My Life I Lived

By Arturo Martinez

In the intense heat of a Kuwaiti airstrip, with the night painted in shades of black, Arturo Martinez sits reminiscing a simpler time-a time before the relentless demands of military service, before the piercing awareness of danger at every corner. From the unassu

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arturo Martinez
• Release date: May 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869390318

Book preview

My Life I Lived

Arturo Martinez

Copyright © 2024

All Rights Reserved

Dedication

I am profoundly grateful to my sister, whose boundless love and words of encouragement have been a constant source of strength and inspiration. Your unwavering belief in me has fueled my determination to pursue my dreams and overcome every obstacle.

Acknowledgment

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

-Isaiah 53:3

About the Author

Arturo Martinez Jr. was born in East Los Angeles, California, in 1963. Now living in a small town in Indiana, USA, he regularly attends a MCC church and enjoys riding his motorcycle.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgment

About the Author

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 2: Pico Rivera

Chapter 3: Sports

Chapter 4: Finding My People

Chapter 5: High School

Chapter 6: Final Days of School

Chapter 7: Marine Corps

Chapter 8: After Marine Corps Years

Chapter 9: A Life Well Lived

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The memory was vivid in his mind as he sat inside the Air Force C-130, parked on an airstrip in Kuwait. The night was hot, the darkness seemingly painted with black tar. As he sat with an M-4 carbine rifle resting between his knees, he couldn’t help but think back to a simpler time.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and he had just finished helping his father with some yard work. Together with his little sister, they piled into the car and drove to the local 7-Eleven to get some Slurpees. The cold, sweet drink was a welcome relief from the hot summer sun, and he remembers feeling content as he sipped on the icy goodness.

As he reminisced about the past, he couldn’t help but notice how much simpler things used to be. Back then, he never had to worry about the dangers lurking around every corner and the possibility of not making it back home in one piece. It was a time when he could walk around carefree, without a single worry in the world.

Now, as he headed towards a desolate base in northern Iraq, surrounded by the unknown, he longed for the simplicity of that Saturday afternoon.

His father’s truck was a 1969 Chevy Custom 10, painted in a dull shade of grey that had probably lost its shine many years before. Despite its age and wear, the truck was still a source of pride for his father, who took great care to keep it running as smoothly as possible. His father was not a tall man, but he had a sturdy build that came from years of hard work and physical labor.

He had a full head of bushy, black hair that fell in thick waves around his face and a matching thick mustache that sat just above his upper lip. His typical attire consisted of work clothes, which were often stained and worn from years of use. There was a pack of Benson & Hedges cigarettes in the front pocket of his T-shirt, which he would occasionally take out to smoke during breaks from his work.

Arturo Martinez, the patriarch and father, had a tattoo of the state of