Education
United States Army Command and General Staff College.
United States Army Command and General Staff College.
During World World War II he served in the Finnish Army. Following the war he immigrated to the United States and served as an officer in the United States Army, retiring as a colonel. Marttinen was one of the key figures in the Weapons Cache Case where a large number of Finnish Army weapons was hidden around the country in case of a Soviet invasion.
Soldiers involved in this case were forced to leave Finland since hiding weapons was a criminal subject due to the 1944 Moscow Armistice.
These soldiers who mostly fled to United States and enlisted in the United States Army were later called as "Marttinen"s men". A year later Marttinen and his family moved to United States.
United States citizenship was given to Marttinen in 1951. He served in the United States Army from 1947 to 1968, first as a specialist and trainer of winter warfare and later as a General Staff Officer in United States, West-Germany and South of Korea.
Last three years of his military career Marttinen spent as a Military advisor in Iran.
He was a graduate of United States Army Command and General Staff College (1950) and United States Army War College (1963). Marttinen died 20 December 1975 at Falls Church, Virginia, and was buried at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. He had three sons. His oldest, Pekka Marttinen (1933–1958), served as a lieutenant in the 2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment.
He was killed in a gunnery explosion in Grafenwöhr, Germany.