Milblogs

Weblog (def) : online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log.
MilBlog(def): military blog.

March 2003. Shock and Awe. Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Life here stateside continued with some sense of uneasiness, nevertheless life continued. Without any television in the office, I was introduced to the world of weblogs, beginning with Lt Smash. Smash gave first hand accounts of life in the sandbox, as a naval officer who introduced the words "pustule" and small-pox. Blackfive joined my favorite list providing news from an Airbourne view. Mrs Chromedome relayed the events of her husband's life as a military police in Iraq, her readers sobbed with her when Chromey's Tour was extended . Chief Wiggles told the stories of the Iraqi children who delighted in receiving toys and the warmth of their families. Images from Afghanistan were breathtaking and heartbreaking, smiling women and hungry children. My daily blog diet grew to 15 sites, the number dwindled when the writers returned (all of them safely) and resumed civilian lives . Too long of a tongue twister, Military blogs became MILBLOGS.

Milblogs did not jeapordize the lives and operations of the military. Milblogs connected the reader to the frontlines without the censored newsanchor.

Most importantly, milblogs carried the lives of Afghanistanis and Iraqis to me, without death toll or insurgent attacks. Those stories were war stories of heroism and valor, but mostly stories of heart; Captain Carter shielding an Iraqi woman caught in the cross fire with his own body, the happy father of a new born, naming his daughter Gary after the American soldier who carried Gary's mother miles to the medical hospital, the Iraqi mothers feeding hungry American soldiers.

Operations after Operations of clearing insurgents on the streets of Mosul, senior officers' valor that shook his men, women supply clerks who will not stand down in an attack. The grand opening of schools and hospitals. Celebration and music filled the Afghan village for the first time in 20 years! Untold stories that never made it to CNN, NBC, ABC or even FOX.

Why am I repeating myself? Yes. I was a blog junkie, still am.

Some guy had an idea to publish a book based on milblogs!
No kidding.
Why not? 2 of the editors have a soft spot on my favorite list, the project is in good hands.

As I have said many times about my stand in the war against terror, the media should tell it like it is.
Now the world will read it like it is.

Salute!
(I cannot recall any good quotes for the conclusion, yet).
Tuesday, Oct 4, 2005 - 10:15am (PDT)