1st LT THOMAS MICHAEL MARTIN USA (KIA), USMA '05, 10 OCT 80 - 14 OCT 07

I received the following this evening. To protect the family's privacy (and to keep nut cases away), I have eliminated the locations and times.

Visitation. Visitation will be in San Antonio on Sunday, 21 October.

Funeral. The funeral will take place in San Antonio on Monday, 22 October.

Burial. Tom will be buried at West Point. The ceremony will be small and private with just immediate family in attendance.

Memorial Service. There will be a memorial service held in Cabot, Arkansas (Tom's hometown) on Saturday, 27 October.

Memorials. Two memorial funds to honor Tom's life have been established. The first is a college scholarship fund at Tom's high school that will be given annually to a young man or woman that exemplifies many of the same traits as Tom: leadership, and community and church involvement. Contributions may be forwarded to the 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Scholarship, Cabot Scholarship Foundation, Inc., 200 West Main Street, Cabot, Arkansas 72023.

The second fund supports the Returning Heroes Home foundation. The foundation runs an assistance center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio that provides support for wounded Soldiers and their families. For more information see HERE. Contributions made in Tom's name will go towards the completion of their new building and provide a lasting impact for many members of the military family. Donations may be sent to Returning Heroes Home, 1162 E. Sonterra Blvd #210, San Antonio, Texas 78258.

Websites. For those interested, Tom's personal website is HERE... he kept an online journal for a few years before arriving in Alaska - it is so clear that he lived a full and wonderful life.

Updated: Tom's Memorial Service in Iraq will be at FOB Falcon on 18 October at 1930 hours. His friend, 1LT Chris Gerbas, is there serving as an Apache pilot. He asked me to tell Tom's family and Erika that he is flying to Tom's memorial service and will be carrying two American flags with him in the cockpit in memory of Tom. The flags will be sent to Erika and to Tom's parents from the service. God bless our friends and Soldiers still serving in Iraq. Please keep them in your prayers that God will keep them safe.

I again offer my sincerest condolences to the family, fiancee and friends of this American Hero.

As I posted at Milblogs, sometimes all the politics, strategy, finger pointing and arguing fall away and we remember the human side of war.