More Soldiers & the Internet
November 24, 2007 by Ryan
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The Eagle Scout Project that I posted about a few days ago reminded me of a program my wife and I caught randomly on The History Channel. It was called Band of Bloggers and it introduced a network of soldiers that blogged about their experience in Iraq.
The soldiers on the program talked about how being in Iraq was mostly prolonged boredom interspersed with moment of total chaos. Soldiers now have access to computers and high speed internet to help them pass the time. Predictably, they talked about how some soldiers would use that for less productive purposes. Some, however, found a outlet to share their experiences with the world. They use blogs as a way to tell the true stories that mainstream media ignores, glosses over or waters down. They have digital cameras which allows them to add a visual perspective to accompany their writing.
Be warned: If you decide to explore these sites, they don’t filter. And to be honest, I don’t think they should. War is terrible. I think it’s important to be reminded. We can’t truly understand what it’s like if we haven’t experienced. But as I read a few of the experiences, I thought about how I would feel, how I would react, and whether I could do what they did. My respect and gratitude for our soldiers has grown for what they do for us. I have two cousins, one Navy Seal & one Marine, that went to the Middle East. I am glad there are those that do it.
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