Raymond C. “Smokey” Martin

Son of Grace Dorothy (Jones) Martin and an unknown man.

Biography

From link to Martin, George R. R. (October 2004). "The Heart of a Small Boy". Asimov's Science Fiction. Archived from the original on October 19, 2004.

By that time, only my mother, the youngest of Thomas Brady’s eleven children, was still living at home. A number of her siblings had died in childhood; the others had grown up, moved away, and started families of their own. My mother was actually younger than a number of her nieces and nephews. When the wealth and the house were gone, she and her mother moved into a modest apartment. Once out of high school, she took a job at Westinghouse, and supported my grandmother until Catherine passed away in 1941. Some six years after that, Margaret met my father.
His name was Raymond Collins Martin . . . that "Raymond" is where the first of my two Rs originated. My mother called him Ray, and everyone else called him Smokey. ....
.... My father was a veteran of World War II . . . and according to one man, at least, a war hero. He kept a shoebox full of old photographs from his service, small grainy black and white snapshots taken with some old Brownie. The pictures look to have been taken in North Africa. There’s sand, tents, barechested GIs . . . and my father, grinning into the camera, looking impossibly young. In one picture there’s a camel in the background. In most of the others Smokey has a Camel dangling from his lip . . . he didn’t switch to Luckies until after the war. Some of his buddies are in the pictures, clowning around with their rifles, posing with their arms around his shoulders. I don’t know their names. I never will.

Links

• 1930 US Federal Census
• link to Raymond C Martin in the U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Name: Raymond C Martin Birth Year: 1920 Race: White, citizen (White) Nativity State or Country: New Jersey State of Residence: New Jersey County or City: Hudson Enlistment Date: 21 Oct 1942 Enlistment State: New Jersey Enlistment City: Newark Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA Branch Code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA Grade: Private Grade Code: Private Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men) Source: Civil Life Education: 3 years of high school Civil Occupation: Unskilled occupations in building transportation equipment (except automobiles and aircraft), n.e.c. Marital Status: Single, with dependents Height: 69 Weight: 143 Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005.
• link to Raymond Martin in the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 Name: Raymond Martin Gender: Male Birth Date: 5 Aug 1920 Death Date: 11 May 1975 SSN: 155125193 Enlistment Date 1: 21 Oct 1942 Release Date 1: 10 Oct 1945 Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
• http://ethnicelebs.com/george-r-r-martin
• Biographical Summaries of Notable People Relation: Son George R. R. Martin born Sep 20 1948
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146156944