James Ray Martin

James Ray Martin sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

James Ray Martin. Born 30 December 1946. Kokomo, Indiana. Dad was Navy. North American Aviation. Columbus, Ohio. Then dad died. Jim was eight.

Single mother. Four kids. Christmases with nothing. She cashiered at a Big Bear. One lunch was dried dog food and rock salt. She was at work. He was not ready to be the man of the house. Eight years old. Nobody is. He went to work at fourteen. Gas station. Out of necessity.

World War II was still fresh. Korean War still going. Kids played war. He was comfortable in high school with the thought he would go. Mama signed. Seventeen. 1964. He had not really heard of Vietnam yet. Soon as he got in they started hearing about it.

Morse code. Started at five words a minute. Had to hit twenty to pass. He finished around twenty-five. Okinawa. Sometimes they sent it in the clear when it was too hot to encode. By twenty-one he had been around the world twice. And fought a war.

1968. Block allocation on the group. Married men weeping. His name was not on the list. Last year. He volunteered. Take my place. Bien Hoa. East of Saigon. Served out his time there. Made E5. Problem with authority. They cut him slack because he was good at the job. Awards. Fine edge. Four years. He was ready.

Army was his ticket out of Oklahoma. Back to Ohio. Manpower development. Drafting. Top of the class. Federal Glass. Molds for tableware. Night school starting about 1970. Seven years. Bachelor's. Full engineering job.

They told him pancreatic cancer. Ninety percent fatal. He made peace with a year. Maybe two. It was benign. Still there. Not a problem. Dothan since 08. First Harley. Seventy thousand miles on that one. A hundred thousand on Japanese bikes before that. Hundred and seventy thousand lifetime. Ridden down to ten below. Will not do that again. Control. Two wheels on a back road. Loyalty. Stability. Integrity. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.