The Green Bay Packers and WPS Health Insurance paid special tribute to U.S. Navy Boatswain
Mate Nicholas Popowski of Columbus, Wis. during Sunday's Packers-Falcons game for 'Operation
Fan Mail.'
Popowski, a lifelong Packers fan, has been serving in the Navy for 12 years as a boatswain mate
(BM2), which is the oldest job in the Navy. As a BM2, Popowski mans the lookouts, responds to man overboard alarms, resupplies the ship with food, refuels and performs any other necessary tasks, including training new sailors assigned to the ship.
Popowski has been assigned to the USS McFaul (destroyer), NCHB -1 Navy cargo handling
battalion, USS Enterprise (aircraft carrier) and the USS Carl Vinson (aircraft carrier) throughout his
career, and has traveled to every continent in the world. When Popowski was attached to the NCHB-
1, he traveled to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze as well as traveling on humanitarian trips to
Senegal and Thailand. He also served eight months in Iraq with the battalion.
Operation Fan Mail, which debuted in 2007, is designed to recognize families with a member who is
on active duty. The Packers and WPS Health Insurance will host a family at each 2013 home game
and recognize them on the field during pregame activities. A total of 63 families have been
recognized with through the program.
To choose families, the Packers and WPS Health Insurance are asking interested families, or friends of eligible families, to submit an essay, 500 words or less, on why a particular fan should be saluted. Essays can be sent to: Operation Fan Mail, P.O. Box 10628, Green Bay, WI, 54307-0628. Essays also can be submitted to the Packers online at packers.com/gameday/gamedaypromotions/operationfan_mail.
Families intended for recognition are those that have a member serving on active duty. The family
member can be a spouse, mother, father, son, daughter or sibling.
In addition to being recognized on-field prior to the game, selected families receive four tickets to the game and a care package from WPS.
