Frank martinez vet wwii.wmv | Lawrence Costales

In this short documentary video Frank recalls participating in the invasion of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. Martinez enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served as a medic in Europe during World War II. After the war, Martinez traveled to London to study at the Borough Polytechnic Arts Institute. Returning to Los Angeles a year and a half later, he met and married Esther Silva, whose parents owned a grocery store in Chavez Ravine. He continued his studies at the Chouinard Art Institute, a precursor of CalArts, and then the Otis College of Art and Design. Supporting a growing family, he never earned a degree, and in 1956, he began working as a lamp designer for the Van Nuys-based Lavery & Co., a job he held for three decades. In 1976, Martinez was one of five California artists commissioned to paint a mural for the Smithsonian Institution for the nation's Bicentennial celebration. One of his last works hangs in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Martinez died Aug. 17 at the Northridge Hospital Medical Center of complications from diabetes and end-stage renal disease, said his son, Frank Martinez. He was 89.