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« From the Front | Main | Quick Thought »

May 17, 2005

greyhawk copy sm.png

Forsake the Troops website owner Dead?

By Mrs Greyhawk

I recieved this in the mail this morning, I'm sure I'm not the only one. If anyone has a reliable source to back this up or debunk this, I'd like to see it.

On Monday evening, the webmaster of Forsake The Troops was brutally assaulted by two men, thought to be members of the military, in response to their opinions about this website. Mr. Crook had been the target of numerous death threats and trespassers at his residence. All of these threats were saved and have been turned over to the authorities. UPDATE: At 6:19pm Eastern time, Michael Crook died of his injuries, after being rushed by ambulance to the leading hospital in the area for head trauma. The two men who allegedly assaulted him are currently in the custody of police. Mr. Crook died with his wife and infant daughter present. It is therefore the decision of his family, and associates that Forsake The Troops goes offline, to prevent further incidents of violence and threats against his family. Therefore, this domain will permanantly go offline at around 5pm Eastern time, on Tuesday, May 17th, 2005. Comments, and well-wishes may be addressed to noc@smishosting.com . Media inquiries (no interviews with family at this time), or sincere inquiries from well-meaning people may be directed to (315) 558-4372. Leave a voice mail message and your call will be returned by our media representative. The family requests privacy at this time.
This reeks of fish. I have my suspicions that his hate site is being shut down by his hosting company and this is one last jab at the military before he goes off the air. His site was pulled before stated deadline. so I couldn't get his hosting co.'s info. If anyone knows it, I'd like that as well.

UPDATE:

May 17, 2005

Doubts raised about report of controversial Web master's death

By Joseph R. Chenelly
Times staff writer
A controversial Web site that has called wounded soldiers "leeches" and
celebrates when U.S. servicemen are killed in action, is claiming its Web
master was beaten to death yesterday.
But local police say no murder has occurred.
The site, www.foresakethetroops.info, posted a claim Tuesday morning that
Michael Crook was physically attacked by two men and later died in a
hospital from his injuries. The statement speculated that the attackers are
"thought to be members of the military, in response to their opinions about
this Web site."
Crook is the registered owner of the Web site, though the Web site has never
revealed his name or location. The domain registry puts Crook's address as
Syracuse, N.Y., and a phone number on the site is a Syracuse area code and
exchange.
The site also says the two attackers were "taken into police custody."
But officials with the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office in Syracuse told
Army Times Tuesday that they have no record or knowledge of any such attack
in the region.
A message left at the phone number listed on the Web site was not
immediately returned.
The Web site has repeatedly posted disparaging comments about the military.
Crook, the alleged blogger of the site, has said his main intent is to
inform Americans that soldiers are paid too much for what they do.
Recently the site posted this: "Don't military pukes learn anything? Nine
more Marines bite the big one in combat. Stupid is as stupid does!"
On May 15, the Web site had a tally of American troops killed in Iraq. It
read: "Number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq War, of their own doing,
because they CHOSE to be leeches: 1,583. These scumbags asked for it, and
got it. Simper Cry."
Numerous threats and derogatory remarks have been made toward Crook on
several online military message boards over the past few weeks. Some boards
have listed Crook's alleged home address complete with a map and satellite
image of his neighborhood. Crook's Web site often bragged that he received
thousands of hate e-mails daily.
In a purported April 28 interview that is posted on the blog "The Dread
Pundit Bluto," Crook addresses perceived dangers of managing such a site.
"I put my name out there, and people in the Syracuse area know who I am," he
is quoted as saying. "People recognize me now, and I would not put my safety
at risk over something I truly don't believe in. I wholeheartedly believe in
my site and will defend it to the death, however that death may come."
As of noon Tuesday, the site was online, but the statement on its front page
says it will go offline permanently at about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
In addition to the anti-military site, Crook is the registered owner of the
domain for www.forsakethepolice.info.

Hat tip to Jarheaddad



Posted by Mrs Greyhawk / May 17, 2005 6:26 AM | Permalink

2 TrackBacks

Blog Murder? from Cream & Bastards on May 17, 2005 4:43 PM

Mudville Gazette has a piece on the homicide of blogger/provacateur/troubled young man, Michael Crook, the proprietor of a particularly disgusting website, foresake the troops, the content of which is now apparently unavailable. Sure seems to have piss... Read More

47 Comments

Nameservers for FORSAKETHETROOPS.NET are NS(x).QSRCH.NET; 9 day old cached results show the same.

NS1.QSRCH.NET responds *authoritatively* for FORSAKETHETROOPS.NET, but redirects the page now.

This is the admin contact for QSRCH.NET ; a hosting and domain name company that uses a "Quick Search" product. Looks like the same group of people. Since they offer hosting, I'd bet a donut that they had something to do with the original hosting.

