Wounded Vet Still Serves the Troops

DALTON, Ga. - J.R. Martinez will be spending Independence Day near Raleigh, N.C., this year. But the Dalton resident wouldn't have it any other way. "There's an Air Force base here outside of Raleigh called Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and they've got about 400 airmen that have just recently returned from deployment overseas, and we are putting on a concert for them," he said. Martinez serves as a national spokesman for the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes. "We are having a concert here tonight (Thursday), and I'm emceeing. It will be a great chance to go out and have fun with a great group of individuals," he said. Martinez, a 2002 Dalton High School graduate, was severely injured while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2003 when the truck he was driving ran over a land mine as it crossed into Iraq. He suffered... [read full story]