ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, OCT. 1, 2012 AND THEREAFTER – FILE – In this April 9, 2003 file photo, Staff Sgt. Nick Popaditch of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, holds a cigar while standing on top of his tank in downtown Baghdad in front of a statue of Saddam Hussein just before his unit helped tear it down. In California, Popaditch is making his second run for Congress in 2012. On April 7, 2004, his tank was struck by an RPG, shrapnel carving a path through his sinuses and destroying his right eye. His actions earned him a Silver Star and a Purple Heart but cost him his military career. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)A member of the U.S. military’s Special Forces smokes a cigar while holding a weapon as his unit leaves for a mission at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan March 13, 2012. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (AFGHANISTAN – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) – RTR2Z9LI
