Few buildings remaining from old Fort Ord are more worthy of historic status than the one off Imjin Parkway and now home to the Veteran’s Transition Center – Martinez Hall.
Three things characterize the structure as historic. First, the building has unique architecture stemming from its Mission Revival style and its construction by Works Progress Administration boys in the final days before World War II. With work relief as its main goal during the Great Depression, the WPA deployed skilled tradesmen on useful but not necessarily cost-efficient projects. This motivation allowed for greater embellishment than the contractor-built mobilization buildings later ubiquitous on Army bases and known for their strictly utilitarian demeanor.
With red tile roofs and Spanish verandas wrapping along the sides and front of the structure, Martinez Hall was the first of several similarly themed Fort Ord structures that included the famous Soldier’s Club, and the East Garrison mess hall complex. These buildings evoked a romanticized view of California’s Spanish past, but matched well with civilian taste, explaining perhaps their tendency to persist despite rampant redevelopment of the former fort in recent years.
Second, Martinez Hall served as the headquarters and officers mess of Fort Ord during WWII and remained post headquarters for much of its history, assuming that function with the base’s first commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Stilwell. As a military headquarters, Martinez Hall was the site of important planning and decision-making about military training and the deployment of troops during WWII, the Korean conflict, and in Vietnam. It later served as a museum and welcome center.
Finally, Martinez Hall is named to honor Pvt. Joe P. Martinez, who deployed from Fort Ord in 1943 as an infantryman with the 7th Infantry Division. Born in Taos, New Mexico, in a large farm worker family, Martinez was drafted in 1942 from Ault, Colorado, and sent to Camp Roberts, California, for basic training.
Assigned to the 7th’s 32nd Infantry Regiment, he landed on Red Beach at Holtz Bay, Attu on May 11, 1943, the most western island of the Aleutian chain. The mission of the 32nd Infantry was to reclaim the island, a US territory, from Japanese invaders. On May 26, 1943, Martinez participated in a push to drive enemy troops from well entrenched positions.
In the face of withering hostile machine-gun, rifle, and mortar fire, Martinez, wielding a Browning Automatic Rifle and hand grenades, jumped from cover, climbed a steep ice-covered slope while urging others to follow, and silenced several enemy trenches before being mortally wounded. His actions were key to the successful assault, which helped end organized resistance on the island.
On November 11, 1943, Pvt. Martinez was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor becoming the first Hispanic American to earn that honor during the Second World War. Martinez Hall was dedicated in 1977 after the 7th Infantry returned to Fort Ord from a long deployment in Korea in October 1974. He was also the first member of that division to earn the esteemed Medal of Honor.
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