New.net Incorporated (domainadmin@new.net)
+1.8183852000
Fax: +1.8183852010
15260 Ventura Blvd
Suite 2000
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
US

It might be fun to call and ask questions.

smishosting.com, on the other hand appears to be an IP owned by THEPLANET.COM.

FORSAKETHETROOPS.INFO reveals yet another IP owned by THEPLANET.COM.

If you 'ping' SMISHOSTING.COM you get an address of 67.18.93.178. If you actually surf to the IP address, you see an exposed backup server for ONTHESPOTHOSTING.NET

Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.backup.onthespothosting.net Port 80

ONTHESPOTHOSTING.NET also resides at THEPLANET.COM

My Guess: The Planet is the large colo provider; 'On The Spot' is MR Crook's Hosting Provider, a 'Planet' reseller. SMISHOSTING is Mr Crook's bogus hosting company page.

But hey, it's all coffee-sippin' speculation.

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE271-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-214-782-7802
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@theplanet.com

onthespothosting.net
Jonathan Case
1814 holland brook rd
neshanic station, nj 08853
US
Phone: 732 718 5845
Email: jon@onthespothosting.net

Sounds like this guy was a real winner....

This is not the first time Crook has outraged a community. In January Crook found a soldier's digital camera during a Philadelphia Eagles football game. Crook offered to return the camera to the Army specialist, but only if he was paid a thousand dollars.

If this is true (which Google News doesn't have one stitch of news about his name), then I hope whoever did this receives the most stringent punishment for this crime.

Who do I feel bad for? His kid who will now grow up without a dad....

You can always get good information on a site from netcraft.com:

http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.forsakethetroops.info

You can also view an archive of the site on the Wayback Machine (http://www.waybackmachine.org/)

http://web.archive.org/web/20050222142820/http://www.forsakethetroops.info/

Funny his home townpaper, Syracuse if his doman info is correct, doesn't have any mention of him within the last week. Neither do any of the tv news websites.

Funny, they're taking the site down to prevent futher incidents of violence and threats against his family. And then provide a phone number to offer condolences...

I think this will be proven to be a hoax, just like when his site was taken off the net (but then put back on).

Having said that, I hope the story is true. This POS is a truly vile human being, with no redeeming value to his fellow man. He deserves nothing less than what he got (if it proves to be true).

RIP you POS...

Bronze:

"He deserves nothing less than what he got"

No man deserves to be murdered, regardless of what you may think of him.

You may want to take some time and reflect on the fact that you just took joy in seeing someone's life end.

http://michaelcrook.com/

Hmm.. Why wouldn't news of his murder be posted on his 'official website'?

Hmmm. Now this is interesting. Mr. Crooks gave a blog-interview, which was published here on April 28,2005. It contains a very (to me) interesting passage:

The Dread Pundit Bluto: You've been dismissed by many as merely a publicity seeker engaging in outrageous behavior to get attention. What is your response to those who think you're making this all up?

Michael Crook: I think that those people are looking for the easy explanation. It is also the incorrect one. I put my name out there, and people in the Syracuse area know who I am. People recognize me now, and I would not put my safety at risk over something I truly don't believe in. I wholeheartedly believe in my site and will defend it to the death, however that death may come.
(emphasis added)

Now, that's not normally the way one would answer the first question of an interview.

I'm just sayin'...


http://www.forsakethepolice.info/

BTW: It wouldn't be just military personel that might throw him a beating. He doesn't like cops either. Now watch, there will be a cover-up... yeah, that's it! That's why you won't hear about this in the news; the police are covering for the military!

I called BS on this report, no mention of it on any of the newswires (which their would be given his infamy in his hometown) a beating death of a civilian by two military members, and the civilian is anti-war? C'mon, that would be on the front page of the NYT before his blood quit steaming on the sidewalk. Anyway, his blog did have a post by "lauriegirl" announcing his death, that post was removed after I called BS and linked to it from my site.

The exact same message was attached as a comment to a post that one of our contributors had put up at The Daily Brief a couple of weeks ago. I did some quick google searches... nada. Sorry, this sort of thing would have been all over the local newspaper.
Frankly, most of the people that had commented about his site thought at first that it was a joke in very bad taste, or a sad, pathetic freak trolling desperatly for attention.
So, can we spell "attention-getting device"?

