Book: "The Blog Of War" -Matthew Currier Burden- www.blackfive.net (blackfive is a name for the executive officer making things happen behind the scenes)

"The Blog Of War" is a collection of military blog (milblogs) entries ranging from everyday events to traumatic ones. These are current and active blogs posted by soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military bloggers describe all the heart ache, life-changing events, and even humor they experience. Before each entry, editor and former U.S. Army Major, Matthew Currier Burden introduces the author and gives a brief description of what the entry is about. These short intros are enough to pull you in and keep reading. This book does not focus on the gruesome aspects of war, but rather on the everyday life of the soldier, and the wide range of emotions and realizations these soldiers experience. Here are a few entries that touched me the most, with the authors' blog addresses. They are listed in the order they appeared in the book.

Staff Sergeant Fred Minnick- In Iraq for 365

Staff Sergeant Fred Minnick writes about his favorite spot on the FOB (Forward Operations Base) where he was living. Nicknamed "NCO Alley", this was the spot he and his friends hung out at to release stress and have a few laughs. Minnick describes "NCO Alley" as a gravel alley way between rows of trailers, with red plastic chairs and cigarette butts covering the ground. I like this story because it shows that even in harsh environments and under the incredible stress of living in a war zone, soldiers find happiness and a sense of normality. It illustrates soldiers chilling and goofing off, a side of their lives during war often over looked. Minnick describes one particular friend, Sammy, a chubby 40+ soldier who laughs at everything. During this time of relaxation, the group of friends do not discuss serious issues dealing with the war and combat, rather they talk about hot girls and other trivial topics. One interesting ritual they have is to pin Sammy to the ground and dry hump him, not out of anger, and obviously not out of lust, its just something friends do to be funny. This action is not the result of living and fighting in a war zone, its just the spontaneity and immaturity of the energy that is generated when a group of close friends are relaxed, laughing, and having fun. But even during times of relaxation the threat of attacks still loom in the air. On the last day at their FOB, Minnick and his friends where hanging out in "NCO Alley" when they heard the screeching sound of a mortar. Soon after, bullets where flying, inches from their heads, close enough to feel the wind created by the bullets cutting through the air. Luckily nobody was harmed. Minnick describes this incident as a bittersweet ending to his time spent in "NCO Alley".


One of the few gruesome stories told was the attack on the LMTV (truck) Sergeant Elizabeth A. Le Bel (known as SGT Lizzie on her blog) was in. This story is featured at- New Lives.

Early one morning, while Le Bel was riding in the back of an LMT, part of a convoy headed toward Baquba (ba-kuba), an IED (improvised explosive device), also known as a homemade bomb, exploded in front of her LMT, shattering the windshield. The LMT Le Bel was not in control of hit a road barrier and flipped. The attack and resulting crash left Le Bel trapped upside down, and the driver dead. She waited, with aid from a member of the convoy, 30 minutes for the medics to arrive. Upon the medics arrival, Le Bel was forced free from the truck and placed on a stretcher. Le Bel joked that she wouldn't be pretty again, the medics reassured her, to her mangled face, that this wasn't true. Le Bel survived this near fatal incident, and wrote this entry during recovery, hooked up to an IV, with severe gashes on her legs, and a face held together by stitches.


I thought First Sergeant Patrick Cosgove's entry was very touching. He blogs at- Six More Months.

Cosgove's entry talks about his three kids and how they cope with having their dad away at war. One daughter is a conservative artist in highschool, the middle child is a fiery athletic middle school girl. I was touched by what he wrote about his youngest child, a 7 year-old boy who loves Star Wars and looks forward to building a tree house with his dad when he returns from war over the winter. Here is a quote Cosgove wrote about building a tree house with his son,
" When I asked him how we would build a tree house in the middle of winter, when I get home, he applied perfect 7-year-old logic: 'We can build it in the garage, and then move it when the snow is gone.' As far as I am concerned, it is a perfect plan. A few minutes a day of sweeping snow off of cars and scraping windows is an insignificant price to pay. Cars come and go; clubhouses last forever in a son's mind."


There are many more interesting blog entries compiled in this book. Some are very amusing, such as a post by Staff Sergeant CJ Grisham, a Military Intelligence analyst. He posts on- A Soldier's Perspective

Grisham's entry is an incident where a young lieutenant brought him a dress pattern he was convinced was a secret enemy map. In an intense meeting with the lieutenant, Grisham acted as if the "map" was extremely important, and drilled him with questions of where he found it, what the guy who had the "map" looked like, and other questions pertaining to the "map", just to mess with him.


HERE IS A LIST OF GREAT MILITARY BLOGS (Milblogs)

This Is Your War- One of the blogs of Sergeant Michael Durand (California Army National Guard). He was stationed in Iraq
with the famous 3rd Infantry Division. This is one of the more frequented Milblog sites.

Paint It Black- Another very popular blog site of Sergeant Michael Durand.

In Iraq For 365- Staff Sergeant Fred Minnick's blog site, where his entry above was taken from.

New Lives- Sergeant Elizabeth A. Le Bel's (SGT Lizzie) blog, where the entry on how she was almost killed and left with a face full of stitches was taken.

Six More Months- First Sergeant Patrick Cosgove's blog, where the entry about his current relationship with his kids was taken.

A Soldier's Perspective- Staff Sergeant CJ Grisham's blog, where the humorous story of the dress pattern mistaken for a enemy map was taken

CHECK OUT MATTHEW CURRIER BURDEN @ www.blackfive.net