Thursday, January 22, 2009

Savas Beatie in the National Enquirer?!




I can’t believe I forgot to post this last week but . . . we made the National Enquirer! Who would have ever thought!? There is a nice full page spread on Nick Popaditch and his book Once a Marine, with the catchy headline SEMPER EYE. I’ve copied the text below. It’s a great article and depicts Nick perfectly.

This week we have been using it as a promotional piece, emailing it to bookstore managers at stores where Nick Popaditch has had book signing events, to people we have set up speaking engagements with at service clubs and military posts, and to radio station hosts and producers.

It’s a great way for us to check in with each person with a quick update on Nick and his book. We will remind the bookstores to order more copies of Once a Marine if they are out of stock, see if the clubs have suggestions of other venues where Nick can speak, and remind the radio hosts that Nick is always available for another interview.

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National Enquirer – January 19, 2009

Semper Eye!

It’s plain to see that this former Marine is devoted to the Corps.

Retired Marine Sgt. Nick Popaditch sports an eye-catching reminder of his devotion to the Corps.

On his prosthetic eye – the result of a war wound in Iraq – he has emblazoned the Marine Corps’ eagle-globe-and-anchor logo.

As spares, the former tank commander has two other eyes – one with the gun sights of a tank gunner and one with the logo of the 1st Tank Battalion.

“The Marines made me the man I am,” Nick told The ENQUIRER. “I’ll always be grateful to the Corps, and this is one way I choose to show it.”

The heroic 41-year-old veteran has spent most of his life as a Marine, including war service in Iraq – ending when he was hit in the head by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Earlier, his picture flashed around the world when a photographer snapped him grinning hugely and smoking a cigar atop his tank as the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in the center of Baghdad.

“It wasn’t even my cigar. I was just taking a few puffs. The next thing I knew, my picture was everywhere,” Nick told The ENQUIRER.

The brave patriot has written a thrilling memoir, “Once a Marine,” which details his amazing battlefield exploits.

A year after the fall of the evil dictator, Nick was nearly killed by the grenade that hit his helmet. The blast destroyed his right eye and left him with only eight percent vision in his left one. He also ended up deaf in one ear and without a sense of smell.

Does he pity himself?

“Hey, I’m a lucky man,” he says. “I’m happy to be alive.”

Now out of the Marines and living in San Diego with his wife April and 15-year-old son Nicholas Jr., Nick is once again setting an outstanding example.

Although he is legally blind, he enrolled at San Diego State University to become a high school history or social studies teacher. The decorated veteran reads with magnifying devices – and makes almost perfect 4.0 grade point averages.

“I’ve been a drill instructor, and I’ve been in combat,” he says, laughing. “I figure I can teach high school!”

by James McCandlish

tips@nationalenquirer.com

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