Grady Pat Martin Jr., 59, loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend passed away March 13, 2008 while working in Iraq. Pat was preceded in death by his father Grady Pat Martin, and his Niece Courtney Dohallow. He is survived by his mother Ruth Martin; Wife Diana; Children Emily Martin and Jennifer Stewart; Brothers Michael Martin and wife Lucy and Dan Martin and wife Katrina; Sisters Kathi Pieper, Karen Stone, and Sandy Dohallow and husband James Neill; Sister-in-law Valerie Hubbard and husband Mike; and numerous nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday March 21, 2008 at 10:00 am at The Chapel of the Houston National Cemetery.

For those wishing to make a charitable donation in Grady's name, please do so to the American Heart Association or to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Thank you.

Grady Pat Martin Jr., a Vietnam War veteran who was working as a truck driver in Iraq, died last week of a suspected heart attack. He was 59.

The war in Iraq was the Houston native's chance to go to the aid of his country once again, said his wife, Diana.

Martin had worked for the past four years for KBR, the Pentagon's largest contractor in Iraq, handling such tasks as ferrying heavy equipment, water and other supplies between military bases in northern Iraq, his wife said. He had driven trucks in Houston for several years before taking the job.

"He had been in the Vietnam War and he said, 'I can go over there and help the military maybe do it better than the last time,' " Diana Martin said.

At first, his wife fiercely questioned his motive for placing himself in another war zone. He soothed her fears by telling her that driving on U.S. highways could be just as dangerous.

Martin frequently called home, she said, and last visited his family at Christmas.

One of those phone calls was about an eight-hour trek that he said normally would take only a half-hour, if the road didn't first have to be cleared of mines and other potential dangers.

"It was getting to the point where I was ready for him to come home," Diana Martin said. "It's been long enough."

The 1967 Waltrip High School graduate enlisted in the Navy just as he was about to be drafted, she said. He was sent to Vietnam two years later, patrolling the waterways of the Mekong Delta. He returned home in 1973.

Martin had worked as a welder and oil-field worker before he took up truck driving.

"He was a great storyteller," his wife said. "All of his friends are saying that, and that he wouldn't want us to be sad."

Martin also is survived by his mother, Ruth Martin; children Emily Martin and Jennifer Stewart; brothers Michael Martin and Dan Martin; and sisters Kathi Pieper, Karen Stone and Sandy Dohallow.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Houston National Cemetery's chapel.