allegiance branch name article_title
united states 20px martin r. barreras martin barreras

martin barreras

martin barreras -lrb- october 7 , 1964 - may 13 , 2014 -rrb- was an american army non-commissioned officer who held the rank of command sergeant major , and played a crucial role into the rescue of jessica lynch in 2003 .
barreras was born in tularosa , new mexico in 1964 .
his family moved to tucson , az in 1974 where he attended and graduated from sunnyside high school in 1982 .
in 1983 , barreras first enlisted in the marine corps .
six years later , he was transferred to the ranger regiment and served under the regiment until 2010 .
during his military career , he spent most of his service in iraq and afghanistan .
on may 6 , 2014 , barreras was shot in afghanistan .
several days later he was returned to the united states , where he died in the san antonio medical hospital .
per the army times : the senior enlisted soldier for 2nd battalion , 5th infantry regiment has died from wounds suffered in afghanistan , the defense department announced thursday .
command sgt. maj. martin barreras , 49 , of tucson , arizona , died tuesday , may 13 , 2014 at san antonio military medical center in texas .
he died from wounds suffered on may 6 in herat province , afghanistan , when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire , according to information released by dod .
barreras became the top enlisted soldier for 2nd battalion in march 2013 .
the unit is part of 3rd brigade combat team , 1st armored division at fort bliss , texas .
elements of 2nd battalion deployed to afghanistan in december , according to information from the 1st armored division .
`` command sgt. maj. barreras was my friend and battle buddy , '' said lt. col. edward brady , the battalion commander , in a statement .
`` i 've spent more time with him than my wife since i 've taken command .
i believe that i was the luckiest battalion commander in the army to have him as my command sergeant major .
`` while every soldier in this formation is extremely saddened by his loss , his bobcats are doing exactly what he would expect of us : continuing on with the mission and taking the fight to the enemy .
this man would do absolutely anything and everything to ensure his soldiers came home safely . ''
barreras joined the army in 1988 after serving in the marine corps for five years , according to information from the division .
he served for 22 years in the 75th ranger regiment , serving in 1st and 2nd battalions , the special troops battalion and the regimental headquarters .
in the ranger regiment , barreras served in virtually every enlisted duty and leadership position and completed multiple combat deployments to iraq and afghanistan , as well as operation just cause in panama , operation restore/uphold democracy in haiti , and other special operations contingency missions .
following his time with the ranger regiment , barreras was the command sergeant major of the u.s. army marksmanship unit .
his awards include the legion of merit , bronze star medal with v device , bronze star with three oak leaf clusters , purple heart with one oak leaf cluster , meritorious service medal with two oak leaf clusters , joint service commendation medal with one oak leaf cluster , iraqi campaign medal with three stars , afghanistan campaign medal with four stars , combat infantryman badge with one star , expert infantryman badge , ranger tab , master parachutist badge with bronze star , military freefall badge and pathfinder badge .
