Ted Poe: “the great General Douglas MacArthur of World War II once commented, ``I have just returned from visiting the Marines at…”

“the great General Douglas MacArthur of World War II once commented, ``I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world.'' Lance Corporal Robert ``Robbie'' Alexander Martinez was a member of this fine fighting organization. He was killed December 1 while fighting and serving our Nation in Iraq. He was a member of the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, based at Marine Corps Air Ground and Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California. Mr. Speaker, to date, there have been 185 Texans killed since the war began in March 2003. Lance Corporal Martinez was just 20 years of age. He was on his second Iraqi tour. He had already spent 7 months on the Syrian border in 2004. He went to Iraq and into Fallujah this past June. He and nine other Marines were killed last Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded next to them in the deadliest attack against American troops in Iraq in 4 months. Martinez was scheduled to come home this past Monday but at the last minute his tour was extended for a month and a half. Just a week ago, Robbie Martinez had just called his mother and asked her to buy a diamond because he was coming home. He had planned to propose to his ``love at first sight'' girlfriend, Taylor Wilkenson, as soon as he got back. Robbie Martinez graduated from Cleveland High School in Cleveland, Texas, in 2003. While in high school, he was known as the peacemaker.…”