Bob Martin: A soldier with heart

Bob Martin, the commander of Coeur d’Alene Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 889, laughs easily and cares deeply about the work he’s doing with the veterans organization.

Martin, who served four tours in Vietnam and has three Purple Hearts, was present at several major battles that occurred during that war, including Hamburger Hill. His voice catches a bit when he talks about those experiences. Since 1995, he’s been detailing his early Vietnam years in a book he may one day publish.

When Martin moved to Coeur d’Alene in 2014, after retiring from a private sector job as a detective, he had a pretty good idea he would feel welcome as a veteran.

The people of Kootenai County didn’t let him down.

“I’ve got to tell you, the Kootenai County, Coeur d’Alene community is definitely a pro-veteran community. I have never ever encountered in my travels across the U.S. a friendlier, more pro-veteran community,” Martin said.

He said when he’s out around town wearing a hat or anything that identifies him as a veteran, people always say hello and thank him.

Martin sat down with The Press last week and talked about his writing, his first combat experience during the war and discussed the ways people in Coeur d’Alene can continue to help the veterans they so obviously care about.

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What can you tell us about the book you’re working on?

The name of my book is “Spirit of the Warrior.” It’s about my first two tours in Vietnam as an infantry private and later on as a sergeant in an infantry squad in combat. It starts when I was at Fort Benning in Georgia in 1964 as a 17-year-old private. Of course 1965 is when Johnson deployed units to Vietnam, the first combat troops. I went with the first Air Cav division as a private in an infantry squad. A month or so after we arrived there, the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, which was shown in the movie “We Were Soldiers” and the book “We Were Soldiers Once...And Young” written by Hal Moore. And I was a part of that. I’d just turned 19 when I was there. That was my beginning.

I am the first, not only the first enlisted man, but the first man in the 1st Air Cav division to earn the Silver Star in the Vietnam War. The first, as a private.

When is the Silver Star awarded?

The Silver Star is the third-highest award in the nation. It’s for a specific act in combat, and that was during the Ia Drang campaign.

Is that something you can talk about?

I was a point-man in a rifle squad. We were moving in an attack in a creek bed. There were two columns on each side. I had the inside of the creek bed. I was the point man. We had two rifle companies. My company was in the lead, which was B Company, Bravo Company. Alpha Company, A Company was behind us. We were moving into attack position.

We’d been fighting in this valley for two days, with not a lot being accomplished...because the enemy was pretty much dug in, in these little hills where the valley narrowed into small hills that escalated into bigger mountains. They were all dug in what we call spider holes and bunkers.

For two days we were moving without much success trying to make an approach across a rice paddy, which didn’t work.

On the third day, they decided to move us in a position around a creek bed. We would flank the enemy positions and make an attack from another position. Well, we got caught. They had a .50-caliber machine gun set up in the creek bed, and other machine gun positions. They were waiting for us.

We were in the creek bed, and they were running along on top of the embankment, throwing grenades down on us.

Well, in the first 30 seconds of fighting, my squad leader went down; 90 percent of my squad went down. We had dead and wounded. We had to get some of the wounded out, because if we didn’t, they were going to die.

My squad had a little spur that was protecting us from the .50-caliber machine gun fire, which was brutal. And the company started to make a retrograde withdrawal, because they knew they were in a real can of worms. So they were screaming, ‘Pull back!’ Most of my squad were dead. The guys that weren’t hit, took the severely wounded out in the withdrawal, but I was still left there with three other men, including my squad leader.

That was kind of like...down to the nubs. I ran out of ammunition.

In the book, I explain it pretty well, what happened.

At the very last, it was starting to get dark, and my squad leader who did die; I thought he was going to make it, but he didn’t. He and I were talking about what to do. He said, ‘Probably the best thing to do is wait until it gets dark and go back and get help. Have somebody come back and get us. They don’t know we’re here.’

And as we contemplated that, I heard movement again coming toward us. And I thought it was the enemy. So, I was out of ammo, and I fastened a bayonet on the end of the weapon and wondered what it was going to be like to meet God.

And then I heard a voice say, ‘Who’s back here?’ And it was an American voice. It was my chaplain. His name is Billy Lord. That was our chaplain.

One of the guys who took our wounded back, told them ‘Part of our squad is still up there. Martin is with some guys. They’re by themselves. We’ve got to go back and help them.’

