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

[DollyCali]

What a cool thread/link.. thanks XP..

(Need all the Sistahs to observe it was NOT I who brought up the movie...)

[Peach]

We owe our beloved soldiers everything we have. They volunteer to keep us safe and risk everything and ask so little in return.

I was home alone on 9/11 and very frightened for the country. I knew that in this small town, we were safe, but thought of family members and friends who live in New York City.

When my husband came home, he reminded me about our fine military. And I was never frightened again.

Godspeed to each and every one.

[Lakeside]

'S o.k. I like Star Wars movies and liked your Finest thread on the subject. Total fun!

(should I have whispered that?)

[Temple Owl]

Hi FReepers. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, but before lighting the barbecue please say a prayer for all of our servicemen and service women everywhere. Remember all those who died to keep America free.

[Texagirl4W]

Good morning, Dolly. What a beautiful post. God bless our military.

[retrokitten]

Thank you so much for the ping. I have tears for that wonderful letter from Sgt. Nick. It is hard to feel bad about anything when you read something like that. April and Nick are terrific inspirations. Any classroom would be blessed to have him teaching America's kids.

[StarCMC]

OMG Dolly. I am crying tears of thanksgiving here for this Marine and the thousands like him. Freedom is not free. I can never repay those who have paid such a price to secure it for me and my family. "Thank you" seems so inadequate.

[DollyCali]

You know kit, I was thinking about that also.. I wonder what age level he is interested in? The younger kids, 10-15 really need great role models like him.

So glad you dropped by.. check back now & then as Nick & april will be around. She emailed me that she loved the thread & she was a real trooper in getting me lots of pix & apparently not a lot of experience doing so. She reminds me a little of you (as I am recalling your pix from a few years back)

[ohioWfan]

As per request..........a photo of my own personal war hero and his lovely bride.....

How can I thank all of my friends here on FR's Finest for all the prayers and support you gave me during Eric's long 15 month deployment?

God is good, and He is faithful! Eric is moving up in his (new) Unit, and receiving added leadership responsibility, and is proud of his service in Iraq.

(And still has his Veterans for Bush bumper sticker on his car! :o)

[ohioWfan]

Thank you for this BEAUTIFUL thread, Dolly!

[DollyCali]

My dad died December 1990. I go to the cemetery several times a year but the big family day is one day of Memorial weekend. We have 10 relatives at this cemetery & 8 at another (and one at a third but we usually don't get there). We clean the stones with brushes (I have a obsessive compulsive aunt), trim around the graves, put flowers around. Fewer participate each year as they are more infirm & all in 80s+. Family comes from out of town. Due to all the illness, problems this year, It may be a party of one ...me. Our family plot here is on the ledge of the Rocky River Ravine.. goes into the Cleveland Metro Park.. Big drop.

[DollyCali]

Everyone, ohio has the most wonderful, polite, funny, smart 4 children.. they are a joy to be around. (esp. the wild one,she is a hoot!). Now mom & dad are pretty nice too. It is so good to be around a Christian family that loves & respects each other. I know I join others here at FR ohio in praying for your son in his future endeavors..and now with a loving gift from God to complete his life. Thanks for posting this dear FRiend.

[DollyCali]

Hi Star, I'll admit to crying to when I got it.. I kept it exactly as he wrote it..all upper case. Several things struck me in the letter. His joy of life. We all saw it on that first day when the picture hit the internet(and quickly became the screen saver for many of us). His openess and humility. His determination. He is much younger than me, but he can teach me a few things for sure.

[ohioWfan]

You're so welcome, Dolly........and THANK you for such kind words!

The 'wild one' is graduating from HS next week, and will be leaving us an empty (and QUIET) nest!

She's going to bring her own particular brand of joy with her to her college next fall. I think they'll love her. :o)

btw, her commencement address is more of a sermon than a speech...........you........and WVNan......would be proud! She also mentions in it that we should be thankful for, and never forget our soldiers, who have sacrificed so much for our freedom. I'm sure her big brother was uppermost in her mind when she wrote that.....

[FreeTheHostages]

[GailA]

Good morning everyone.

[The Mayor]

May 27, 2005

Tonsilitis Jones

Read:
Acts 11:19-26

The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. -Acts 11:26

Bible In One Year: Psalm 139-141

A psychologist made the observation that children often develop lifelong complexes because of their names. That may have been true in the case of a boy I read about. His parents gave him the name Tonsilitis Jones, and it caused him difficulties in school and again when he tried to enlist in the navy.

I know from personal experience that our names have a definite bearing on how we feel about ourselves and the way we behave. Because my father was a well-known preacher by the name of De Haan, I felt that people had higher expectations of me than of my peers. But the family name was also a helpful reminder of many positive values that were to guide my behavior.

According to today's Bible reading, the disciples of the Lord Jesus in Antioch were the first to be called Christians. It's a name that could never be improved on because it identifies believers as followers of Jesus Christ. And what an honor to bear a name linking us to God's Son, our Savior and Redeemer! This should shape and mold our manner of living so that it becomes increasingly consistent with the way Jesus spoke and conducted Himself.

If we want to call ourselves Christians, let's live up to our name! -Richard De Haan

O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer!
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear. -Chisholm

Christians are either Bibles or libels.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
What Does It Take To Follow Christ?
Knowing God Through Acts

[Billie]

Dolly, Nick and April,

This is an Amazing Memorial Day Tribute today, Dolly, and the photos and story from all three of you are overwhelming.

N & A, Dolly told me what she had planned for this weekend, and I've been so looking forward to reading it and seeing the wonderful pictures and *your* story. This is very special, and you're a beautiful couple, and we are blessed you shared this with Dolly so she could share it with the Finest. And shared it in the most wonderful way - the presentation is awesome, Dolly! (Well, except for the bottom links - which, guys, is *my* fault. :( Looked fine when I previewed and sent to Dolly to save *her* some time last night, but that was until it was posted in the FR Posting form, and I know what happened - a < br> out of order prompted the unforgiving FR posting form to strip a whole set of commands after the Hall of Fame block. I'm sorry, Dolly, the blame is on me - you did great with your part!)

[Billie]

Beautiful!!!! THANK you for that beautiful photo of Eric and Mrs. Eric! Goodness, he's so grown up and handsome and she's such a lovely bride. You're not a bid proud, of course. :)

[umbagi]

Great thread, Dolly! Thanks for the ping, the great memories, and especially the get-together with Nick Popaditch!

Good morning to you, and have a wonderful Memorial Day!

And, hey, Gunny, thanks for inspiring a grateful nation once, twice, and now yet again; we're so proud of you and your Marines, and all you do. April, bless you, and thanks for sharing Nick with your country; the two of you have done much to make a better world.