Bartlett alum remembered for devotion to family, country

Pfc. Matthew Martinek received a hero's farewell Saturday, as family and friends gathered to honor the life of the latest suburban soldier to die because of injuries sustained in battle.

Martinek, a 20-year-old Bartlett High School graduate, died on Sept. 11, a week after the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Shortly after the bomb detonated, the vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Martinek, a soldier in the U.S. Army, had been in Afghanistan since February.

Family members remembered him Saturday as a kind and fun-loving young man who was fiercely devoted to his family and his country.

Travis Wright, Martinek's 26-year-old brother, said he had a difficult time coming up with words to say that would do Martinek justice.

"Words can't depict his smile, the size of his heart, or how amazing he made all of us feel," Wright said during Saturday's funeral Mass at St. Hubert Catholic Church in Hoffman Estates.

The Rev. John Guiney, who celebrated the funeral Mass, pointed out that Martinek was born on Dec. 7, the date on which Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and died on Sept. 11, the date on which America was attacked by terrorists in 2001.

"Clearly, he was meant to be a soldier, to be a defender," Guiney said.

Martinek's 23-year-old brother, Frank, said the best way to honor soldiers like Martinek is to fly an American flag outside your house.

"Get a light on it at night, because while you're asleep, people are still fighting (for America)," he said. Like their brother, Frank Martinek and Wright have both served overseas during the current war on terror as members of the armed forces.

Martinek grew up in Bartlett, though he and his family moved to DeKalb shortly before he enlisted. He was a member of the Bartlett High School football team. Current players attended Saturday's funeral in a show of respect and support.

After the ceremony, Martinek's family was presented with a number of medals in his name, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. His flag-draped casket was then wheeled out of the church, past a group of saluting, uniformed soldiers and flag-carrying members of the Patriot Guard riders, who stood outside the church entrance.

Daily Herald staff writer Diana Wallace contributed to this report.