LOS ANGELES -- Dean Paul Martin, eldest son of entertainer Dean Martin, was eulogized at a memorial service attended by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and other Hollywood stars as a man to whom his family and his Air National Guard flying career meant the most.
Oscar-nominated actor James Woods told about 400 of Martin's friends and family Wednesday that 'Dean was my best friend.
'Only two weeks ago, he said to me, 'If I were to die tomorrow, because of my son Alex, I'd die a happy man. The proudest achievement of my life was to bring Alex into this world.''
Martin, 35, a member of the California Air National Guard's 163rd Tactical Fighter Group based at March Air Force Base, was killed March 21 when the F-4C Phantom jet fighter he was piloting slammed into a peak in the San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm. His weapons officer, Capt. Ramon Ortiz, Las Vegas, Nev., also died in the crash.
Alex, 14; his mother, English actress Olivia Hussey; Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill, Martin's second wife; Martin's father and mother, Jeanne, and other family members, sat with hands clasped together as Woods paid his last respects in an open-air service under blue skies at the Veterans Administration National Cemetery.
The service was followed by a five-gun salute and the 'missing-man formation,' four Phantom jets passing over the cemetery, one veering off into the heavens. A memorial wreath was sent by the President and Mrs. Reagan.
Woods, reflecting on his father's death when he was still a teenager, sought to comfort Alex, saying, 'Go ahead and grieve, but then let it go. Be happy because that's what (your father) would have wanted.'
Many of the mourners wept quietly.
A host of celebrities, including Martin's old friends, Sinatra and his wife Barbara; Jerry Lewis; Sammy Davis Jr.; Desi Arnaz Jr.; Danny Thomas; Red Buttons; Lucille Ball; former co-star Ali MacGraw; and about 200 members of Martin's unit, several in full military dress, attended the service.
'Dean was serious about two things -- flying and his family,' Woods said. 'He took life very seriously, but he wouldn't let you know it.'
Martin's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Art Cornelius, concluded the service by presenting Alex a U.S. flag.
Guard units, meanwhile, spent their eighth day at the crash site about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, 'going one step at a time and documenting everything they find' across a 100-by-200-foot area, a military official said.
Teams planned to airlift the remains of both men from the mountain by Friday,although recovery efforts have been repeatedly delayed because of the extremely rugged terrain and the severity of the impact, Guard spokesman Maj. Steven Mensik said.
An investigation into the cause of the crash by a six-member team of Air Force and Guard officers is expected to be completed within three months. Martin and Ortiz were part of a formation of four planes that had just taken off on a routine training mission when the crash occurred.
Martin was the eldest son of Dean Martin and his former wife, Jeanne. He appeared in several films, including 'Players' and 'Heart Like a Wheel' and starred in the 1985-86 television series 'Misfits of Science.' He completed work on a pilot film last month for another series, 'A Single Man.'
As a teenager, Martin played in a rock group, Dino, Desi and Billy, with Desi Arnaz Jr., and a neighbor, and while in his 20s was an internationally ranked member of the professional tennis tour.
