Celebrity News November 11, 2011
J.R. Martinez Honors Veterans Day
On Veterans Day, "Extra" salutes war hero J.R. Martinez -- who survived a blaze after his Humvee ran over a land mine in Iraq in 2003.
The Army vet and "Dancing with the Stars" frontrunner chatted with "Extra's" Mario Lopez, and said his army buddies were astounded by his dancing skills. "I was talking to the guy who was in the Humvee the day I got hurt. He's like, 'I always knew you were fast, but I didn't know you could dance like that,' so I'm surprising a lot of guys.
Martinez, who was praised after earning two perfect scores this week on "Dancing," said he wants to give back to his fellow soldiers. "The biggest thing I can do now is have some guys come to the show and enjoy that. Give America some of that visual of service members in the audience, reminding people that it's not only on Veterans Day... these guys don't just sacrifice one day out of the year, they do 365 days of the year."
He continued, "We, as Americans, should step up, volunteer, send donations, send packages, say thank you and remind our men and women that we appreciate who they are, what they are, and what they've done for us."
