Donald Martindale of Warren has been named the sixth recipient of the annual Pat Daniels Macomb County Veteran of the Year.
The county Board of Commissioners proclaimed it so Wednesday at a committee meeting attended by Martindale, his wife, Mary, and son, Paul, and most of the county Veterans Services Commission at the county Administration Building in Mount Clemens.
Martindale, 77, who was wounded in Vietnam while serving in the Army, received the award for his involvement in multiple veterans organizations in which he helps veterans in myriad ways.
“It’s his full-time job,” said Mary in an interview following the presentation.
“I know he does his very best possible to get benefits for veterans from veterans services,” Paul said.
He is commander of VFW Post 1794 in Mount Clemens and member of Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Cooties Macomb, Vietnam Veterans of America, Oakland County Service Officers Association and veterans commission. He helps run bingo once a month each at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit and Michigan Veteran Homes in Chesterfield Township.
Martindale “unselfishly gives his time, energy, and undaunted efforts to Macomb County’s large and growing community of veterans in need,” the proclamation says. “As a veteran himself, Donald Martindale serves his community each and every day as a compassionate and empathetic advocate for our county’s veterans.”
He engages in “public service with sincerity, honesty, devotion and a genuine involvement in activities and projects that generate improvement and betterment of the quality of life for all people is an aspiration and dream sought by many, but seldom achieved or fulfilled,” it adds.
Michael Salyers, one of his fellow commissioners, called Martindale “the most modest” among the seven-member organization.
Martindale was reluctant to boast and deflected questions about his achievements, though he said of the commission: “We do a lot of good for the veterans.”
He said he raises money for veterans via the veterans organizations and helps touts the services offered by the county Veterans Services, which is funded by a tiny countywide millage.
Martindale didn’t learn he was receiving the award until he arrived at the board chambers Wednesday. He went there on the guise the veterans commission was having a finance meeting and his wife and son would go grocery shopping afterward.
He said he initially got an inkling when he was told where to sit in the audience. He showed virtually no reaction when he learned of the proclamation.
“I’m honored,” he said afterward. “You have to be honored when someone honors you.”
Martindale served from August 1966 to May 1968 in the 173rd Airborne Division and 82nd Airborne Division of the Army. He said he spent all of his time overseas except for training and medical treatment as he was shot in the hip in 1967 for which he received a Purple Heart. He returned to the United States for treatment and was ordered back to Vietnam and finished his service. He said he served throughout Vietnam and entered Laos and Cambodia.
He grew up in Highland Park and Detroit. He and his family moved to Warren in 1979 and he worked at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren for 38 years. He said he started in drafting and for many years operated a dynamometer, which tests engine performance before he retired in 2007.
His children also include daughter Amber and son Kris.
The award was created in 2019 to award to a veteran “who exemplifies the incredible commitment to service, honor, and integrity of the county’s extensive community of outstanding veterans.” It was soon given the Daniels name in honor of a Vietnam veteran who served in the Army. Daniels, who has moved to Florida, asked Salyers to send his regards.
Accompanying Donald Martindale on Wednesday after he received the 2024 Pat Daniels Macomb County Veteran of the Year award are his son, Paul, from left, county Chief Veteran Service Officer Laura Rios, Veterans Commissioner Robert Slavko, Veterans Commissioner Manual Gonzalez, wife Mary, Veterans Commission Chairman Therese Wrobel, Veterans Commissioner Dave Archer, Veterans Commissioner and Commission Vice Chairman Michael Salyers and Commissioner Joel Rutherford.
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