Going Beyond
J.R. Martinez will be guest speaker for the Going Beyond celebration hosted by Meals on Wheels Plus Sept. 22. The dinner and celebration begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Abilene Convention Center. Click here to purchase individual tickets for $150. For table sponsorship, contact Betty Bradly, executive director of Meals on Wheels Plus, at 672-5050 or bbradley@mealsonwheelsplus.com

J.R. Martinez, an actor, author, advocate, and wounded U.S. Army veteran, will be guest speaker for a fund-raising dinner Sept 22 to benefit Meals on Wheels Plus.

The event, with the theme “Going Beyond,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Abilene Convention Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Individual tickets, which cost $150 each, can be purchased here. For table sponsorship, contact Betty Bradly, executive director of Meals on Wheels Plus, at 672-5050 or bbradley@mealsonwheelsplus.com

Martinez will speak on “Adapt: Acceptance, Determination, Action, Positivity, and Trust.” Martinez is the author of “Full of Heart: My Story of Survival, Strength, and Spirit,” a New York Times best-selling memoir about “how he was able to take his own personal tragedy and turn it into an inspiration for others.”

After high school, Martinez joined the Army and in September 2002 was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. I March 2003, he was deployed to Iraq and on April 5, he was driving a humvee in Karbala when his front left tire hit a roadside bomb.

Three other soldiers were ejected from the burning vehicle, but Martinez was trapped inside. He suffered smoke inhalation and severe burns to 34 percent of his body. Martinez spent 34 months in recovery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and had undergone 34 surgeries since the injury. Since then, he has traveled the world, speaking to troops at various bases.

Martinez was featured as “Brot Monroe” on the Emmy Award-winning ABC Daytime drama All My Children and was a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, where he partnered with Karina Smirnoff to win the mirror ball trophy. He has been a guest on numerous show, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, The View, and more. He also has been featured in the New York Times, Washinton Post, and other publications.