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Awards and Honors Received by

Martha Dixon (Martinez)

The  2006 Outstanding Mount Lebanon High School Alumni Award

(Awarded September 29, 2006)

This award was conceived in 2004 by Mount Lebanon (PA) High School Students as a means of providing inspiration for the students by recognizing the life achievements of its alumni.  Martha (class of 1977) shares this distinct honor with a select few other notable and famous alumni of Mount Lebanon High School. 

Dedicated November 20, 2001

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Field Office of the FBI was named The Martha Dixon Building in honor of Martha's hometown roots (Mount Lebanon is a suburb bordering the City). A ceremony was held at which  FBI Director, Robert Mueller spoke in honor of Martha's accomplishments and sacrifice.

FBI Director Louis Freeh presented the award to Martha's parents and husband with the following inscription on the plaque:

In honor of Special Agent Martinez who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all of humanity while working on the Cold Case Squad at the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters. On November 22, 1994, when Agent Martinez responded to gunfire in the Cold Case Squad area, a confrontation ensued, in which she was fatally wounded. The heroic actions of Agent Martinez prevented the possibility of even greater loss of life and serious injury to other law enforcement officials and citizens within the building. This special recognition is presented in Agent Martinez's memory and in tribute to her performance which was in the highest traditions of the FBI.

(Awarded August of 1991)

For meritorious service in the rescue of hostages from a ten day standoff with Cuban detainees in the Talladega Federal Correctional Institute, Talladega, Alabama, after the Cuban inmates took all the guards of their pod hostage and threatened to kill the guards unless their demands were met.  After training for  several days blindfolded, a night raid was conducted by Martha's SWAT Team out of Knoxville, TN, and others from  around the region.  The raid was so successful not a shot was fired and no serious casualties resulted, while all hostages were rescued. It is considered to this day one of the finest raids the FBI ever conducted in a hostage situation.

The Director awarded this for an exceptional act of heroism which occurred in the direct line of duty in the face of a criminal adversary. This act also involved the voluntary risk of personal safety and life.

Other tributes to Martha's heroic life and death include:

Located in Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, D.C., within sight of the Metro Police Station where she was killed, Martha's name is inscribed in the Memorial Wall, Panel 26E, Line 19.

"The Michael John Buczek Medal of Honor is awarded for any act intelligently performed and in the line of police duty, which demonstrates an act of gallantry and valor at imminent personal hazard to life with the knowledge of the risk, which was above and beyond the call of duty."