The transition from civilian to that of a Marine is a process unlike any other in any branch of the military. As any potential recruit can imagine, Marine recruit training is difficult and challenging. Its purpose is to mold a Marine from the inside out.Nick Gunny Pop Popaditch is best known as the Cigar Marine and author of Once a Marine, a candid memoir about his service as a tank commander in Iraq, his horrific wounding in the first battle of Fallujah (where he was hit in the head by a rocket-propelled grenade), and his long and difficult recovery. Gunny Pop has experienced the Marine...
The transition from civilian to that of a Marine is a process unlike any other in any branch of the military. As any potential recruit can imagine, Ma...
FINALIST FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY / MEMOIRS, 2009, THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS
WINNER, 2009, MILITARY-WRITERS BOOK OF THE YEAR
May 6, 1986: Nick Popaditch arrives at the Receiving Barracks, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California.
April 9, 2003: An AP photographer captures a striking image seen around the world of the Gunny Sergeant smoking a victory cigar in his tank, the haunting statue of Saddam Hussein hovering in the background. Popaditch is immortalized forever as -The Cigar Marine.-
April 6, 2004: The tanker fights heroically in the battle for Fallujah...
FINALIST FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY / MEMOIRS, 2009, THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS
