The book by Nick Popaditch and Mike Steere titled Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery can be described as an outstanding military biography. It describes the perspective and experience of Nick Popaditch as a tanker who fought courageously in the Iraq war. The biographical memoir focuses on the commander’s life story beginning with his vigorous training as a recruit, who becomes an exceptional military professional and tankman. The book utilizes a highly pragmatic and realistic approach of in-depth as well as a detailed description of the most critical events in Popaditch’s life as a military person. One of the striking strengths of the writing is manifested in the fact that it provides a raw and direct experience of wartime in Iraq with an emphasis on the reality of combat and heroism exhibited by the troops on the ground. However, the noticeable weakness of the book is the lack of coherent storytelling elements, where only the protagonist’s perspective is shown without his comprehensive reflection on the perspectives of other involved individuals.
It is important to note that the structure of the book is primarily chronological, with certain deviations from such a narrative. The authors conducted exemplary writing by focusing on eliminating and avoiding excessive braggadocio and bravado. In other words, the evident selfless and heroic acts by the commander are presented on the basis of real events without any additional embellishments. The tone of the story is serious and grounded on the direct experience of the author, which makes the presented combat and military operations not only believable but also more admirable. The main reason is that they are shown and described without any significant bias and filter, which allows a reader to be truly proud and inspired by the acts of heroism of American soldiers.