A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....05-27-05 thru 05-30-05...Remembering Them Then ~ Honoring Them

DollyCali | May 27, 2005 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dutchess, Aquamarine, DollyCali ~

Memorial Day is set apart to remember those now departed who served in the armed forces. This four day weekend at the Finest we shall remember the countless fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters and wives who paid the ultimate sacrifice while on active duty as well as our veterans who returned home alive but are no longer with us.

We are also going to honor and remember the men and women currently serving our country and present a very special Marine as a representative of all the members of our armed forces.

Please feel free to share on this thread the stories and pictures of your loved ones in the military currently serving in the Military, retired, deceased…

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." -- Thomas Jefferson

We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. ~Francis A. Walker

Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. ~Daniel Webster

On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation! ~Thomas William Parsons

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.(Psalm 23:4)

To fully understand why strangers across the country are sending well wishes to "Nick Popaditch, a true American hero" they've never met, one must rewind to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the liberation of Baghdad. In a famous event that truly symbolized the liberation, 1st Tank Battalion Marines pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein. An Associated Press photographer captured then-Staff Sgt. Nick Popaditch grinning, smoking a stogie with the statue falling in the background.

This photo, which ended up on the front page of nearly every major paper in the United States, earned him the title of "the Cigar Marine."

Now fast forward to April 7 2004 -. Popaditch, still a tank commander with 1st Tank Battalion, volunteered to redeploy to Iraq with another company when he found out his own company wasn't slated to go back yet.

One month ago, I was in Iraq, and I assumed I'd watch his first baseball season on video tape after I got home," he said from his red, white and blue canvas chair next to the dugout. "This is a real treat, being here for these games."

A real treat. Those three simple words provide a small preview of Popaditch's endlessly positive all-Marine attitude.

For the 36-year-old father of two, that fateful day in Fallujah was just another day at the office — or in the tank, if you ask him.

"We'd been in constant contact with the enemy for 36 hours," he started, absentmindedly tracing a scar above his right eyebrow. "We were on a street so narrow there wasn't even room to turn my turret."

With the enemy somewhere in front of them, Popaditch and his crew, which included a second tank, his wingman-slowly traversed the narrow streets.

"We passed an alley no wider than those two poles, and I looked down the alley and saw anti-coalition forces fire (a rocket-propelled grenade) straight at us," he continued.

"That RPG hit the side of my turret and it didn't penetrate, but I ordered my driver to stop and as I turned to engage them with my .50 caliber, another RPG was launched from a rooftop in front of us, and I guess that sucker had better aim," he laughed. "I'm not sure if he was aiming at my head, or at the hatch. The best I can figure is he split the difference."

Splitting the difference from a rooftop cost Popaditch his right eye — a fact he refuses to dwell on. Rather he speaks of the heroic actions of his 26-year-old gunner, Cpl. Ryan Chambers, a San Luis Obispo, Calif., native.

"When I got hit, I saw a flash of light and then everything went black. All I could hear was fuzz and static," he recalled, pausing to clap as his son's team brought in another runner, putting them ahead by five runs. "The force of the blast knocked me down into the tank, and I sat up and reached for my radio to start telling the driver we needed to get out of there. But my helmet was gone, so I had no radio."

Blinded, momentarily deaf and not yet feeling pain, Popaditch groped his way around the inside of his tank until he located Chambers.

"That guy, man, he was injured too, and he'd already climbed right up into the cupola — the same cupola I'd just been blown out of — and was assessing the situation," said Popaditch, stopping to laugh. "This is the funny part of the story. I grabbed him and screamed, 'Chambers, we have to get the tanks out of here,' and 'Chambers, you're going to have to call for a medevac.' He didn't answer me, so I shook him and screamed it three or four more times, until I realized he'd probably answered me but I couldn't hear him."

As the tank started moving he could faintly hear Chambers on the radio, he said. "I heard him hollering at both drivers, just doing what tank commanders do naturally," he said, admiration in his voice. "We were blocks and blocks deep into the city, and Chambers simply took control. That was comforting to me, to know that he had taken charge of the situation."

With Chambers in charge, Popaditch focused on himself for a moment and said he suddenly felt very tired."I wanted to lie down right there and go to sleep for a while, but I knew from first aid training that I had to stay awake," he laughed, shaking his head sheepishly. "I stood up, held on, and forced myself to stay awake. I don't remember anything about the trip back to the center of command, but there is a berm near the trestle we were based near, and when I felt the tank cross that berm, I knew we were home."

Popaditch said when his Marines and the medical crew pulled him out of the tank; he knew everything was going to be OK. He said he's still not sure if they were Army medics or Navy corpsmen, and laughingly apologizes for not knowing, saying, "Hey, I'd just been hit in the face with a grenade."

