The Soldier as Blogger
I'm seeing a lot of stories today about the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq. My favorite so far is "The Blogs of War" by Chuck Haga of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Haga tells the story of Sgt. Dan Gazelka of Bemidji, Minn., one of many soldiers who offer a front row view of the war through their own blogs. Haga gives us an interesting tour the military blogging terrain, but best of all he lets Gazelka's own blog, The Zeke (http://www.thezeke.blogspot.com/), speak for itself with moving passages such as this one from Dec. 30, 2006:
It is cold out, my fingers tingle. ... The night sky is crystal clear. Moonlight casts long shadows around me. A crisp winter night in Minnesota. ... Then I hear it, faintly at first: wump wump. It's getting closer. ...Wump wump ... something in the sky. Moving fast. Getting closer. Stars are winking out of sight, then reappearing. The smooth dark body glides closer like a shark in the deep. Wump wump WUMP. It's almost above me. I look down ... mistake ... I have a gun in my hand. What the ... ? A helicopter roars overhead. My moment is shattered. ... I'm not in Minnesota. I'm still in Iraq. I'm still in the desert.
Haga does a nice job of mixing dispatches such as these from The Zeke with the story of how his family is faring back home in Minnesota. http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1061286.html