[Eurotwit]

I did not know whether I should post this story. It's sad. But..

What an incredible hero.

Quite often, I feel totally unworthy being defended by such giants among men.

God bless him!

[Eurotwit]

Having trouble posting the picture...

[baltodog]

My sentiments exactly. I refer to our soldiers as just that -- our soldiers.

I used to say it was "us against them". It's not "us". It's our soldiers -- in fact it's Our Soldiers -- against them.

As for me, Free Republic is the closest I've ever come to battle.

[giznort]

Thank you for posting - you did the right thing. Please join me in prayers for this good gentleman and his wife.

[EllaMinnow]

Oh my Lord...if this is who I think it is..."Cigar Guy" was a huge favorite of many women freepers...

[mystery-ak]

Sorry to read this....Im sure he will still be allowed to serve.

[Catspaw]

Fri Apr 9, 2:35 PM ET
Staff Sgt. Nick Popadich of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, smokes a cigar while standing on top of his tank, as he arrives at a main crossroad in downtown Baghdad, in this April 9, 2003 file photo. A statue of then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) is in the background. Popaditch of Terre Haute, Ind., suffered severe injuries in an attack on his tank this week, almost one year after the fall of Baghdad, and will likely will lose his right eye after being hit with shrapnel when a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into his tank Wednesday, April 7, 2004, in Fallujah, family members and fellow Marines said Friday. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)

[dandelion]

I'm just so glad he's alive. What a man...

God bless all his buddies, too.

[Viking2002]

I hate to see a good man lose an eye, but like his wife said - he has both arms, both legs, and most importantly - his life. He comes home a hero, with a wife and child waiting on him. I salute him, and my door will always be open for people like that.

[TheDon]

"He is one of those Marines who has his hand raised anytime there's something overseas," April Popaditch said. "He says he goes for the people we lost on September 11."

You did the right thing in posting this news. The more we know of their sacrifices for us, and others, the closer we come to more fully appreciating them as we ought.

[Blue Scourge]

My condolences to the family, but atleast as far as I can tell in the article he still has one eye and full use of his body....a blessing in a time of sorrow.

[Cold Heat]

A question for you tankers out there.

What the heck are they using in these RPG rounds to cause damage to that degree on a Abrahms tank????????????????????

A standard shape charge seems to be not enough. They can't be just HE.

[Libertina]

April Popaditch said, but she added she hopes her husband can continue in the service.
What a woman!

[Ramius]

Damn.

Sure, it could have been worse, but giving up an eye for a great cause is a high price for that Marine. I have not enough words of thanks that will make up for an eye, or an arm or leg, or a life.

Where do we find such men? I suddenly feel unworthy.

[Ramcat]

Nick: You're one hell of a man. Thank you for your service.
April: You're one hell of a woman. Thank you for your service.

[concentric circles]

Terre Haute Tribune Star - 4/9/04
Terre Haute native hurt, Soldier injured in Fallujah
By Suzanne Risley

It was one year ago today that Nick Popaditch smoked a cigar in downtown Baghdad as people toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein behind him.

It was two days ago that the Terre Haute native was seriously injured after being hit by enemy fire while inside a tank in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

Today, he is being treated for injuries to his face and the possible loss of his right eye in a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

The gunnery sergeant was traveling in an M1A1 Abrams tank with Charlie Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division when it came under fire about 3:30 a.m. (EST) Wednesday. The tank was hit on its side by a rocket-propelled grenade, said Maj. Dan Smith from a Marine base in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Attacks against U.S. and coalition forces have escalated in the past several weeks. At least four Marines have been killed this week in Fallujah after attacks by Sunni militants, according to Associated Press reports.

Nick Popaditch first was taken to the 31st Combined Surgical Hospital in Baghdad before preparations for his transfer to Germany began about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Smith said.

Smith notified April Popaditch early Thursday morning of her husband's injuries. She was en route Thursday to the Twentynine Palms base from a mountain retreat where she and her son, Nicholas, had been staying, said his mother, Dolores Popaditch of Terre Haute.

Whether his wife will travel to Germany to be by Popaditch's side depends on doctors' assessments of his condition, Smith said. Medical personnel have to establish if Nick Popaditch is well enough to receive visitors and how long he needs to stay in Germany, Smith said.

Cable news channels on Thursday ran footage of the attack, in which family members could see the 36-year-old escaping the tank. No one else in Charlie Company was seriously injured, Smith said.

"It's hard. We kept seeing him," said sister Gina Alexander of Wheatfield. She saw her younger brother crawl out of the tank and lay his head down. She then saw him lying in a gurney with his head wrapped in bandages.

"If I had seen that before I knew he was all right ... ," Dolores Popaditch said. "It's looking better than what we thought."

An Associated Press photo of Nick Popaditch sitting atop a tank and smoking a cigar made several U.S. newspapers on April 10, 2003, the day troops rolled into Baghdad. At the time, he was a staff sergeant with Bravo Company.

He was shocked that he was featured in so many papers, his mother said Thursday. Nick Popaditch came home from the seven-month tour in July. He went back a few months ago with Charlie Company because they needed him. He didn't have to go back to Iraq at that time, she said.

"He's a dedicated Marine. He loves the Marine Corps," she said, adding he also served a seven-month tour in Desert Storm.

Nick Popaditch joined the Marine Corps in 1986, after less than a semester of college at Indiana State University. The youngest of five children, he graduated in 1985 from Terre Haute North Vigo High School, where he was an honor student.

"I'm just glad he's out of Iraq," Dolores Popaditch said. "I feel sorry for those that are still there."

[Optimom]

God Bless this man and his family. My husband just told me that it's time we put our money where our hearts are and said to write a check for $100 and send it out to them. Note they have a 10-year-old son. We figure the best way to honor this hero is to help provide some money to send his son to college. Anyone else want to help make it happen? I assume that sending it to his wife at 29 Palms will work.

[Spruce]

The only thing more lethal than the USMC is the earth. Fact.

[baseballmom]

Thanks for posting. Prayers for him and his family, that God will restore him fully. We are a blessed nation for sure to have men such as Sgt. Popaditch defending us.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Oh no...God bless him. God bless ALL of them.

[Valin]

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