The eagle on the top of the sculpture looks northwest.

From a wounded warrior to a chainsaw carving artist, Anthony Martin has had quite a journey.

Martin, hired by Lynn and Debbie Jaycox, was in Webster City last week creating a sculpture in front of the Brewer Creek Park shelter to honor the memory of their son, Scott Jaycox, who died unexpectedly in 2020.

Martin’s journey to chainsaw carving goes back more than a decade.

Before he became a chainsaw sculptor, Martin was in a hospital in Washington state recovering from severe injuries sustained in 2010 while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. It was there, during a very down time in his life, that he discovered chainsaw carving, and it changed his life.

He’d never seen chainsaw, but he learned it is pretty popular on the west coast.

A buddy of his asked him to go to the Washington State Fair. Not liking big crowds and being in a wheelchair at the time, Martin said he wanted nothing to do with going to the fair.

But his friend persisted.

“He got me out and he rolled me into the fair and right when you walked in there was someone chainsaw carving and I was like, what is that?” Martin recalled.

They watched as the chainsaw carver rolled out a log and, within 40 minutes, had carved a full eagle.

Martin said he’s not sure how it happened, but he was hooked. He began to watch YouTube videos on chainsaw carving.

Within weeks his medical team noticed his sleep patterns were changing, as well as his mood, behavior and, well, everything. When they asked what was working, he said chainsaw carving. He was staying up at night and watching everything he could find on the art form.

“Back in 2013 there wasn’t really anything on the web, at all. You’d get a 30-second video and you’re like, okay, I have to decipher this. Pause it a little bit, play it a little bit and go back. So they (his doctors) jumped on it and they said, ‘Let’s get this guy motivated, because they know he can’t serve anymore, his career is over.”

Martin had eight vertebrae fused, both hips operated on, and three vertebrae replaced in his neck. For about three years he struggled with immobility; before he was injured, he had been very active.

“Psychologically, it just shredded me. Because I couldn’t go out and do anything I wanted to do. I had to rely on people to get me from point A to point B. And it just psychologically drained me.”

But the chainsaw carving led him to enter competitions.

It was motivating; in fact, it was so motivating that he missed a surgery date to have a tens unit (an electronic stimulator) surgically attached to his spine to cut down on the pain. Instead, he was at a chainsaw carving competition in Tacoma, Washington.

Martin was considered high risk due to being in a wheelchair, so missing that surgery didn’t go unnoticed. He had to go in front of a colonel who asked why he missed the surgery, adding that he’d heard every excuse on the planet. When Martin said it was because he’s a chainsaw carver, the Colonel responded, “What?”

“I was like, yeah, chainsaw carver.”

The colonel told him to get out of his office.

“Two hours later he showed up on my doorstep with my whole entire medical staff. He called everybody in. And they reviewed everything and they came back to me and said, ‘Here’s your chainsaw.'”

The military’s Family Support paid for the chainsaw and for someone to come in one hour a week to teach him how to do it. Within four months he was out of his wheelchair and taking care of himself due to the passion he had for chainsaw carving.

In 2014, Martin got out of the military and returned to Iowa. One of his programmers called AW2, the Army version of the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps wounded veterans with housing and mobility needs.

His agent applied with the Military Warriors Support Foundation for a house. That group’s mission is to provide support and programs to facilitate a smooth and successful transition for the combat wounded and Gold Star families. Part of that effort is the program Homes4Heroes, which provides mortgage-free homes.

Martin was surprised when the organization congratulated him on being a homeowner.

He said to his agent, “I told you I didn’t want anything; I did my time and that’s it.”

The agent responded, “Dude, you’re the only guy I know from Iowa. I’ve been in the service for 25 years. You’re the first guy I’ve met from Iowa. You’re getting this house.”

Six months after getting the house, Martin met his wife.

One day she suggested going to the Iowa State Fair.

His response was: “I am not going to the state fair. I’ve never been to the Iowa State Fair.”

Then she told him they have chainsaw carvers.

“I’m honking the horn, let’s go! What’s taking you so long?”

That’s when things took off for him. He made connections with others who helped him get supplies.

While many chainsaw carvers do their work at state fairs, he chose another direction. He does competitions.

Now he’s very busy, and a lot of his work is done for those who served this country.

“What I’m really known for is the Soldier’s Cross. I’m going around and honoring every wounded warrior from Iraq and Afghanistan wars on terrorism. So anybody who got killed in action, I’m going around and carving a Soldier’s Cross and presenting it to the family.”

Martin was contacted by Lynn and Debbie Jaycox more than a year when he was in the area for Operation Stand Down for veterans. Eventually, he came to Webster City early this summer to see the site and finalize his plans.

What what he carved is an eagle on top looking out over Scott Jaycox’s memorial fire pit. There’s a school of about 18 fish circling the tree about 6 feet from the ground. At its base, three walleyes are coming up.

Debbie Jaycox said, “When we completed the park improvement in Scott’s memory, we met with Anthony at a vets gathering at the shelter. We asked if he could carve something in the tree as a tribute to Scott. In high school Scott worked on a stain glass project which was an Eagle. Also he and his father rescued an Eagle on his grandfather’s farm many years ago. He also did some drawings of an Eagle. With Anthony’s vision, he learned Scott was an outdoorsman with love of nature/hunting and outdoor activities and created this beautiful tribute. We feel this just puts the final touch on the park.”

She added, “We were able to watch the first couple days and then had to be out of town a few days. So, seeing the completed project was beyond ecstatic! There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Anthony’s creation … a beautiful sculpture for all to enjoy in the park.

“We have had many stop and comment on how spectacular the sculpture is. Many have expressed appreciation for the addition of this to the park. I was also told that there have been some who have had tears upon seeing it. Of course, this was our reaction as well,” she said.

“It’s better than we thought possible,” Lynn Jaycox said. “It’s perfect.”