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]

Hi KAT.. been emailing April. She is trying to figure our how to post! lol.. I am running to church for a bit.. maybe you can email her & see if you can help. i sent her "quickie" turorial but I know how these things can be confusing
wonderful pix.. thanks..

[ohioWfan]

Got it, and replied. Thanks, dutchess!

[DollyCali]

Hey there Pip.. I wanted to write when I had more time but it isn't seemingly around today. on way out shortly to take food to church. I like Billie, avoid confrontation. If someone makes wierd , cutting remarks I would just stare at them. DOn't even answer. i have weeded out the libs as friends & it is tough as with my activities it seems the bikers, kayakers etc for the most part are very liberal.. all w/Kerry stickers. SOme are nice but our philosophies are so different. I dont feel they need to defend their beliefs, nor do I . Everyone is where they are at due to the filters, experience & situations of life..

i would avoid them. THere are a lot of people in Canada who love us.. I go to the niagara penisnsula area a lot..to Stratford, algonquin, Toronto muskoka lakes. I love Ontario..

What's going on with your computer girl? did you get hit by viruses etc? bummer if yes. With all the protection I had, I was nailed big time with all the german emails. The stopped as abrubptly as they started.. but that was about 300 hundred or more emails later.

gotta run.. try to find a computer to use..we have places her with refurbished good ones for 49 dollars..need to put on OS.. but 98,although not perfect works.

[TexKat]

The First Memorial Day

According to one writer, the first Memorial Day service took place on Belle Isle in the James River, at Richmond, Virginia. The school superintendent, Andrew Washburn, and F.B. May, the Mayor, planned a program for May 30, 1866. Several teachers, and Miss Gibson, a nurse, went to the burial ground of Union soldiers, who had died during the war in a Confederate prison located there. It was raining when Mr. May set up a cross and placed bouquets at each headboard, Miss Gibson sang a hymn, and the others joined in the refrain. R.R. Wilson, who described the scene in the New York Tribune, stated that suddenly the clouds parted and a bright ray of sunshine shone on the cross.

The first official observance in 1868, included a program at the National Cemetery at Arlington and memorial services in various communities, the idea gradually spread around the country. In 1873, New York was the first state to make the day a legal holiday; and others soon followed. Now the occasion is set by Presidential Proclamation.

[TexKat]

World War I Memorial_Richmond_Virginia

Korea War_Memorial_Washington_D_C

The_Wall_Viet_Nam_War_Memorial_Washington_D_C_WEB

Viet_Nam_War_Mamorial

[DollyCali]

Thank you both for all the information.. I recall not enjoying history when I was younger.. did not have the perspective I guess that age affords you.. I love what you both posted.. and you know tex. the original thread would have been five times as long ... all the great pix of the monuments in DC.. I am a prolific photo taker..should weed some out, but I guess I love to buy more hard drives, huh?

I intend to go thru mine if time permits & find a few to post.. I need to finish up a power point for church.. it will be about 100 slides... lots from FR but many from my photos..

I recall the term decoration day when I was younger.. our family has been doing the grave since I was little & remember..

Going to try to rest a bit.. all nighter last night & tripping all over the place (part clumsy .... no - wrong, a big part clumsy) and rest fatigue.

[Wheelbarrow]

I Know how hard you've worked on this tribute and want you to know that I, along with the many others who have commented, appreciate you, and the work that went into this piece. The world needs more like you but,alas, they are all too few so I/the others are privileged to have you in our midst. May God be with you on this somber weekend...and always.

[DollyCali]

I just looked more closely at your post. Are those two planes?
Fueling or mating?

har.

[Diver Dave]

What a Beautiful presentation for the Memorial Day Weekend thread. Thank You so much, Dolly.

Sgt and Mrs. Cee-gar Man US Marine, thank you first for your service and sacrifices to our GREAT country and thank you for the inspiration your story presents to all of us.

Salute!

Scanning through the events in our area in honor of Memorial Day, there is a plethora of opportunity to join ranks with our neighbors to honor these men and women who have served our country.

Our old Support Our Troops group has scheduled a rally on "Our Corner" on Saturday. With all the events to chose from, I'm afraid I won't be able to find the time to celebrate at Macy's, Penney's, etc. like they would like me to. Priorities, you understand. :)

Salute to one and all.... two

[Jaded]

What a wonderful tribute. Thanks for all the work.

[Aquamarine]

This is such a beautiful tribute. The story behind CEE-GAR GUY was fascinating and it was such an honor to get to know him and his family better.

Memorial Day is an important holiday, it is a day to remember those who fought and those who died in American wars.

