Soldier from Hanover Park in fight of life with cancer, for Army
He has parachuted in the dark of night into Panama, been shot at by Iraqis and directed Army forces over one-third of Afghanistan.
But it was while standing on the stage for the inauguration of President Barack Obama that Lt. Col. Jaime Martinez, who grew up in Hanover Park, choked up.
"To see a sea of American citizens waving flags and participating was awe-inspiring," he said. "It was a great moment for America."
As commander of the Old Guard, the Army unit that guards the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Martinez made sure his soldiers presented the colors properly at both the inauguration for Obama and the departure ceremony for President George Bush.
A soldier for 25 years, Martinez serves regardless of politics. But he was lucky to be around to celebrate the inauguration, having just finished radiation and chemotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer.
The cancer forms tumors in the head and neck so entwined with vital physiology that it's impossible to remove it surgically. So Martinez endured daily radiation and chemo that ravaged him, damaging his hearing and making it very difficult even to swallow. He lost 50 pounds to drop to a gaunt 146 - but he went back to work.
His combat experience and his religious faith helped him endure the torment, he said. And every day when he went in uniform to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for treatment, he'd see other soldiers trying to recover from lost limbs, traumatic head wounds and horrific burns.
"Their spirit is indomitable," Martinez said. "It helped ground me, understanding that this is bad, but not that bad. These are the real, true heroes."
Growing up as "Jimmy" in Hanover Park, Martinez reached Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts and worked as a delivery boy for the Daily Herald before graduating from Hoffman Estates High School in 1982. Since then, he has amassed a dizzying array of accomplishments and experiences.
He earned a degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston while serving in the Illinois National Guard.
He then joined the Army, a lifelong ambition, and became a rifleman and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1989, he jumped into Panama for the arrest of President Manuel Noriega, and participated in the invasion of Iraq in 1991 and again in 2003. He served two tours in Afghanistan, and he was awarded a Bronze Star.
He has also served as staff secretary for national security affairs under Vice President Cheney, and as military adviser to then-Sen. Clinton, working on numerous proposals that became law relating to the military.
On top of all that, Martinez also attended law school at night. On the day he got his degree last spring, he noticed a lump on his neck that would lead to diagnosis of his cancer, which is rare in the United States but common in China and northern Africa.
Because he has met other soldiers with cancers after being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, Martinez suspects biochemical, environmental or food-borne causes may be at work.
Spurred by that concern, he is lobbying the Army to institute blood tests for the military before and after deployment to look for markers that might reveal cancers before they spread.
"You'd have a healthier force," he said. "I think the Department of Defense needs to address this concern."
It is the latest and one of the toughest fights of his military career, and despite knowing people in high places, such as Clinton, who's the new U.S. secretary of state, Martinez is trying to work through the chain of command.
With a new administration, Martinez expects to be attending a lot of presidential state dinners to oversee ceremonial duties for presentation of the flag.
Now 44, he'll serve five more years in the Army, then hopes to move with his wife, Elizabeth, 15-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter back to the Chicago area, where he hopes to become a prosecutor.
Fight: Soldier wants to return home, become prosecutor