Oscar A. Martinez
Profile
Age: 19
From: North Lauderdale, Fla.
Assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Marine Pfc. Oscar A. Martinez was killed Oct. 12 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.
Died: October 12, 2004
Florida Marine killed in Iraq
Associated Press
NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida Marine was killed Tuesday when a mortar fired by insurgents exploded at a U.S. base where he was eating with his unit in the Iraqi province of Anbar, his sister said.
Pfc. Oscar A. Martinez, 19, joined the Marine Corps last year, shortly before graduating from North Lauderdale High School, said his sister, Morena Martinez. He was a member of the I Marine Expeditionary Force based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“Ever since he was little he dreamt of being a Marine,” Morena Martinez said Wednesday. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
His sister said the Marine Corps first refused to accept him unless he lost weight. He weighed 210 pounds at the time, but began running around his block wearing garbage bags and sweat pants to sweat off the weight, his sister said. He reported for duty in December.
“When I asked him why he joined the...