Services Set For Palos Hills Marine Slain In Boston

PALOS HILLS, IL — The family of a Palos Hills man fatally stabbed in Boston over the weekend invites people “to receive our Marine home” when the body of Daniel Martinez arrived Thursday afternoon at Midway Airport.

Martinez, 23, was visiting his Marine buddies in Boston on Saturday, when he was stabbed to death in front of a popular Irish pub the night before South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The attacker, identified by police as a bouncer at another bar called Sons of Boston, has since been charged with first-degree murder, according to a report in Boston Patch.

Martinez had been discharged from the Marines in September, after completing a four-year tour of duty. The young Marine was described by his older sister as a “beautiful person.”

“He was really excited to go there to an Irish pub for St. Patrick’s Day,” Micaela Martinez told the Sun-Times. “He went out of his way to spend time with them. They were his brothers.”

Martinez had achieved the rank of sergeant while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. His most recent assignment was the 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 1st Marine Division, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Marines officials said.

He attended high school in northwest Indiana. At the time of his death, Martinez had been living with his father in Palos Hills, working in the family funeral home in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, where his body will now lie in state.

Visitation and services will take place at Martinez Funeral Home, 5800 W. 63rd St., Chicago. The official viewing is planned for 2 to 8 p.m., April 1, with his platoon flying in. During the viewing, a prayer survive will be held at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, April 2, there will be a second visitation from 8 to 10 a.m., followed by a funeral service. A procession will take Martinez to Chapel Hill Gardens South Cemetery, 11333 S. Central Ave., Oak Lawn, where Martinez will be interred.