MCRD Parris Island -- Navy Cmdr. Richard Jadick, author of "On Call in Hell," joined Marines and cadets of The Citdel in Charleston March 30 to support the Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund.
Marine Capt. Matthew Kutilek, junior Marine officer instructor, and cadets from The Citadel participated in the Cooper River Bridge Run to raise awareness and money in support of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. Jadick served with Kutilek in Iraq, with the First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment.
"I invited [Jadick] to do a book signing as a way to draw people's attention to what we support," said Kutilek.
The Citadel Marines also held a spaghetti dinner, which included 200 guests and a blue grass band, to raise money for the Semper Fi Fund.
The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund provides financial assistance to Marines injured in combat and in training, other service members injured while in direct support of Marine units and their families. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is not the only charity Jadick supports. Profits made from the book are donated to different charities, such as to the families of 1/8, the Wounded Warriors Fund and the Medical College of Georgia.
Jadick said, he donates the profits to charities because there are people who could use the money for other worthwhile pursuits.
He wrote the book as an opportunity to tell about the courageous men and women who serve in the military and to tell about the Marines who were lost and the ones brought home, he said.
Jadick's book recounts the events leading up to his deployment and the battle for Fallujah, where he set up a makeshift emergency room in the middle of the battlefield.
As cited in "On Call in Hell," Jadick is responsible for saving an additional 30 Marines. Of the hundreds of men he treated, only one died after reaching a hospital.
For his actions at Fallujah, Jadick was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V. He is the only Navy doctor to be awarded this combination so far in the Iraq war.
Jadick has served 17 years in the military, including six years as a Marine officer and is still on active duty in the Navy. He is also a urology resident at the Medical College of Georgia.