The chaplain rallied about half a dozen guys. They came back under fire and pulled us out of that mess.

As we were taking the wounded out... we heard firing as we were going back down the creek bed. I put down the sergeant, and I went up on the embankment to see what was going on. And about 20 feet down, there were two enemy soldiers firing and throwing grenades down on the bank at someone. They didn’t see me. And I shot them.

Then I hollered, ‘Who’s down there?’ And it was Col. Robert Shoemaker. He, by the way, retired a four-star general. And I told him who I was. I said, ‘We’re bringing wounded down.’

So he joined our merry little band, and also, a man by the name of Morley Safer (A war correspondent at the time, Safer went on to become the longest-serving reporter on ‘60 Minutes’) was with the colonel, in a place called Happy Valley. We named it. I never spoke with him, but I remember his hands were shaking very badly. Their chopper had been shot down.

What happened next?

The funny part was, I was not just a private. I was private E-2. I had been busted on the troop ship coming over for a couple of issues in Waikiki when we stopped. And Col.Shoemaker had busted me. So I was a no-stripe private. I was slick-sleeve.

He looked at me and also my other buddy who also got in trouble with me.

He said, ‘Martin, wasn’t there some business in Hawaii?’

I said, ‘Yes, sir.’

He said, ‘Looks like you boys are still getting into hot water.’

I said, ‘Yes, sir.’

We’re still in touch today. He was commander of FORSCOM (U.S. Army Forces Command) when he retired. We’re still close. He’s 92 now and we’re still friends.

Can you tell us about your Purple Hearts?

The first two Purple Hearts that I got, I call the cheap ones. I was hit by fragments two different times. In 1969, I was in another battle they made a movie of, it was called Hamburger Hill.

I actually was wounded four times, but I only got three Purple Hearts. Right after that Hill battle, I was supposed to be going home. I was taking the freedom bird back to the United States. We were leaning up against some sandbags, drinking beers, saying goodbye. I looked at my arm, and there were fragments coming out of my arm I didn’t even know I had. It could have been from the hill, because they were rolling grenades down the hill and RPGs and mortars...up in my arm, they hit me, and I didn’t even realize it.

The guys said, ‘That’s another Purple Heart. Go on over to headquarters and get the paperwork going.’

I said, ‘No. Tomorrow morning I’m on the freedom bird. I’m out of here. I’m not going to start some paperwork trail and get held back. No. Because I know what the bureaucracy will do. I’ll be hanging around here another week.’

How did you earn the third Purple Heart?

The last one was the expensive one. I was burned on Nov. 6, 1970, in Vietnam.

I spent two months in a burn unit in San Antonio. And my mom was with me the whole time...She was living in Sacramento at the time. Mom is 92. She lives in Spokane.

When did you retire?

I retired in November 1983, after 20 years. I went into the Army a week after my 17th birthday in August 1963.

What did you do after retirement?

In the late ’70s, the Army put me on recruiting duty and I met my wife, Diane, in Chicago. Then I went back to the real Army.

I was a para-airborne instructor at Fort Benning for two years, and then in ’82 I was sent to Italy I was with a parachute regiment, Vicenza. I ended up a platoon sergeant and a first sergeant of the company. Then I retired out of Italy.

We went back to Chicago, and at that point, I was with the Illinois State Police for about three years. Then I went to the private sector, and eventually, I had my own company. I had a security and private investigations company. I got rid of that until 2003. Shortly after I sold my company, I went to work representing exclusively a law firm in downtown Chicago, The Ankin Law Firm, personal injury. I was with them until 2014. I did all their pre-trial work. That’s what I did until I retired.

Let’s talk a little about the VFW. You’ve been involved with it for two years and you’ve been the commander of the Coeur d’Alene Post since June. What prompted you to jump into this?

When I first arrived, I’m retired and I thought, you know, maybe I should check the VFW out. It’s been a long time, and I am a veteran.

I was enjoying it for the first year. I was a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, helping out with the poppy drives and stuff. And somehow or another — I thought I hadn’t been here long enough — I got elected (commander).

What types of benefits do veterans groups bring to veterans and the community as well?

It’s a two-way street, and the first thing, let’s talk about employers. Hire the vet. If you’ve got two or three candidates and they’re all pretty much equal and one of them is a veteran. It’s not only going to benefit the veteran. It’s going to benefit the employer.

