Alex Martinez was above all shy; a quietly motivated man, beloved by his friends and family and totally dedicated to his duty as a U.S. Marine, said his wife, Juliana Martinez.
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Martinez, 23, spoke publicly about her husband for the first time at a news conference Thursday, a week after the Marine was killed April 5 during combat operations in Afghanistan.
She wore her husband’s wedding band on a chain around her neck. He had insisted she keep it safe.
“I’m glad I kept it,” she said. “Because it might have been lost.”
She had last spoken to Martinez, 21, the Tuesday before he died. When they said their goodbyes, he told her it would be three days before he could call again.
She was patiently waiting for that time to be up when on Thursday she unexpectedly received a knock on the door of her home at Camp Pendleton in California.
When she opened the door, it confirmed her worst fears.
“I just broke down,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I was still waiting for his call.”
The pair met through mutual friends while attending Larkin High School in Elgin, when she was a senior and he was a sophomore. Though Alex Martinez was a bit shy, Juliana connected with the man she described as kind and funny.
Martinez also knew what he wanted: to graduate high school early, join the Marines, serve his country and start a family.
But first he had to convince his mother, Socorro Bethke, to let him join. He needed not only his mother’s blessing, but also her signature. He signed up when he was just 17 years old.
He had been interested in serving his country to follow his father, who had served in the Navy.
The couple married on Dec. 17, 2008, shortly after he turned 18 and before he finished high school. About a month later, he shipped off to boot camp and then to Afghanistan. He was on his second tour of duty when he died.
It was to be his last year of active duty, and the couple was already planning civilian life together. They wanted to return to the Chicago area, where Martinez was hoping to become a firefighter.
A procession is planned for Friday to take Martinez’s body from O’Hare Airport to Elgin. Visitation will be held at Laird Funeral Home, 310 S. State St., Elgin, from 5 to 9 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Life Changers International Church, 2500 Beverly Road in Hoffman Estates.