I was born in Burke County, Georgia. My father raised me and my brother the best he could. I had a normal childhood until my mother and father split up. I wasn't real rebellious, however I had managed to stay in and out of minor scrapes with the local law enforcement. After watching my father try to make it as a farmer and my mother in a bad relationship, I had always had an idea of what a real family would be like, but my only family life was my father on the farm. As I grew older I was more rebellious until finally my father signed for me to join the Navy.
       In 1982 I went into the delayed entry program. It was the security that I was looking for. The Navy didn't care as long as I stayed out of trouble and didn't get killed. Things finally came to a head though. God saved me and touched me while I was in Southwest Asia. In 1987, I was a 21 year old Gunners Mate 3rd Class Petty Officer stationed aboard the USS STARK FFG-31. Right before I left for the Persian Gulf, I had been plagued by a series of really bad nightmares, so during Christmas leave that year I went to see a close friend and Pastor, Daniel Bowen. I distinctly remember telling him that if we don't pray for me I will not be coming home alive. We prayed and after the attack by an Iraqi jet, which left 37 dead and another quarter of the crew wounded, I was spared a horrible death. On the Surface Warfare Team of 18 men, I was one of the five left alive.
    You would have liked Joseph Watson. He was a good friend and a good sailor. We used to run and work out together. My last memory of him was him standing by his bunk with his Bible saying "Hey Martin, get over here and say some prayers". After he was killed I talked to his mother. She asked me "What were my son's last hours like on earth?" You could feel the relief in her voice as I said his last hours on earth were with God. I thank God for Joseph's prayers. My middle son is named for this man.
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Written by Bernard T. Martin, Sr.
Surface Warfare Team USS STARK after it was hit by Iraqi warplanes
My time in the Navy was done and I came home on a C-130 in May of 1987. However, God was not done with me yet. I tried all types of man's healing, to no avail. All the Veteran's Administration wanted to do was to keep me and sedate me, so I left and did not go back. I went back to training martial arts all the way to the 1st degree black belt.  After the failure of my first marriage, I got custody of my three sons. I was unable to do almost any thing due to the financial restraints of being a single father. Master Nguyen would always say "Poor little three boys have no mother so you come and train". I would train and then on Saturdays I would clean the yards so I could afford a martial arts education. My martial arts instructor Master John Nguyen was blessing me, however, I was still missing the inner peace I sought. And I still had not realized the importance of God in my life.
    Well, after a series of events, I happened upon the Church of God in Waynesboro. In 1997, exactly ten years after my time in southwest Asia, I gave my life fully to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If it had not been for Christ's love, I would probably be insane now. God's love has allowed me, since 2001, to attain Foreman with my job at the Georgia Department of Transportation. I am also a Georgia National Guardsman with the 1st 214th Field Artillery. I am at peace with my past. I am recently returned home from Operation Enduring Freedom with the United States Army. I am currently a member of Narrow Way Riders Motorcycle Ministry. I am living proof prayer works. Through many prayers by the Waynesboro Church of God, we were spared the horrors of Iraq this time. For the average person Turkey was stubborn and would not let us in their borders, but as God's people, we know that God Himself had personally touched this Unit. The 214th was reassigned and I went to Fort Stewart, Georgia as a guard for the Ammo Supply Point for the 3rd Infantry Division. God is truly the author of our life. We went from the uncertainty of what was transpiring in southwest Asia to the certainty of knowing we had prayer warriors at home praying for our safety. We know that God answers prayers and I will live again to tell of what God has done as in Isaiah 12:4, Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known among nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted.