Tom Martin – Rohe Track Era Military

Tom Martin

UT Track:  1966-1967 (Freshman Year), Hurdler (High & Intermediate Hurdles)
Military Service:  USMC, August 28, 1968 to June 19, 1969, Private First Class
Vietnam:  March 14, 1969, to June 19, 1969; India Company, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (The Magnificent 7th), First Marine Division (Rein) FMF; Killed in Action on June 19, 1969 in Quang Nam, South Vietnam.

Medals:  National Defense Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnam Service Medal, and Purple Heart.

Comments:  As a senior at Columbia Military Academy in 1966, Tom Martin was an outstanding hurdler and was scouted by the University of
Tennessee. Many observers considered him to be the best high school hurdler in the country, and thought he might qualify for the United States Olympic team in 1968. After graduation from CMA he entered the University of Tennessee in September 1966 and attended for two years on a track scholarship. Tom enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 28, 1968, in his home town of Memphis, Tennessee. He arrived in Vietnam on March 14, 1969. His Marine Platoon Patrol Base near Hill 112 and the Dong Bich village complex in Hieu Duc District was attacked by the enemy firing a barrage of 60 millimeter mortars and a volley of rocket-propelled grenades on June 19th, 1969. Tom Martin was one of three Marines killed as result of fragmentation wounds in that attack.