Marine Corps Lance Corporal Shane Martin, 23, was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, CA. He died July 29, 2010, when the light armored vehicle he was driving struck a roadside bomb. The explosion caused the vehicle to flip, and LCpl Martin died as a result of head trauma.

LCpl Martin was born in South Africa but moved to Spring, Texas when he was 12. He attended Klein Collins High School, where he was in the Reserve Officers Training Corps.

LCpl Martin was attending The Art Institute of Houston when he decided to join the Marine Corps in 2007. His father, grandfather and uncle had all served, and LCpl Martin had always been a military history buff. He received United States citizenship during his first deployment to Iraq in 2008.
“Martin was fiercely protective by nature, but even-tempered and mature beyond his years”, said his father, Kevin Wallace. “He had a demeanor where he would never get angry at another person, no matter what they did to him. He would just move on and keep it inside.”

LCpl Martin is survived by his wife Lauren.