Wounded warrior visits Luke, tells survival story Published Oct. 29, 2010 By Mary Jo May 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Recently, a civilian wounded warrior, who served with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, visited Luke AFB on a special tour to get acquainted with the mission and express his gratefulness to servicemembers. Steve Martin and his wife, Carolee, were treated to a bird's eye view of the flightline from the base air traffic control tower and they also had the opportunity to fly F-16 Fighting Falcon simulators. Despite being a double amputee, Mr. Martin is training with 56th Security Forces Squadron members for the upcoming Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico. "Steve jumped at the invitation," said Jerry Haupt, 56th SFS Standard and Evaluation superintendent. "Steve possesses an enthusiasm that raises the bar of each team member. Being exposed to Steve's resilience and perseverance makes me strive to become a better person." Both individuals met through a mutual friend, Senior Master Sgt. Gerry Nunes, 56th SFS operations superintendent. Sergeant Nunes and Mr. Martin are next door neighbors in Waddell. Every Friday, Mr. Martin drives to Luke AFB for a 5 a.m. march with 56th SFS members in preparation for the 22nd Bataan march -- a 26.2-mile race through the high desert terrain of the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The next race is March 27, 2011. "Being asked to train with the 56th SFS for the Bataan marathon is a huge honor for me," he said. "What a great group of people. Not only are they honoring former servicemembers by participating in this event, but they are pushing themselves through an event most people would shy away from because of the amount of training and commitment it takes to be prepared to walk 26.2 miles across the desert carrying a 35-pound rucksack." Mr. Martin served as an Army military policeman from 1990 to 1996. He left active duty in March 1996 and entered the Phoenix Police Academy and later the Arizona Department of Public Safety. It was while in the DPS that he met his wife, Carolee, an eight-year Army military police veteran. He was selected to join the DPS advanced training staff and was heavily involved in a new training tool -- driving simulators. In 2004 he was asked to go to Virginia to teach a class for the State Department, a group of police officers who were preparing to leave for a year in Kosovo. DPS granted him a one year leave of absence. Six months later, Carolee joined him. "When I was teaching the class in Virginia I knew this was something I wanted to do, even though I had a great job with DPS," Mr. Martin said. Between assignments overseas and the U.S., Mr. Martin and his wife worked teaching on the driving simulators for the Army as well as traveling to Kuwait to install simulators there for troops to train on before crossing into Iraq in their up-armored Humvees. In April 2008, they were in Afghanistan and lived at the central training center near the Kabul Airport. The airport is the main police academy for training Afghan National Police recruits assigned to Provincial Mentoring Teams -- a joint civilian and military operation. Mr. Martin explained that they built close relationships with military counterparts that continue today. Shortly after he and his wife went back to Afghanistan, Mr. Martin was embedded with a mixed civil-military, joint unit south of Kabul. His team was trying to make their way to an ANP station in Charkh Sept. 23, 2008, when they were ambushed and had to fight their way out and back to the FOB. "It is an impressive sight to see Air Force F-15s roll in looking for bad guys to engage," he said. "We were too close and mixed-in for them to drop any ordnance, but it made the insurgents break contact and the fight ended. That night we were rocketed for a few hours until A-10s came on station and started looking for the launches." The next day the team tried again to make their way to Charkh stopping in the ambush area from the day before to collect evidence. "We were on the mission and I was talking about our security plan for once we arrived," he said. "The next thing I remember was waking up lying on the road. My first feeling was absolute embarrassment because I thought I had fallen asleep when I was supposed to be watching my sector. The confusion was only compounded when I noticed I was no longer in the Humvee and was on my back. "That is when I started hearing shooting," he said. "The other civilian police officer was a cop from Houston named Jose Guillen. He was kneeling down next to me and every time rounds started hitting the ground near us, he would cover me with his own body to protect me. I went in and out several times before I fully regained consciousness. I have absolutely no memory of the IED that exploded under my feet and blew me out of the Humvee," he added Mr. Martin described the care he received by the military medical teams as outstanding. "The military was amazing," he said. "As I was lying there, it was like watching a film. The coordination, skill and teamwork were stunning. I remember the corpsman treating all of us at a casualty collection point. There were four of us in the Humvee. "Even though I was a civilian when I was wounded, these guys were my brothers, and they saved my life," Mr. Martin added. Mr. Martin said that after the IED exploded, several insurgents saw him on the road, climbed a wall and started dragging him away. "As they were trying to pull me over the wall, one of the wounded soldiers from my Humvee saw what was happening and engaged them with his pistol," he said. "He hit all three of them, without hitting me, while lying on his back with the radio mount from the Humvee sticking out of his arm. How do you repay a debt like that?" Mr. Martin and a Soldier were eventually loaded onto a helicopter and evacuated under fire to Bagram Airfield. "I remember the flight nurse, who I still keep in touch with, doing everything she could to keep both of us alive long enough to get to the hospital at Bagram," he said. "I was in the recovery room with Carolee standing beside me. She had convoyed up from Kabul and was waiting for me to wake up. The military was awesome. They took care of all of us and kept not only Carolee informed, but my family back in the states." Mr. Martin praised the military professionalism of U.S. medics because he saw them treating an Afghan insurgent severely injured while trying to plant a roadside bomb. "The medical staff treated his wounds without thinking, outwardly anyway, of him any differently than us," he said. Mr. Martin underwent multiple operations at Bagram before being loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster and flown to Landstuhl, Germany, where he underwent more surgeries before returning to the U.S. The Wounded Warrior Project provided him with clothing as he showed up at Landstuhl with just a hospital gown. When he finally arrived back in Phoenix, he was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital to begin the long road to recovery. "I tried for a year to save my legs, but they were just destroyed on the inside," he said. "After my 14th surgery, I was told by my surgeon my legs were as good as they were ever going to be and would get progressively worse for the rest of my life. I signed a piece of paper authorizing the amputation of both my legs below the knees. On our 7th wedding anniversary, my legs were amputated. Carolee and I joked with the surgeon asking him if we could keep one of my legs to make a lamp (A Christmas Story)," he added. Mr. Matin said he met Mr. Haupt when 56th SFS members visited him in the hospital. Two months later, he was fitted with his first prosthetic legs. Two months after that, he was out of the wheelchair and walking. He was in physical therapy five days a week for several months learning to stand, walk, navigate different terrain and climb stairs. He is now learning to run again. "I love running and cannot wait to run my first race," he said. His recovery is not complete, but he said it would have never started if he had not been surrounded by amazing Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen. "From saving my life in combat to putting me back together and getting me home, I owe a huge debt to many people in uniform whose names I can't remember," he said. Mr. Martin is still serving as a DPS officer currently assigned to the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center working as a detective. His goal is to go back into uniform and work on the highways. "Right now my motivation is getting back into uniform," he said. "I want to be able to put on my uniform and for people to not realize I have prosthetic legs. When I am not at work I always wear shorts, so people, especially kids will see this cannot stop me. It may slow me down, but it will not stop me. It is a disability, but I will succeed."