WATSONVILLE — Freddy Martinez and Donald Cooley came from different generations and different states, and both took different career paths.
But they also share one fundamental similarity: both were drafted into the U.S. Army during wartime, and attribute their time in the service to the self-discipline and maturity that defined the men they became.
Martinez was named this year’s American Legion Post 121 veteran of the year. Cooley earned that honor from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1716.
They will be honored during this year’s Veterans Day celebration.
Martinez, 78, served during the Vietnam War from 1962-64 in Ft. Hood, Texas as a Specialist 4 in the Mechanized Infantry as an armored personnel carrier driver.
“I went from a wild young man to a mature man,” he said. “It taught me respect and how to answer for my actions.”
Cooley received his draft letter in the spring of 1943, during his first year as an engineering student at Purdue University.
After completing a training program, he became a member of the 106th Infantry Division. He landed in England in November 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge.
He was among 6,000 men from two regiments who surrendered during that battle. He was a prisoner of war from December 1944 until April 1945, just before the end of WWII. He was home 30 days after his release.
He considers his experiences in the military a significantly formative period in his life.
“I feel that every high school graduate should have experience in some type of service, whether it’s public service or in the military,” he said. “It’s very important for one’s maturity.”
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Martinez, who graduated from Watsonville High School in 1958, also served in the U.S. Army reserves before coming home.
He worked at the Firestone Tire Rubber Company in Salinas until it closed, and after that worked for the J.J. Crosetti Company, variously running the broccoli shed, the freezer and the apple orchards.
Martinez lives in Watsonville with his wife. He has volunteered with the Grey Bears during which he ran the recycling center at the Buena Vista Landfill. He works part time at Ace Hardware and calls bingo at a senior center.
In addition, he coached baseball at Monte Vista Christian School for 21 years.
A colonel when he left the army, Cooley returned to Purdue to finish his engineering degree, and then earned a business degree at Stanford University.
He went on to a 35-year career with IBM, working posts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Ariz. and New York, City.
He retired to Watsonville, where his wife Diane has family roots.
“Everyone should be that lucky,” he said of his service.
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The 2018 Veterans Day parade will start Sunday at 10:15 a.m. from the parking lot of Moreland Notre Dame School at 133 Brennan St.
The ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Building at 250 East Beach St. begins at 10:45 a.m.
