NY Air Guard Tech Sgt. Flavio Martinez, Manhatten resident, 105th Airlift Wing member receives valor award

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Tech. Sgt. Flavio A. Martinez ( right) with Brig. Gen. Timothy LaBarge following his award ceremony on Sept.. 9, 2016

STEWART AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, NEWBURGH, NY (10/05/2016)(readMedia)-- A security forces Airman from New York City assigned to the 105th Airlift Wing's 105th Base Defense Squadron here was presented a Bronze Star with Valor during an award ceremony at Stewart Air National Guard Base Sept. 9, 2016.

Tech. Sgt. Flavio A. Martinez received the medal, the fourth highest for heroism in combat, for his actions following a Dec. 21 suicide attack on his patrol outside of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, last winter.

The attack killed six Airmen including two from the 105th Airlift Wing: Tech Sergeant Joseph Lemm and Staff Sergeant Louis Bonacasa.

Martinez, at the time a staff sergeant in the second month of a six-month deployment, and the other Airmen were on a routine mission to engage with local leaders, when a Taliban fighter on a motorcycle approached his 13-person team.

The enemy fighter stopped in the middle of the dismounted patrol, approximately 20 feet behind Martinez, who was in the lead element of the group, and detonated an improvised explosive device.

Martinez was thrown by the force of the explosion and separated from his team, but immediately began treating the wounds of his fellow Airmen and providing security.

Despite the danger from possible follow-on attacks, Martinez ran back into the kill zone on three occasions to aid the wounded and retrieve sensitive equipment.

Additionally, Martinez guided a quick reaction force to the patrol's location, helped transport the casualties to a landing zone for two medevac missions, and provided perimeter security as explosive ordnance disposal personnel conducted their assessment.

The blast killed six Airmen, including two from the 105th BDS, and critically wounded five others.

Brig. Gen. Timothy J. LaBarge, chief of staff of the New York Air National Guard and former commander of the 105th Airlift Wing, said it's hard to understand the full extent of Martinez's actions by reading the citation.

"You read the citation that tells the story, but the words don't do any justice to the level of danger and the level of heroism and the abject disregard for his own personal safety that night," LaBarge said.

"When you get the full context of the story, it's actually incredibly awe-inspiring. He kept going back in the field of fire to secure the battlefield and to provide first aid to the people that were there and completely in disregard for his own safety," he said.

Martinez later escorted the remains of his fellow defenders from the 105th Base Defense Squadron back to the U.S.

Master Sgt. Daniel Rivera, Martinez's squad leader, said perhaps the most incredible part of the story was that Martinez wasted no time requesting to return to Afghanistan, so he could finish the deployment with his unit.

"It's amazing what he accomplished," Rivera said. "The fact that he was injured, he actually escorted them home, and he returned to make sure his Airmen were taken care of."

Rivera said he was not surprised by Martinez's actions.

"He's probably one of the best NCOs I've ever worked with," Martinez said. "I'm honored to have him as part of my squad. The medal that he received is well deserving."