Semper Fidelis

Devoted Marine, husband, father, fun-lover. Nick Popaditch doesn't know how to be less

"It's not like I made this up or anything," says retired Marine tank commander Nick Popaditch, "but when you get knocked down, you just need to get back up." I'm not sure I've ever spent time around a Marine, much less a medaled war hero like Nick, but I'm learning quickly that these guys can be a little different. In a very good way.

Nick and his wife, April, bought their Maxum 2500 SE two Christmases ago. As they stood waiting at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot dock in San Diego, California, their local dealer, Hipp Marine, delivered it live, decorated with a holiday wreath and with carols blasting from the stereo. The Popaditchs had never owned a boat before. They hadn't even driven one. But then again, everything about their lives has been a little novel since Nick caught a chunk of a rocket-propelled grenade in the head during the First Battle of Fallujah in 2004.

"The last human being I see with perfect clarity--the last I will ever fully see--does his damnedest to kill me." That's straight from Nick's book, Once a Marine, which not only delivers the gripping account of that messed up day in Iraq where he lost one eye and most of the sight in the other; it explores the very definition of what it means to be a man, and also how difficult it can be when a dedicated fighter loses his place in the ring. After 15 years of service in the Marines and numerous combat tours, Nick was forced into medical retirement, kicking and screaming all the way. Sure, paid leave at age 40 doesn't sound too bad, right? But imagine you're deeply passionate about what you do (he volunteered for that last tour of duty in Iraq) and aren't anywhere approaching ready to stop. Then imagine that all the things you planned to do when you finally did retire have also been taken from you.

Nick isn't the kind of guy to sit around feeling sorry for himself--nor is April the kind of woman to put up with it. The Maxum was a godsend.

"It's one of those things I always wanted to do," he says about boating. "I just knew I'd like it." Once they settled down near the Marine base in San Diego, water play seemed a natural alternative to the beloved motorcycle riding that Nick was no longer able to enjoy. "And it was perfect," he says, "because it was April's idea. We were just driving along one day and she said, 'Hey, there's a boat store, let's go look in it.'" They sat on the 2500 SE right there at the dealership and fell in love, but it was the sincerity and helpful attitude at Hipp Marine that sold the couple. "They supported us," he says, "not just our salesperson, but the whole team."

You would never, ever know that Nick Popaditch is legally blind. Sure you'd notice that he has a bright orange glass eye emblazoned with the Marine Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem. That's hard to miss. But walk next to him on the docks, watch him load and ready the boat, leave and return to his tricky slip at the base marina or just observe him fly the big cruiser across open water with that huge grin on his face, and you'd think he has perfect vision. What Nick does have is perfect ambition to excel at everything he does, that core ingredient of a longtime Marine that enables him to concentrate, in this case on what he can see instead of what he can't. Plus, there's April and Nick Jr. (15) who very quietly make sure everything is alright.

"When we get up on plane, one of 'em will come up and chat," he laughs. "They don't think I know what they're doing, but I do. They're helping out."

"Yeah, a little reconnaissance," jokes April. They plan to name the 2500 SE Gung Ho, a Marine term taken from the Chinese expression for teamwork. "You are so vigilant when you are up there, though," April says to Nick in all sincerity. "I feel totally comfortable and could never do what you do." Very quickly you see how this team does work, and the reason the couple has been going so strong for almost two decades. "I am his wife," April says. "I know who he is and what it means to him to have this boat. I can see how important it is that there's something he can do so well."

The boat has also brought new friendships. The day the Popaditchs take me out for a San Diego tour, we meet retired Army Major General Dennis Kenneally and his family readying their new Maxum 2400 SR3 Sport Boat. Except for the salutes, it's just like a day in civilian life

During the summer, the Popaditchs bring along Nick Jr.'s friends for afternoons of swimming and tubing on the bay. During cooler months, they invite other couples to cozy up to the beautiful San Diego skyline and the amazing ships that have found permanent refuge there. "There is something about being next to the Midway"--the city's aircraft carrier/museum--"that's just so cool," says Nick. "Plus there's the Star of India and Californian--so much to see from the water. Owning a boat has opened up a whole new side of San Diego to us."

They've taken the 2500 SE on one overnighter so far, and are considering longer adventures. "It's big and stable and versatile," Nick says of the Maxum. "You can take it in the bay or out in open water--spend whole days swimming or touring around and never have to come into the marina. If someone needs the head, it's there. If people are tired, they can take a nap below." And some days Nick just comes down to the boat to relax and revel in his new pastime. "Believe it or not, I'm not a guy who is into extreme things," says Nick, "I never was. One of the things I like best about owning the boat is just going down there, even if we don't take it out. It's the normalcy of that, just having it there."

I doubt many of us can imagine what Nick Popaditch has been through, what he's seen through the eyes of a warrior, commanding a 68-ton tank through a war zone. His eyes might not be 100 percent now, but his outlook is. "Though I'll always be a Marine," he says in his book, "I can't live looking back. And I believe, with all my heart, that life's greatest challenges and accomplishments lie ahead."

Life's greatest pleasures, too. Just look at the boat and the big smile.