IN MEMORY OF OUR COUNTRY'S HEROS

[Aquamarine]

Your son is such a good man and his bride seems to be a good match for him. They look gorgeous!

May they have a wonderful life together.

[ohioWfan]

She's a perfect match, Aqua...........made in heaven, you might say. :o)

[The Mayor]

May 28, 2005

Dangerous Beauty

Read:
Job 38:22-30

From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth? -Job 38:29

Bible In One Year: Psalm 142-144

Loud creaking and snapping broke the stillness of the icy morning. Freezing rain had silenced every man-made noisemaker. Power lines were down; homes and businesses had no electricity. Roads were impassable, keeping thousands from daily routines. Nature was calling attention to herself, and she got it. As the sun rose, her stunning beauty was indescribable, her destructive power undeniable.

Ice glistened like crystal against a brilliant blue sky. But the ice that made the branches sparkle in the sunlight also weighed them down, causing them to break under the burden.

The same can happen to those who have glittering lives. They call attention to themselves with stunning beauty, talent, or intelligence. People notice and admire them. But eventually the weight of pride causes people to crack and break. The reality is that God alone is worthy of all praise.

Job's friends called attention to themselves by speaking as if they were experts on suffering. When God had heard enough, He pointed out to Job that no one has knowledge, power, or importance apart from Him. Later, He sharply rebuked Job's friends, and said, "You have not spoken of Me what is right" (Job 42:8).

True worth is in exalting God, not ourselves. -Julie Ackerman Link

Lord, pride, that fearful enemy,
So quickly takes control;
I plead this day Your pardoning grace
Will cleanse my heart and soul. -D. De Haan

The fly that buzzes loudest usually gets swatted first.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Knowing God Through Job

[snugs]

Obviously I am from another country but I have to tell you that at work I know a few people's politics but the majority I would only guess at from other things they say.

I find unless one mentions politics most people do not care that much unless it affects them personally normally financially.

I remember when I visited America in 1997 only one person really spoke about politics and that was just in the general way of asking my opinion on Bill Clinton and what did I think of our new Prime Minister Tony Blair. Actually my answer was that I thought both of them reminded me a second hand car salesman LOL. Nothing has really changed since to alter my mind either.

I feel especially when on holiday people are more interested in where you come from and where you are visiting rather than who you voted for. I personally would not worry about the holiday most people will just want to take your money and share their personal favourite bits of their country with you.

Work is a bit different if they know what your politics are maybe that is why on the whole it is not a good idea to discuss this at work I know sometimes when people make outrageous comments one has to respond.

Do you have a particular friend or colleague at work that you can talk to and just try and ignore snipping comments from others. My experience is if you do not actively pursue a line of conversation it will die.

Anyway that is my two penny worth for what it is worth. Hope you soon resolve computer and schedule problems will miss your comments and company. Keep smiling my little hobbit.

[GailA]

Good morning ALL. I've got to scoot off to work shortly. I've been trying to keep up with all the state news on Operation Tennessee Waltz, which has received VERY little national coverage.

[DollyCali]

Good morning all you fine FReeper FRiends

Thank you Rus for the morning devotional and coffee (yours is the kind I don't get jitters from!)

An apology but explanation for large picture. To make it smaller on my screen the word on bottom were not readable and I thought they were important to view.

A couple links I want to draw your attention to this morning

Chris Davis (aka FReeper Writer33) is a prolific & wonderful writer. He has a great offering here called Duty and Patriotism He has a ping list if you would like to see "his stuff" regularly

and from the RNC this morning a Memorial Tribute...worth the time. my slow dial up connection makes viewing a little "rough"

Most of you know I am a movie fan. Next post (dont want a long one on pings) will be a listing of various war movies. As it is Saturday night if you don't have other plans perhaps a trip to the video store will find a few of these.

The rain has passed through, the sun is shining & I slept 7 good hours last night. A good start for Saturday. Have a good one folks.

[luvie]

Beautiful picture, Dolly! It brings tears to my eyes. I also read and posted to Chris's essay! It was very touching, also. Thanks for the links! Have a great weekend honoring our fallen heroes!

[leadpenny]

Movies? You want movies? War movies all weekend on TCM.

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/

Specifically, on the 30th:

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/Schedule/Index/0,,~2|0|,00.html

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

[DollyCali]

Here is the movie site I lifted the info from.

You might want to bookmark it if you are a movie fan. Many of them I have seen, a few I have never heard of...it is a compilation from various contributors of their favorite war or war time movies.

a few selections will be next post

WAR AND POPCORN