Army Staff Sgt. Stephen G. Martin

Died July 1, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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39, of Rhinelander, Wis.; assigned to the 330th Military Police Detachment, Army Reserve, Sheboygan, Wis.; died July 1 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., from injuries sustained June 24 when a car bomb exploded near his guard post in Mosul, Iraq.

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Wisconsin policeman dies of wounds in Iraq

Associated Press

RHINELANDER, Wis. — A Rhinelander police sergeant and Army reservist has died from wounds suffered in Iraq in an attack that killed another Wisconsin reservist, police said.

Staff Sgt. Stephen G. Martin, 39, died Friday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after life support was discontinued, according to a press release from the Rhinelander Police Department. He had been flown to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday from a medical facility in Germany.

Martin, a member of the Sheboygan-based Army Reserve’s 330th Military Police Detachment, suffered severe head and abdominal injuries when a truck bomb exploded June 24 near his checkpoint outside a U.S. military compound at Mosul.

Sgt. Charles Kiser, 37, of Cleveland, Wis., who also was with the 330th, was killed in the attack. His funeral was held Thursday.

Martin, a New Jersey native, joined the Rhinelander police force in February 1996.

He spent most summers on the city’s bicycle patrol and also worked in city schools. He and another officer conducted bicycle rodeos, instructing children how to ride bikes safely.

He previously had served in the military and decided in January 2003 to join the 330th, Police Chief Glenn Parmeter said.

Martin’s unit was activated in December and arrived in Iraq a few months later.

Funeral arrangements were pending Friday evening, police said.

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Mourners pay tribute to Indiana native killed in Iraq

RHINELANDER, Wis. — A police officer and Army reservist who died as a result of injuries he received in a bomb attack in Iraq knew the dangers he faced and was prepared to die, his father said Thursday as he eulogized his son.

More than 700 people paid a final tribute to Staff Sgt. Stephen Martin during his funeral at Rhinelander High School.

Martin, a member of the Sheboygan-based Army Reserve 330th Military Police Detachment, received head and internal injuries June 24 when a truck bomb exploded near his checkpoint outside a U.S. military compound in Mosul. He died July 2 after life support was discontinued.

“His prayer before he left for Iraq was ‘I prefer to die rather than come home maimed for the rest of my life,”’ said his father, the Rev. Jim Martin. “Me and my family believe God answered that prayer, and he is at a better place.”

Among the mourners Thursday were about 200 uniformed police officers, Gov. Jim Doyle and Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. Martin’s 21-year-old son, Seth, played guitar and sang the Eric Clapton song “Tears in Heaven” during the service.

Martin was remembered as an outdoorsman, patriot, practical joker, musician, vegetarian and dedicated Rhinelander police officer.

His father said he sometimes considered his son strange as a child.

“Hour after hour, he read the encyclopedia,” Martin said to quiet laughter.

“Was he perfect? No. Was he honest? Yes. Was he straightforward? You better believe it. That was the person he was.”

Martin said he lost another son to leukemia before Stephen was born, and Stephen always said he wished he had known his brother.

“What is exciting for me today is when he gets to heaven, I can see Stephen’s older brother looking at him, saying ‘Hey, bro, where have you been?”’ said Martin, of Columbia City, Ind.

Before Thursday’s service, mourners filed past Martin’s open, flag-draped casket. It stood in front of a stage in the high school’s auditorium near a table covered with medals, photographs, flowers and the book “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway.

Two easels displayed photographs of Martin wearing his uniform, laughing with family members, riding a bicycle and doing other activities.

Rhinelander Police Sgt. John Hirsch said Martin devoted his life to serving others and was good at training new recruits. Hirsch said he also liked practical jokes, once putting a dead squirrel in Hirsch’s squad car.

“I’m sure Steve drove every street in the city to find the right squirrel,” Hirsch said.

Army Brig. Gen. Michael Beasley called Martin a brave and inspiring man with superb leadership and communication skills.

“A perfect man in Iraq for a very, very hard job,” said Beasley, commanding general of the 88th Regional Readiness Command, which includes Martin’s detachment.

Martin’s partner in the Rhinelander Police Department, Greg DeRosier, said he will remember Martin’s enthusiasm for life and patriotism.

“When 9/11 happened, he was so angry and volatile that this had happened to our country. He wanted to go over there as a patriot to defend our freedom,” he said.

The 330th Military Police Detachment arrived in Iraq in March. Martin was a supervisor at the Mosul Public Safety Academy, where he was responsible for training Iraqi police recruits.

Martin, an Indiana native, served in the Army as a military police officer in South Korea and Fort Dix, N.J., from 1984 to 1990. He later was a member of the Trenton, N.J., Police Department and then moved to Rhinelander, where he joined the police department in 1996.

In addition to his son, Martin’s survivors include his wife, three stepdaughters in Rhinelander and two daughters who live elsewhere.

— Associated Press