Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch
In 2003, Sgt. Popaditch, along with 1st Tank Battalion, rolled
into Baghdad from Kuwait at the start of the Iraq War. They had just
taken the city and the tank that Sgt. Popaditch was in had rolled up to
a 40-ft statue of Saddam. I think we all remember that statue.
Popaditch was given a cigar by a fellow Marine and as he smoked it an
AP photographer snapped a picture of him.
Fast forward to April 7, 2004. Sgt. Popaditch’s wife was
vacationing with their son when she received a phone call informing her
that her husband had been injured in an attack. The turret of his tank,
that he was situated in, had taken two direct hits from RPG’s. He fell
through the hatch to the floor of the tank. As he struggled to his
feet, he began to shout orders to his men but go no response. He then
realized that the attack had caused him to go deaf in both ears. But
that was only temporary. He then reached up and felt that his head was
wet and knew it wasn’t good.
In the aftermath of the attack, Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch had
lost his right eye. And because of that he now proudly wears a
prosthetic eye with the Marine Corps. logo embossed on it. On November
10, 2005 Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star, the
nation’s third-highest award for heroism in combat. He also has a book
out titled Once A Marine.
You can read more about Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch here and here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that
others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am
proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
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