Blogging the War: The Blog Goodbye

Back in May of last year, I was concerned that the military's newest policy was going to restrict the ability of U.S. military personnel stationed in war zones to be able to use blogs to express their thoughts and feelings. As someone so entrenched in the blog medium, I couldn't imagine being part of the conflict in the Middle East and not having an outlet I could use to not only vent my emotions in a blog, but also have a method to communicate more regularly and more reliably with friends and family than infrequent phone calls or painfully slow snail mail.

I did not, however, take into consideration the possibility of a soldier using a blog to say goodbye. Army Maj. Andrew J. Olmsted of Colorado Springs, however, was obviously several steps ahead of my thinking, asking a friend, Hilary Bok, to post one final post for him in the case of his death. Bok did just that.

Olmsted actually had two blogs. One of them was a blog for the Rocky Mountain News, and was one of the blogs that I found when I was researching military blogs last year for my article. However, he also had a personal blog, which is where his final blog entry can be found. He mentioned on his personal blog that he discovered he was blogging in violation of the Department of Defense policies.

Each week, names are released of American troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. For most people, they are nothing more than a name, an age, and a hometown. But just a quick scan of Olmsted's final entry can tell something of the man that he was. He quotes from Babylon 5 as well as Plato. He was a fan of cult movies and television, including Greg the Bunny and Team America. He was a conservative who doesn't believe his life was wasted in Iraq, and he didn't want his death to be used as a point in a political argument, on either side of the debate. He loved his wife.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't note how much he loved blogging. He describes his feelings about blogging:

"Believe it or not, one of the things I will miss most is not being able to blog any longer. The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven't agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them.

"…Blogging put me in touch with an inordinate number of smart people, an exhilarating if humbling experience. When I was young, I was smart, but the older I got, the more I realized just how dumb I was in comparison to truly smart people. But, to my credit, I think, I was at least smart enough to pay attention to the people with real brains and even occasionally learn something from them. It has been joy and a pleasure having the opportunity to do this."

There are many moments that I forget that as a U.S. citizen my personal freedom to rant about any number of things, or watch silly YouTube videos or play Scrabulous on Facebook with my friends are defended by our military. I may not agree with everything my government does, but at least I don't live in China. I have the freedom to read what I want, write what I want, and "speak" to whom I want online. I, like Maj. Olmstead, have made many friends online, and have appreciated each and every debate I've had with those who think differently than I do.

I wonder if he knew that his final blog, while mainly intended for friends, family, and his regular readers, could have such an enormous impact. I know that I, at least, will never look at blogging the same way again.

Edited 11 January 2008 to correct spelling.