American Valor Quarterly Issue 12 - Spring 2015 | Page 31
An Honor &
Privilege
Serve
to
From Jim “Pee Wee” Martin
Private First Class Jim “Pee Wee” Martin
was part of the Army’s famed 101st Airborne
Division that parachuted near Utah Beach the
night before what came to be known as D-Day.
His 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment saw
front line action in some of the most pivotal
campaigns during WWII.
After fighting valiantly to prevent German
reinforcements from entering Utah Beach
on D-Day, Martin’s unit then saw heavy
action in Operation Market Garden and in
Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, before
continuing on to Berlin, the final stand for
Nazi Germany.
Martin made headlines again in 2014
when he decided to make the jump near Utah
Beach again, 70 years later, at the age of 93.
As of this date, Martin is the last American
paratrooper to make a jump into Normandy.
National World War II Museum
B
And we must remember that we went
over there not just to help the British
and French, but with Australia, Canada,
Russia, Poland; all of these allies
working together to get rid of a tyrant
in the world.
I was born in rural Pennsylvania on
April 29th, 1921. My father took a job
as head of maintenance in the mines.
It was a Slavic community at that time
and the only woman in town who spoke
English was my mother. After one
of the mines caved in and a man got
killed we moved to Indiana where my
mother was from. We stayed there until
I was about 10. My Dad was working
for the United Aircraft Company when
we moved to Dayton, where we stayed
until I joined the Army.
I grew up listening to veterans of
WWI and hearing about what they went
through in the trenches. After that war,
our country became very isolated. Most
people didn’t want anything to do with
war anymore and I felt the same way.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, it
didn’t really touch me at all and none of
the people around me seemed to think
too much of it either. We all seemed to
think, “To hell with those people over
there. They can’t bother us.” That was
generally the way most people felt.
I was working in the defense industry
and we started making war materials.
We had the tool end, which I was in,
and we had the manufacturing end,
with about 350 people. Nothing seemed
to bother me about the war, until they
efore I begin sharing my story,
I feel I should mention that I
often have to correct people
when they thank me for my sacrifice. I
volunteered and trained for my service.
I also got paid for it. That doesn’t
make me a hero and I don’t consider
any part of what I did a sacrifice. I
consider it an honor and privilege to
be involved in a critical part of history.
I’ve gained far more by going in and
doing what we did than I ever would
have accomplished doing anything else.
It’s more satisfactory than if I got rich.
When you live in a country like this,
it’s your obligation to go when you’re
called. So you can’t say it’s a sacrifice.
SPRING 2015
31