John Martin

John W Johnny Martin May 12 1922 January 26 2005 was an American Army noncommissioned officer and World War II veteran He served as a Staff Sergeant with Easy Company 2nd Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division and was one of the original members of the company trained at Camp Toccoa Georgia Born in Columbus Ohio Martin worked as a railroad employee before enlisting in the US Army in 1942 and volunteering for the airborne forces He completed his training at Camp Toccoa and Fort Benning before deploying to England with Easy Company in preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe Martin parachuted into Normandy on DDay June 6 1944 and participated in the Battle of Normandy He subsequently fought with Easy Company during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium He remained with the company through its advance into Germany and Austria serving until the end of the war After the war Martin attended Ohio State University before returning to the railroad industry He later moved to Phoenix Arizona where he entered the construction business and built apartments and homes His successful construction company eventually made him a millionaire Martins wartime experiences were featured in Stephen E Ambroses 1992 book Band of Brothers and the 2001 HBO miniseries adaptation He also appeared in the preepisode interviews for the series sharing his recollections of his service with Easy Company Martin was portrayed by Dexter Fletcher in Band of Brothers Martin died on January 25 2005 at the age of 82