Couple Gets Their Bronze Stars

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This appeared on military.com under their news content and thought you guys might like to read it. I am from the Charlotte North Carolina Area. Brenda
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Couple Gets Their Bronze Stars

Charlotte Observer | December 22, 2007

During their Army service in Iraq, a married couple from Charlotte has apparently made a bit of military history.

Christina and Michael Martin are captains in the Army and have just finished 15-month tours in Iraq. They were both awarded Bronze Star medals for meritorious service last month.

She got hers for developing a mass casualty plan that probably saved lives in a Baghdad hospital. He served as executive officer of a tank unit in Ramadi that shut down a factory making makeshift bombs.

The Army says this may be the first time a husband and wife have won the honor.

"At this time, we have no records of married couples receiving this award," according to Army spokesman Maj. Nathan Banks. "Both soldiers are to be congratulated for their heroism."

The Bronze Star was first awarded in 1944 to military personnel who distinguished themselves in conflict with foreign forces or while serving with friendly forces. It can be awarded for valor, a single act of merit or meritorious service. The Martins each got Bronze Stars for meritorious service throughout their deployment. The Army has handed out about 18,000 Bronze Stars since the start of the war in Iraq.

Both captains aren't seeking congratulations. They're just looking forward to spending the holidays together in Germany, before returning to the U.S. in February.

Until last month, Christina Martin, 26, an Independence High graduate, served as an executive officer organizing medical supplies and transport for patients at Riva Ridge, a medical facility at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Riva Ridge has seen the highest number of casualties of any medical facility in Iraq, she told the Observer in a phone interview from Iraq. But the hospital boasts the lowest rate of deaths among its wounded.

Shortly after coming to Riva Ridge in 2006, Christina Martin developed a detailed plan in case of a rocket attack.

In October, just such an attack hit a base dining hall in Baghdad and sent dozens of wounded to Riva Ridge. Her plan worked, she says, and likely earned her the medal.

Until last month, Michael Martin, 29, originally from Walkertown near Winston-Salem, was the executive officer for a tank company in Ramadi, about two hours from Baghdad.

He handled administrative duties, went on patrol and led his unit when his commanding officer was away. His unit was instrumental in restoring water service to the Al-Anbar University campus and uncovering an improvised explosive device "factory," he says.

The Martins met at UNC Charlotte in 2002 -- in ROTC class.

"Before you know it ... we had become quite the item," Michael Martin says.

They were married a year later in 2003. That was a few months after the war in Iraq began and just before he left for officer training. Christina Martin followed him into the Army a year later after her graduation from UNCC.

"I've always wanted to be in the Army ever since I was little," she says. "I always knew I wanted to marry a soldier and be an Army wife." Her parents, Donald and Karen Horner of Indian Trail, met while serving in the Army. Donald Horner is a veteran of Desert Storm.

Christina and Michael Martin were apart for much of their training. They spent one week together before she shipped out for her first deployment in Iraq in the fall of 2004. Michael Martin's unit was not scheduled for Iraq, so he asked to be reassigned to the war zone.

"Really, it was all to be with her," he says.

During their first deployment, their bases near Baquba were only 30 minutes apart, and they were able to see each other regularly. They returned to Germany less than a year later and were both reassigned to new units. In fall 2006, they were deployed to Iraq again, this time farther apart. They saw each other only three times during 15 months.

"At least we were in the same country, which a lot of married couples can't say," Christina Martin says. "It's been hard on our relationship to be separated so much, but because both of us were deployed together, I think that will benefit us in the long run, to be able to sit and have conversations about it and know what the other is talking about."

The couple, now stationed near Schweinfurt, Germany, will likely return to the U.S. in February. Christina plans to leave the service next summer, while Michael is planning a career in the Army. They are looking forward to doing things most married couples take for granted: settling in, buying furniture, planning a family.

Still, they're proud of their time in Iraq, Christina Martin says: "To be able to tell our stories and be excited about what we did - and think that we made a difference."

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