866
Then a monarch butterfly, in dazzling yellows and
orange, wafts across the scene.life is what you make of itThis last phrase was a rendering of a Meditationof René
Descartes, the seventeenth-century French philosopher. The
video was set to Moby’s haunting song,“When It’s Cold I’d
Like to Die.”
On March 20, 2005, while on patrol in Tamin, Iraq, a
sniper shot Martinez in the hip, severing an artery; despite
trauma surgery, he died within an hour.Curtis E. Glawson Jr., 24
Curtis E. Glawson was
born on June 10,
1982, in Detroit,
Michigan. His par-
ents—Yolanda and
Curtis Sr.—were both
career soldiers. As a
child Curtis traveled
with his parents from
one base to another
in Germany, New
Mexico, Georgia, and
Alabama. He learned
to adapt to different
people and cultures
and made friends
quickly; his smile
was electric.
Glawson was
fast and agile and
he excelled in sports. When not engaged in football, base-
ball, basketball and running, he enjoyed sports-related
video games. He was a passionate fan of all Detroit
(and Michigan) sports teams: the Tigers, Lions, Pistons,
Red Wings, and the Wolverines. Friends called him
Mr. ESPN.
In 2000 Glawson graduated from Daleville high school
in Alabama, near Fort Rucker. He immediately enlisted in the
army. That fall he was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina,
where he received advanced training in mechanics. Certified
as a light truck mechanic, he was subsequently stationed in
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Korea.
In Korea, he met Hyunjung Jang; the couple married at
the United States embassy in Seoul in September, 2005.
In February, 2007 he was sent to Baghdad in Iraq. Once,
when his unit made a wrong turn, they encountered a group
of preteens armed with AK-47 automatic weapons. Although
he grew increasingly nervous about his missions, he relishedO
n March 20, 2003, American, British, and NATO forces
commenced the assault to drive Saddam Hussein from
power. It marked the beginning of the second Gulf War, also
known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Saddam was swiftly dri-
ven from power, but by March 20, 2010, the seventh anniver-
sary of the war, Americans were still fighting in Iraq and
Afghanistan. By then, over 5,000 United States service per-
sonnel had died, including over 100 women; over 25,000 had
been wounded. The following soldiers are a random sample
of that group, chosen because they died on the March 20
anniversary of the onset of the war.
Francisco (“Paquito”) Martinez, 20
“Paquito” Martinez was
born on December 16,
1984 in San Juan,
Puerto Rico. He was the
son of Francisco
Martinez, an army sol-
dier and air force air-
man, and Carmen R.
Hernandez. In 2000
Paquito moved to
Ft. Worth, Texas, where
he joined his father,
“Paco,” and his step-
mother Maria. His
father worked as a
computer software
engineer. Paquito
enjoyed skateboarding,
drawing, poetry and Web design. He sang and performed in
a rock band that played minge, grundge, and heavy metal.
An “army brat,” he vowed never to follow his father into mil-
itary service. But several months after graduating from
Eastern Hills High School in 2002,“Paquito” enlisted. He
thought he might eventually go into computer-based
graphic design.
In 2003 he was stationed in Korea. The next year he
was sent to Iraq. He soon had doubts about the war.“I will
serve myself, my family, my friends, and my loved ones,”
he blogged.“I won’t serve my country, nor will I serve
its leaders.”
Later that year he completed a video entitled “Peacefull.”
Grass sways in the foreground; a hill sits in the distance. In
editing the video, Martinez drained it of color: http://www.
mfconsulting.com/fm5/videos/peacefull-raw1.asf
The text is sparse:
take this time to breathe
open your mind
feel your worries flow free
AMERICAN LIVES
Four Heroes
Francisco G. Martinez.
Curtis E. Glawson Jr.