Good Guys

Just about every warblogger in the business has picked up on this piece about U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch, the "cigar Marine," but it's truly a keeper.

"This kid was waiting for his buddy to be medevaced when a frag grenade came in. Ortiz could move, he could get out of the area, but his friend couldn't — so Ortiz covered his buddy with his own body, hoping their body armor would take up most of the blast. He used his arms to shield his friend's face, and at the last second, this other Marine, shot and bleeding, wrenched his arm free to cover Ortiz's face, too."

And that's just from the stories he tells about his comrades. A story about someone's life-threatening injuries just shouldn't be a feel-good piece, but thanks to the man at the center of this one, it is.

Elsewhere, Spirit of America reports that the television equipment a great many of us chipped in nickles and dimes to pay for is on the ground in Iraq, earmarked for delivery to seven news stations in Al Anbar province.

And, sadly, the war hits home for one of the Internet's strongest voices.