"When they started treating me, I knew I was safe, and I knew my family would never see a picture of me hanging from a train trestle somewhere," he said. "It was such an emotionally charged feeling, such a sense of relief."

He remembers very little about being treated in Fallujah, or being medevaced to Germany, but what he does remember amazes him.

"I was on a cot, and they were working on me. I was very heavily medicated," he recalled, taking off the patch covering his right eye and rubbing his hand across his shaved head.

"All of a sudden, they said, 'Gunny, we're being mortared, so we're going to pile these flak jackets on you,' like it was no big deal."

In Germany, he spoke to his wife and parents on the telephone, and after surgery, the doctors told him his right eye had been unsalvageable.

"I'm sure I left this guy on the floor of that tank," he smiled, gesturing to his swollen and closed right eyelid, surrounded with fresh pink scars and some small scabs peppered across his cheeks, mouth and forehead, "But it was nice of them to tell me I'd lost it. This other one is getting better every day though, and I expect to regain 100 percent of my vision in this eye."

When asked how he would sum up the whole experience, Popaditch thought for a minute and smiled.

"This has been the most motivating experience of my life, and it has restored my faith in the youth of America," he said enthusiastically. "The people I've met along the way are amazing. Corporal Chambers saved my life that day, the doctors are working to give me the best quality of life possible, and people across America are coming forward to support not only me, but all of the guys fighting over there right now."

Along with his eye, Popaditch lost his sense of smell, suffered permanent hearing loss in his right ear, broke his nose and has undergone several surgeries to remove shrapnel from his head, eye and face.

His sense of humor escaped unscathed, as did his love of God, Corps and country.

"My friends and my Marines are still there, still fighting," he said softly. "Any Marine in their right mind would want to be right there with them. All I've really lost is about 10 degrees of peripheral vision, and I'll be OK without that. I'm ready to be with my Marines again."

Nick Popaditch continues to see things in a positive light. Not soon after returning home attended his son's first baseball game of the season

.More treatments along with many special activities have kept him busy. Most recently Nick was awarded a Marine Corps Scholarship by Congresswomen Mary Bono 4/22/05. There is also a story of it in the Desert Sun on Sunday April 24th 2005. The story is ' Labor of love' for Marines.

Nick AKA Ceegar Guy and his wife April are now both FReepers and will join us on this thread over the week-end. TexKat is the FReeper who made the initial contacts with them. Thank you KAT!!! You can address any comments to them directly

Nick – Cee-gar Man US Marine
April -- USMC wife AKA Cee-gar wife

DOLLY,

THANK YOU! MY FAMILY AND I APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU AND ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AT FREE REPUBLIC HAVE DONE TO KEEP US MOTIVATED AND IN GOOD SPIRITS DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS.

I AM RETIRING FROM THE MARINE CORPS DUE TO MY LIMITED VISION IN MY REMAINING EYE. I HAVE A 92% LOSS OF MY FIELD OF VISION IN MY LEFT EYE AND THE REMAINING 8% IS CONSIDERED LEGALLY BLIND.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT MUCH. IN THE FIRST DAYS OF HOSPITALIZATION THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY OF HAVING NO SIGHT AT ALL, SO AS YOU COULD IMAGINE I AM GRATEFUL FOR WHAT I DO HAVE AND BLESSED TO MAKE IT BACK HOME TO MY FAMILY. I AM DOING FINE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO NEW GOALS AND DREAMS IN MY LIFE. I AM BY NO MEANS OUT OF THE GAME AND I WILL NOT BE SITTING ON THE SIDELINES OF LIFE, I SHALL FINISH THE GAME.

I AM PROUD OF MY SERVICE TO THIS COUNTRY. I ACCEPTED ALL THAT WAS A POSSIBILITY IN A WAR, EVEN THE POSSIBILITY OF NEVER COMING HOME. MY FAMILY STAYED STRONG FOR ME DURING ALL OF THIS AND ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THAT SACRIFICE AND HONOR WOULD NOT ALWAYS BE EASY BUT WORTH IT.

MY WISH NOW IS TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, I JOKE AND TELL PEOPLE,” I WILL JUST BE GETTING THEM (THE KIDS)A FEW YEARS EARLIER”.

BACK SOME MONTHS AGO I ATTENDED THE BLIND REHABILITATION PROGRAM IN THE PALO ALTO VA HOSPITAL. THERE I LEARNED TO USE AN ADAPTIVE COMPUTER, LOW VISION AIDES SUCH AS MAGNIFIERS, TELESCOPES AND SPECIAL READING DEVICES. I READ MY FIRST BOOK WHILE I WAS THERE, IT WAS NEARLY 9 MONTHS WHEN I LAST WAS ABLE TO READ, IT FELT GOOD AGAIN.