They were taught skills that basically only the military can teach you: responsibility, working as a cohesive team. These things have been instilled in them over the time that they were in the service, whether it was for three years or for 20 years.

The next thing a community can do is reach out and thank a veteran. And if he wants to talk, talk to him about his experiences. Opening up is one of the biggest things a veteran can do, and it helps. For some of these guys, it’s a pressure-cooker. They don’t have anyone who wants to listen.

That was the big problem with the Vietnam War returnees. That was probably the reason I got out for a couple of months, and I went right back into the meat grinder. I didn’t feel like I fit in any more. And the war kept calling me back, and I went four times.

The next thing, when you see a fundraiser like our poppy drive, give as generously as you can. Because every nickel we collect on these drives, especially the poppy drive, goes to needy veterans in our area here. Nothing goes to the Post. That goes strictly to the relief fund. Those funds cannot be used for anything else but needy veterans.

You just saw me in the paper, giving Theresa Hart her money. Newby-ginnings. I have to make a special comment here. Theresa is one of the most dynamic, fantastic people I’ve ever met. What she’s doing for veterans and the commitment she has is phenomenal. Newby-ginnings, they’re helping veterans.

And you name it, whether it’s a psychological problem or a PTSD problem, or the veteran just got laid off and he’s got a wife and two kids, we’ve done things like pay their rent until they get back on their feet or help make car payments, all these basic necessities. That’s what we do with that money. That comes from the relief fund. It’s strictly for the needy vets.

Without help from people like Fred Meyer and Super 1 Foods, we wouldn’t be able to pull this off. So the donations are very important.

Another thing has to do with local politicians. One of the VFW’s priorities is making sure they’re maintaining veterans benefits, that they’re not overlooked.

What are some of the things that affect veterans and create the need for relief?

This is probably from my own experiences and observations, but probably the PTSD. Only about 10 percent of veterans are combat veterans, but for those individuals, they’ve been traumatized by whatever happened to them, and everyone’s got a different threshold.

I also think there’s a misunderstanding. People who have had no exposure to the military before may not understand the veteran, and sometimes think, oh, he must be a psych case. These things kind of blunt the possibilities for veterans when they’re trying to get ahead, and like I’ve said, veterans make the best employees.

Do veterans want to talk about their experiences?

They’re kind of closed if they think somebody’s not going to understand them. But that’s a way of gaining a veteran’s trust. If they’ll talk to you about it, that’s a good sign.

I thought I was some kind of anomaly, but right after 9-11 I was getting really bad. I was having outbursts of temper with my employees, with my wife. And Diane said, ‘You have to go to the VA and talk to somebody.’ And I was in therapy for two years. My therapist, Kathleen Richard, and we had many long talks, and that helped me enormously.

I thought I was some kind of anomaly having this come out after so many years, But I found out, even World War II guys that never came out, started coming out. 9-11 was some kind of a trigger. She said they had a big influx of vets coming forward after 9-11.

About your book, when do you think it will be published?

I haven’t written on it in almost a year. It’s been a work in progress. In Chicago, I had some queries and they loved it, but I was basically told Vietnam stories don’t sell. I have about 300 pages and that’s about two-thirds of the book. It’s rough. It’s all-consuming when you are working on it. But it also has an emotional effect on me because I start going into the time again, and I’m writing about things that did happen.

I’ve been a little hesitant because I ask myself, do I want to get back into that world again, because basically that’s what you’re doing. You’re putting your body, mind and soul into a time you don’t really want to go over again.

Were there good times when you were in Vietnam?

When I was applying for the state police, they had a psych review. They said, ‘You’ve got quite an extensive military history. How would you sum up Bob Martin’s life?’

I said, “They were the best of times, and they were the worst of times.”

And they said, ‘So that’s Bob Martin?’

And I said, ‘No, that’s Charles Dickens.’

But it’s one of my favorite quotes, and I think that would describe it perfectly.

I have guys who, if it wouldn’t have been for the war, I wouldn’t have met these guys. And these guys, I love them like my brothers...There are like four guys and if I was to call any of them to say, ‘Come, I need you.’ They’re getting on a plane and coming here, and vice versa, same with me. That’s the way it is. You just don’t have those relationships in the normal hum-drum of life. I guess during crazy, extreme times, you develop those kinds of relationships.