Column: Community will always honor Martin

On a stunningly beautiful morning, unexpectedly bright and sunny for early November, the Urbandale Police Department brought Officer Justin Martin home.
More than a hundred people stood at attention Sunday morning on Main Street, soundlessly watching the arrival of dozens of police cars, which parked in silent tribute to the first Urbandale officer killed in the line of duty in the department’s history.
But Martin, 24, a Rockwell City/Lytton graduate, wasn’t the first police officer with ties to our small town who was killed, and Sunday’s processional echoed one on another fall day just three years ago.
When Americans debate, we often mention the high cost freedom demands, all while knowing that most of us will never have to pay that price, let alone have close ties to someone who does. We know, in theory, the exacting price that the world demands in exchange for safety and security. Far too often, it seems, the payment comes in the form of taking one of the best and brightest among us.
Any bright, successful, popular and dedicated young man dying in his 20s is tragic. But Martin’s death goes beyond mere tragedy and becomes something much worse. He was targeted, not for something he did, but because of what he represented. His murder was a calculated assault on so many of the things we hold close in this country.
I didn’t know Martin. But I do know his friends and family. I know the community that nurtured him, that provided his youth league coaches and that cheered him on when he took to the athletic fields.
Rockwell City is full of the kind of people who would have put blue bulbs in their porch lights even if they didn’t know two police officers who had been killed in the line of duty. They are the people who have rallied around Jamie Buenting’s family every day since he was killed in 2013, and they’re the people who will support Martin’s family every day going forward.
Sometimes, you worry that an outpouring of support is just for show; that people are going through the motions because others are watching. Or worse, you worry that people are being hypocritical, outwardly mourning while inwardly criticizing the person who died. But Rockwell City residents don’t just grieve all police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The city, year-round, overflows with respect for law enforcement and the challenges officers face.
The people of Rockwell City will continue to hope for a day when angry people stop targeting police officers.
Martin knew precisely the potential cost of pinning on that badge at the beginning of each shift. He knew Buenting personally, if not well. But he went to work each day, acknowledging both the burden of his calling and the blessing that he could be to the people he met each day.
Martin’s most recent public Facebook post was from the anniversary of Buenting’s death.
“I wasn't as fortunate to know Jamie as well as some of my friends,” Martin wrote. “However, I was lucky enough to be able to be taught by him on how to use a handgun (skills I still carry today in my career), and hear about his passion for law enforcement in the community. Just those few hours with him made me more eager to become a police officer. Unfortunately this job doesn't come without real danger, and an ultimate sacrifice was made three years ago. Calhoun County lost a man of many honorable titles, and a true guardian of the community. I'll never forget that smile. Rest Easy.”
The least we can do today is offer those sentiments back to him.