Sgt. James Thorpe worked with Stephen Martin in the Rhinelander Police Department for the last eight years. In their free time the two men would go on hunting or fishing trips and sit around each other's backyards for summer cookouts.
"Two years ago I had a cookout and he come over and he was kicked back, smoking a cigar and telling jokes, he was a very humorous man," said Thorpe.
And a very good soldier, so much so that when the War on Terror broke out, Martin enlisted in the Army for the second time in his life, and his superiors say the U.S. military was glad to have him.
"The Army's lost a wonderful soldier, quite skilled technically and quite frankly a brilliant leader," said Brig. Gen. Michael Beasley of the 88th Regional Readiness Command.
Martin was killed following an attack by a suicide truck bomber last month.
His friends and family say along with being a good soldier, Martin was also an admired police officer, which was made pretty obvious by the amount of people who came to say goodbye to him Thursday.