I HOPE TO ENTER COLLEGE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE OTHER STUDENTS WITH MY NEW QUIPMENT.

MY FAMILY AND I ARE NOW LIVING IN THE MONTEREY PENINSULA AREA OF CALIFORNIA. IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE. MY WIFE AND MY SON ARE ANIMAL LOVERS AND LOVE ALL THE SEA CREATURES THAT SHARE THE SHORES WITH US. I HAVE STARTED KAYAKING AND LOVE IT.

THE SMALLER COMMUNITY WILL BE JUST MY SPEED WHILE I ATTEND COLLEGE HERE, NOT TOO BIG, CROWDED OR COMPLICATED FOR ME TO GET AROUND. I CAN’T COMPLAIN ABOUT A THING.

I FEEL BLESSED, THIS INJURY TOOK ME THROUGH ANOTHER DOOR AND CHAPTER IN MY LIFE WHERE PEOPLE AND EXPERIENCES WERE WAITING FOR ME ON THE OTHER SIDE, I WAS REDIRECTED. I LEARNED THINGS I WOULD HAVE NEVER KNOWN HAD I NOT BEEN WOUNDED. IT TOOK ME ON A JOURNEY THROUGH OTHER LIVES OF GREAT PEOPLE AND MADE ME THE RECEIVER OF SO MUCH GOODNESS IN THEM. YES, SOMETHING WAS TAKEN, BUT SOMETHING WAS ALSO GIVEN. I HAVE ALSO SEEN THE COURAGE AND BRAVERY IN THE OTHER MEN WHO SERVED ALONG SIDE OF ME AND WHO HAVE ALSO BEEN WOUNDED. I AM PROUD TO CALL THEM MY BROTHER.

I AM FOREVER PROUD AND PRIVILEGED TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE MY COUNTRY AND WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN.

HAVE A BLESSED MEMORIAL DAY

GYSGT. NICK POPADITCH USMC

03-29-05 ~ Hall of Fame #11

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 05-23-05 Military Monday 05-24-05 Still Fontastic! 05-25-05 Doggie Tails ~ River Rendezvous 05-26-05 Facing the Nuclear Option, Dems release 3 hostages

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

http://domania.us/DollyCali/Memorial05/remeberingthersacrifice.gif

[tuliptree76]

Happy Memorial Day to everyone at the Finest!

[tuliptree76]

#161 was supposed to go to you too.

[DollyCali]

Thanks TT76 - I didn't feel slighted. lol. I love all the great graphics you put together. Thanks..you have a wonderful eye for balance & the messages are always appropriate. Be safe today & have a good day.. God Bless.. I am off for part of day to do graves at several cemeteries

[tuliptree76]

Thank you Dolly. We put flowers on graves on my father's side of the family on Saturday and on my mother's side yesterday. Have a good day today!

[TexKat]

May 30: President Bush lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington.

[Aquamarine]

Good Morning Dolly, said a prayer for you and your mom.

This thread has been such a successful tribute to the military by you and all the other posters. Am checking in periodically to see the new contributions.

[Aquamarine]

To all please feel free to contribute to the dose this evening as I want it to be a special Memorial Day edition.

Hi Snugs, thanks for the invite, I do look in at The Dose on most days but don't usually post. Have seen some of your threads and they were very well done. Will check it out later today.

[Guenevere]

#29..A great looking couple!!
How proud you must be!

[Guenevere]

Thanks for the tribute Dolly!

Can anyone answer this question?....I'm just curious...What happened to TAPS today at the ceremony?

[knak]

Thanks Cali and prayers for you and your mom and family.

[Mama_Bear]

So very sorry to hear what your Mom is going through. God bless her, and God bless you and all the caretakers of this world. Remember to take time to take care of yourself as you are caring for her.

Lori you have been on my mind these past few days..Letting you know you are in my thoughts & prayers

Thank you, I appreciate that so much, but you have enough on your plate right now. I am doing okay. Each day is a little brighter here.

HUGS!

[LadyX]

Your presentation of Nick and April is just beautiful, Dolly, and a wonderful beginning for this time of remembering our military - past and present, living and dead.
Without them, there would be no America as we know it.

Nick and April, if you click on my screen name, you'll see on my Profile Page I was a Marine during The Korean Conflict, going from Boot Camp (1952) at Parris Island to the podium, teaching women recruits classroom subjects.

It was my high honor and privilege to participate in the Dedication Ceremony of the Iwo Jima Monument on the Parade Deck there.
Having served as a Right Guide in Boot Camp, led a silent Drill Team of 8 women, and was used for any ceremony or inspection in which WM's were involvd, I was asked to be the Guidon Bearer for "A" Company for the Dedication.

