thedrifter
08-05-09, 07:55 AM
Posted on Wed, Aug. 05, 2009
'Cigar Marine' adapts to Iraq injuries
BY GRANT GUGGISBERG
The Wichita Eagle
Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch may be retired, but he still considers himself a Marine.
Popaditch is rehabilitating from extensive wounds he received in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade was shot into his tank. He instantly lost sight in both his eyes and his ability to hear, among other injuries.
"When it hit me, my helmet detonated it," he said. "I knew I'd been hit with a rocket because it made a hissing noise."
Popaditch was in Wichita on Tuesday, serving as the keynote speaker at the 23rd annual Envision employee awards banquet. Envision is an agency that seeks to provide education and job opportunities to people who are blind or have low vision.
The permanent damage done to Popaditch's eyes and hearing from the April 2004 incident forced his retirement from active duty in the Marines. If he had his choice, he would still be overseas, fighting alongside his comrades for a cause he believes in.
"If you'd have asked me right there at that point in time, 'Nick, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?' I'd say, 'I'm doing it right now,' " he said.
"This is everything I want to do in life. I'm a gunnery sergeant, I'm a tank commander and a career Marine."
Popaditch told his story to several hundred eager listeners, many of whom share his low-vision disability. He said he does speaking engagements often because he likes to share a positive message.
"People always hear the bad stories (about the military)," Popaditch said. "Sometimes when there's a good one out there, I find that people really want to hear it."
Popaditch served in the Marines from 1986 to 1992. He left the service and returned in 1995.
He gained national fame as the ''Cigar Marine,'' when an Associated Press photo was circulated of him smoking a cigar on a tank in front of a falling statue of Saddam Hussein. It was one year later that he received his wounds in Fallujah.
In the five years since the incident, Popaditch has learned to cope with his injuries.
"I went through 36 years of 20-20 eyesight," he said. "I'm still adjusting to the low-vision aspect.
"Anatomically, I won't get any better. I have a damaged optic nerve and retina. But my brain is learning to put pieces of the puzzle together subconsciously."
Popaditch now resides in San Diego with his wife and son, and is pursuing a teaching degree from San Diego State University. He has written a book based on his experiences, "Once a Marine," and is working on a second.
"My primary mission is to become a high school social sciences teacher," he said. "But I'm also writing a second book, which is an instructional manual for high schoolers looking to join the Marines."
Until then, Popaditch will continue to tell his story of heroism and support for the Marines to anyone who will listen.
"If people want to keep hearing it, I'll keep telling it."
Ellie
'Cigar Marine' adapts to Iraq injuries
BY GRANT GUGGISBERG
The Wichita Eagle
Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch may be retired, but he still considers himself a Marine.
Popaditch is rehabilitating from extensive wounds he received in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade was shot into his tank. He instantly lost sight in both his eyes and his ability to hear, among other injuries.
"When it hit me, my helmet detonated it," he said. "I knew I'd been hit with a rocket because it made a hissing noise."
Popaditch was in Wichita on Tuesday, serving as the keynote speaker at the 23rd annual Envision employee awards banquet. Envision is an agency that seeks to provide education and job opportunities to people who are blind or have low vision.
The permanent damage done to Popaditch's eyes and hearing from the April 2004 incident forced his retirement from active duty in the Marines. If he had his choice, he would still be overseas, fighting alongside his comrades for a cause he believes in.
"If you'd have asked me right there at that point in time, 'Nick, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?' I'd say, 'I'm doing it right now,' " he said.
"This is everything I want to do in life. I'm a gunnery sergeant, I'm a tank commander and a career Marine."
Popaditch told his story to several hundred eager listeners, many of whom share his low-vision disability. He said he does speaking engagements often because he likes to share a positive message.
"People always hear the bad stories (about the military)," Popaditch said. "Sometimes when there's a good one out there, I find that people really want to hear it."
Popaditch served in the Marines from 1986 to 1992. He left the service and returned in 1995.
He gained national fame as the ''Cigar Marine,'' when an Associated Press photo was circulated of him smoking a cigar on a tank in front of a falling statue of Saddam Hussein. It was one year later that he received his wounds in Fallujah.
In the five years since the incident, Popaditch has learned to cope with his injuries.
"I went through 36 years of 20-20 eyesight," he said. "I'm still adjusting to the low-vision aspect.
"Anatomically, I won't get any better. I have a damaged optic nerve and retina. But my brain is learning to put pieces of the puzzle together subconsciously."
Popaditch now resides in San Diego with his wife and son, and is pursuing a teaching degree from San Diego State University. He has written a book based on his experiences, "Once a Marine," and is working on a second.
"My primary mission is to become a high school social sciences teacher," he said. "But I'm also writing a second book, which is an instructional manual for high schoolers looking to join the Marines."
Until then, Popaditch will continue to tell his story of heroism and support for the Marines to anyone who will listen.
"If people want to keep hearing it, I'll keep telling it."
Ellie