Art Martinez Jr. saw a lot of things when he was stationed in Iraq in 2008, but the one thing he never thought he would see was the end of the policy that prevented him from serving honestly.
On Nov. 22, Martinez became the first openly gay soldier in Indiana to be sworn in since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) was repealed in September. The moment was a milestone for a man who returned from war only to be greeted with discharge papers months later.
Martinez entered the Marines in 1981 at age 18 after he graduated high school. He had a few close gay friends in the service during that time, but no one talked openly about it. When he contract expired six years later, Martinez felt nostalgic for his service days. He remember serving throughout the years and missed the experience, so in October 2007, a middle-aged Martinez enlisted in the National Guard as an infantry specialist.
"I just like it," he said matter-of-factly. "I love the military. I love serving my country."
In February of the following year, Indiana was asked to supply 5,000 troops for a military surge in Iraq. Every available service member was deployed to Iraq, and in March 2008, Martinez landed in a war zone.
Martinez said he "saw a lot" while in Iraq. He and his colleagues grew close because of the experience, but Martinez was never able to be honest with them.
"When you go to combat with a group of people, you have a lot of trust," he said. "I hated to play that macho straight guy role."
When women walked past and other guys made comments, Martinez played along uncomfortably. He felt guilty, and he felt that he was lying.
Months after he returned from Iraq in November 2008, the secrecy still nagged at him. He knew that if he came out, he would be discharged, but he could no longer justify lying to those he served with.
In December 2009, he finally came clean with his superiors.
"It was really difficult to come out," he remembered. "I knew what would happen. ... The thing that hurt me the most was that my leaders, they were going to be disappointed."
A commanding officer told him that he would likely have to discharge Martinez, despite his personal wishes. Martinez was told to stop coming to weekend training. Halfway through his six-year contract, he was honorably discharged.
Martinez, who now works for the United Parcel Service and lives in Highland, spent the next year scanning the headlines for information on DADT. When President Obama signed off on the repeal of the ban, Martinez cried. He asked a local recruiter to re-enlist him in the National Guard. The recruiter told him he would have to wait until the repeal went into effect in September.
So Martinez waited, and when the moment came in late September, he made his move.
"I thought I would never see it in my lifetime," he said.
On Nov. 22, Martinez took the oath for which he had been waiting for years.
Now, he hopes to be deployed to Afghanistan. The memory of his time in Iraq still haunts him, something he has grappled with for three years now. That difficulty, he said, is one part of the military that has never discriminated.
"It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight," he said. "The things you saw and did over there … yeah, you think about it."