There were 8 full companies in the Ceremony - the Corps at its greatest buildup in its entire history, before or since - and with our shorter strides, the WM "A" Company led it.

I returned to Parris Island in 1996 and 2002, and from the moment I got to the entrance to the time I left, I felt *exactly* as I did back in the 50's!!
The Corps never leaves you, even as you never leave the Corps..:))

It is so very wonderful to see those like you to whom our torches were passed down -- there are no weak links in the chain.....

~ ~ Rendering a salute to you ~ ~

God be with you, always --

[Gucho]

A beautiful Tribute DC. Prayers for all our Troops and Families past and present.

[Peach]

Oh, Ohio! What a handsome young man your Eric is. And his bride is lovely. The light shines right out of their eyes.

[LadyX]

You probably do not recognize this USMC Hero:

Carlos Hathcock U.S.M.C.
1942 - 1999

Most Influential Sniper In U.S. History.
For more information about him, go Here at
The Unites States Marine Corps
Scout/Sniper
Association

With probably more than 300 kills during the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock is the most famous sniper in United States History.

The North Vietnamese put a $30,000 bounty on his head and called him "Long Trang" or White Feather. Hathcock was once accredited with hitting a NVA at 2,500 yards with a special scope-adapted .50 caliber machine gun converted to single shot operation.

The year before going to Vietnam, Carlos won top honors at the National Rifle matches at Camp Perry Ohio. Hathcock began honing his rifle skills at an early age bringing home food for the family table in rural Arkansas.

When an armored vehicle he was riding in hit a mine and caught fire in Vietnam, he was sent back to the U.S. to recover from extensive burns. Although he was unable to return to Vietnam, he put his efforts into establishing the Scout/Sniper school at Quantico Virginia. Here, Hathcock spoke against the "John Wayne" mentality of many soldiers, always emphasising skill and quiet deliberate thought as essential to be an effective sniper. Sadly, what the North Vietnamese couldn't do, was finally done by the slow debilitating disease of multiple sclerosis at the age of 57.

+ + + Rest well, at peace, Noble Warrior ~+ + +

[humblegunner]

Thanks for that!
I love a long range Sniper.

God bless Carlos Hathcock.

[LadyX]

Here is one you'll recognize as a Great One --

Lt.Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller
(1898 - 1971)

"We're Surrounded... That Simplifies Our Problems"

Excerpt:

"This was the man we were going to hear speak ... not very tall, he stood with a kind of stiffness with his chest thrown out, hence his nickname ‘Chesty.’ His face was yellow-brown from the sun and atabrine, the anti-malaria drug that was used then. His face looked, as someone has said, as though it were carved out of teakwood. There was a lantern jaw, a mouth like the proverbial steel trap, and small, piercing eyes that drilled right through you and never seemed to blink."

Puller was then 44 years old. The four-time Navy Cross recipient would not see combat again during World War II; instead, he was assigned back to the United States in November 1944.

He was sent to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in August 1950 to take command of his old unit, the 1st Marines, which was gearing up for Korea.

Cold Hell

Puller landed with the 1st Marines at Inchon, Korea, in September 1950. Aboard his landing craft was Lt. Carl L. Sitter, who would earn the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions during Nov. 29-30, 1950, at Hagaruri.

"I was on his landing craft that day. I’d been given responsibility for the headquarters section and later acted as liaison with the 5th Marine Regiment. Sometime after we were at Tent Camp 2, I had to go to his tent to talk to him. When I went inside, it was dark, and it took my eyes awhile to adjust. When they did, I noticed him sitting on the ground snapping in with his pistol; he was pointing it right at me.

"He was ramrod straight with a stubby pipe in his mouth all the time. He was approachable. He’d often say ‘Hello son, how are you doing?’ when he came across a Marine."

While "attacking in a different direction" at the Frozen Chosin Reservoir Dec. 5-10, 1950, Puller earned his fifth and final Navy Cross.

Ten Chinese Divisions had been sent to annihilate them, but the Marines smashed seven of the divisions during their retrograde to the sea. Facing attack from all sides, including two massive enemy attacks on the rear guard, Puller’s direct leadership ensured all casualties were evacuated, all salvageable equipment was brought out, and ensured there was enough time for the column to reach its destination.

In addition to the Navy Cross for his actions during the breakout, he was awarded the Army’s equivalent — the Distinguished Service Cross. In January 1951, Puller was promoted to brigadier general and appointed as assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division.

======================================================

[humblegunner]

Chesty ping!

[Dubya]

I served with Lt.Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. Gung Ho Marine for sure.

[LadyX]

"I served with Lt.Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. Gung Ho Marine for sure."

Awesome, Dubya!

According you this: