of them.

His career included time in the National Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Here's how it all happened:

Martinez, now 88, said he got his start in Guadalupe County.

"I was born in Cuervo, about 15 miles east of Santa Rosa. Then for some reason the family moved to Santa Rosa when I was 5 or 6 years old. In 1947 we moved to Clovis," Martinez said Wednesday as he sat at his dining room table, his wife Mercedes and daughters Hope and Aurora nearby.

Martinez said his young life revolved around agriculture, picking cotton, harvesting potatoes and broomcorn. He was one of nine children in his family.

"Clovis had no jobs we could get. My father died when I was 15. I really had to help my mother by bringing in some money," Martinez said.

That's why he joined the New Mexico National Guard at age 17.

"Then I wanted to follow in my brother's footsteps so I joined the Army in 1955," Martinez said.

Martinez stayed stateside his entire enlistment, training on and working with a 55-caliber machine gun.

"We were also being trained to work with intercontinental ballistic missiles," Martinez said.

He didn't particularly enjoy Army life, he said.

"You're always training, you're always in the field," he said.

Martinez said he still had to keep sending financial help to his mother, so when he was done with his Army enlistment, he joined the Navy.

"I had to go through basic training again. I had to learn to swim," Martinez said.

"I went to Class A Radioman's school in Norfolk, Va. They put me on a destroyer. I was so seasick. I got transferred to a cruiser, it wasn't as bad," Martinez said.

Martinez said in his Naval days he was involved in multiple conflicts in the Mediterranean, particularly when there were flare-ups "between Christians and Muslims." One ship he was on caught fire, he said.

"The biggest action I saw was the Lebanon Crisis of 1958. We had to evacuate the American School there," Martinez said.

When his enlistment with the Navy was up in 1961, he realized he still needed to provide financial help for his family back home. But when he went to re-enlist, he was told he'd missed a 90-day window for signing up again.

So he went to work a civilian job at Cannon Air Force Base and also joined the New Mexico National Guard again.

"While I was at Cannon, an Air Force recruiter convinced me to switch to the Air Force Reserve," Martinez said.

In the fall of 1991 Martinez was activated during Desert Storm.

"While I was on active duty I was sent to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. I finally retired in 1996," Martinez said.

Which branch of the military did Martinez like the best?

Easy.

"Air Force," he said.

"It was like having a regular job working, say, 8 to 5. We ate off plates, there were tablecloths on the dining tables, I slept in a bed.

"With the Army and Navy it was work and training 24/7," Martinez said.

There was a pointed reason why Martinez, who left the Air Force Reserve as a master sergeant, didn't consider signing up with the U. S. Marines.

"They wanted to take my rank away. I said, 'No way.' I didn't want to lose my rank."

Daughter Hope Martinez has kept records of her father's military service, which she said totals 50 years, mostly with the Reserves and National Guard.

She said she'll be celebrating Veterans Day on Monday "remembering and honoring our past and present service members. I have a great respect for our military."

And she sees her father as an American hero.

"It is a selfless 'choice' to serve. They (all veterans) give up a lot knowing they may have to go to war or other dangerous places away from the people they love and may not return. It's not only for their families but many American families they don't even know," she said.

She points to a Bible verse – John 15:13 – when thanking her pops for his service:

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."