9/11 As Remembered By Renton Man, Former Marine

Although Renton sometimes seems like worlds away from New York, the distance from one coast to the other shrank exponentially 10 years ago on September 11. When the first plane smashed into the World Trade Center, the world stopped, listened and took action.

Unlike many men in their 20s and 30s who enlisted after 9/11, Renton resident Mark Martinez had already been in the Marines for six years. He'd enlisted in 1995, then re-enlisted in 1999. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 he and his company were in 29 palms Calif., out on a two-week field training called gunnery.

"We were getting ready to go out and someone had their personal radio out," he recalled of how the news arrived.

Then everything stopped.

A communications guy hooked up another radio, stringing wires up and out the door where everyone was silent and huddled, listening to Rick Dees and the flood of incoming information, Martinez said.

He will always remember the words as they came across the airwaves, "America has been attacked."

Training wasn't officially cancelled at that moment, he said, "It's just that nobody said 'Let's go.'"

Following the second plane and the collapse of the tower, Martinez remembers sitting through a company formation where the Marines were asked if they had family, or other close ties in New York. Two guys did, he said, and they were allowed to go and make phone calls.

At the time Martinez didn't know it, but his cousin, Karen Fontana — who then worked for the secret service — was not in her office in the World Trade Center. She was lucky to escape any injury because she was in the parking garage at the time of impact; however, her car, her gun and everything in her officer were lost when the building crumbled.

The attack changed everything, he said, remembering how seriously the news was taken.

"In an instant, everything became by the book," Martinez said. "Everyone stepped up their game, and it was all 'chest out, shoulders back' from there."

Martinez was actually set to get out of the Marines around the April 2003 invasion of Iraq; however, the war was on and, there wan't much of an option not to go.

It wasn't even a discussion. There was no consulting with his wife, Aubrey, as he explained the event. "It was, 'I'm going, and you'll know when I get back, when I get back.'"

Martinez still has his log book filled with his own thoughts on day-to day happenings, addresses of family and friends, and hand-drawn maps of various missions, in addition to the rules of engagement, photos of his wife and kids, clippings from magazines, propaganda leaflets, and other printouts, which were tacked into the hardbound book with electrical tape.

On Sept. 11, 2011 — the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 — he plans to spend a relatively quiet day with his family.

"We will probably go to the fair, then watch TV specials about the attack," he said.