Dawn Martin described her son Shawn as living each day to the fullest, and someone `who always jumped in to help.`
The 30-year-old former Elsmere firefighter and Marine sergeant, who was killed in Iraq over the summer, was honored Sunday, Nov. 18, in a solemn ceremony at the firehouse he knew so well.
Parents Dawn and Paul Martin accepted the Bronze Star, one of the military’s highest awards for heroic achievement, on behalf of their son, with a group of 100 friends, family and firemen looking on.
`Today is about Shawn and how he stepped forward to serve his country,` said Maj. Tommy Wright, of the Albany Military Entrance Processing Station, who, along with Martin’s fellow Marines Staff Sgt. David C. Carroll and Sgt. Richard Pierone, presented the honor to his family.
Martin, a member of the 13th Marine Expedition Unit Force stationed in Camp Pendleton, Calif., was in Iraq for just over five weeks when he was killed while conducting combat operations June 20, in Saqlawiyah. Martin and Staff Sgt. Stephen Wilson were conducting a visual sweep of an area where explosive devices were believed hidden. The two men were unable to use mechanical equipment in the rough terrain and had to move close to detonate one device. After inspecting the first blast site, a second device went off, killing both men.
`His zealous initiative and courageous action is keeping in the highest tradition of not only the Marine Corps but the U.S. Selected Service,` read Carroll from a letter signed by President George W. Bush and written by Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of the Major Forces General Command of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Dawn Martin said her son was a `sweet little boy,` who was stubborn and headstrong and very proud to be a Marine.
`Once he decided to become a Marine, he was truly driven,` she said.
Many friends and past acquaintances of Martin’s have contacted the family over the past several months recounting stories of kindness and compassion they never knew he was a part of. One such story came from a Bethlehem resident who used to receive the daily newspaper delivered by Shawn when he was a boy. He said Shawn always shoveled the walk on snowy days and always left the paper inside the door.
`He believed you can all be heroes; you don’t have to be on the battlefield to do it,` said Dawn Martin.
Martin grew up in Bethlehem and was a 1995 graduate of Bethlehem Central High School, where he also played football. He followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps after high school and joined the Elsmere Fire Company, where he served for several years before heading off to join the Marines and leaving for Camp Pendleton.
`We bless his family who feels the pain of his loss more than anyone else,` said the Rev. James Daley, Elsmere firehouse chaplain.
Rebecca Hoffman, president of the Capital District Gold Star Mothers, presented Dawn Martin with a Gold Star banner as a display of support for the loss of her son.
Martin is at least the third Bethlehem native killed in Iraq since the conflict began. Army Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins was killed in action in 2004 and Army Capt. Timothy Moshier died in 2006 when the Apache Helicopter he was piloting crashed outside of Baghdad.
Martin’s wife, Marianne, was unable to attend the ceremony. She lives in Herkimer County, where another Bronze Star ceremony for Martin will be held.“