Its a crock plain and simple. I would be stunned if it were true. It is exactly the way this guy would want to go out. Way too convenient, dont ya think.

bash-2.04$ nslookup www.forsakethetroops.info
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: forsakethetroops.info
Address: 67.18.93.178
Aliases: www.forsakethetroops.info

bash-2.04$ whois 67.18.93
OrgName: ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc.
OrgID: TPCM
Address: 1333 North Stemmons Freeway
Address: Suite 110
City: Dallas
StateProv: TX
PostalCode: 75207
Country: US

ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.theplanet.com:4321

NetRange: 67.18.0.0 - 67.19.255.255
CIDR: 67.18.0.0/15

TechHandle: PP46-ARIN
TechName: Pathos, Peter
TechPhone: +1-214-782-7800
TechEmail: abuse@theplanet.com

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE271-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-214-782-7802
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@theplanet.com

OrgNOCHandle: TECHN33-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Technical Support
OrgNOCPhone: +1-214-782-7800


Another interesting footnote, though if the site stays down, it is a moot point. However the T's & C's for the ThePlanet.com state:

Introduction and Purpose

This document sets forth the principles, guidelines and requirements of the Acceptable Use Policy of The Planet Internet Services, Inc. ("Company") and subsidiaries (ServerMatrix and Insomnia365) governing the use by the Customer ("Customer") of the Company's services and products ("Services and Products"). The Purpose of Company's Acceptable Use Policy, hereinafter referred to as the AUP, is to comply with all federal, state, and local laws coupled with protecting the network security, network availability, physical security, Customer privacy, and other factors affecting the services provided by Company. Company reserves the right to impose reasonable rules and regulations regarding the use of its services provided to all Customers and such rules and regulations are subject to change. Such rules and regulations are located on the Internet at http://www.theplanet.com/legal/aup.html. The AUP is not an all inclusive exhaustive list and Company reserves the right to modify the AUP at any time as needed, effective upon either the posting of the modified AUP to http://www.theplanet.com/legal/aup.html or notification to the Customer via email. Acceptance and execution of the Master Services Agreement binds all parties to Company stated AUP at the time the contract is executed and as modified from time to time. Any violation of the AUP may result in the suspension or termination of Customer account(s) or such other action as Company deems appropriate. No credits will be issued for any interruption in service resulting from policy violations.

VIOLATION OF ANY SECTION OF THE AUP IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND MAY RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF THE SERVICES CUSTOMER RECEIVES FROM COMPANY.

Any questions or comments regarding the AUP should be directed to abuse@theplanet.com or legal@theplanet.com.


Compliance with Law

Customer shall not post, transmit, re-transmit or store material on or through any of Services or Products which, in the sole judgment of the Company (i) is in violation of any local, state, federal or non-United States law or regulation, (ii) threatening, obscene, indecent, defamatory or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group or entity (collectively, "Persons") or (iii) violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by Customer. Customer shall be responsible for determining what laws or regulations are applicable to its use of the Services and Products.


Customer Security Obligation

Each Customer must use reasonable care in keeping each server or network devices attached to Company infrastructure up-to-date and patched with the latest security updates. Failure to use reasonable care to protect a server may result in a security compromise by outside sources. Company is not responsible for Customer server level security unless a security administration package, firewall security administration package or fully managed operating system package is contracted for and maintained. A compromised server creating network interference will result in immediate Customer notification and will be disconnected from the network immediately so as to not directly affect other Customers. No service credits will be issued for outages resulting from disconnection due directly to breached server security. The Customer is solely responsible for any breaches of security affecting servers under Customer control, including repairing the system, terminating the account(s) of the abusive user(s), and reporting occurrence of the issue to abuse@theplanet.com. If a Customer intentionally creates a security breach, the cost to resolve any damage to Customer's server or other servers will be charged directly to the Customer. The labor used to resolve such damage is categorized as emergency security breach recovery and is currently charged at $100.00 USD per hour.


System and Network Security

Violations of system or network security are strictly prohibited, and may result in criminal and civil liability. Company investigates all incidents involving such violations and will cooperate with law enforcement if a criminal violation is suspected.

Examples of system or network security violations include, without limitation, the following:

Introduction of malicious programs into the network or server (example: viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, key loggers, and other executables intended to inflict harm).
Effecting security breaches or disruptions of Internet communication and/or connectivity. Security breaches include, but are not limited to, accessing data of which the Customer is not an intended recipient or logging into a server or account that the Customer is not expressly authorized to access. For purposes of this section, "disruption" includes, but is not limited to port scans, flood pings, email-bombing, packet spoofing, IP spoofing and forged routing information.
Executing any form of network activity that will intercept data not intended for the Customer's server.
Circumventing user authentication or security of any host, network or account, including “cracking.”
Interfering with or denying service to any user, host, or network other than the Customer's host (example: denial of service attack or distributed denial of service attack).
Conduct designed to avoid restrictions or access limits to specific services, hosts, or networks, including but not limited to the forging of packet headers (“spoofing”) or other identification information.
Using any program script/command, or sending messages of any kind, designed to interfere with or to disable, a user's terminal session, via any means, locally or via the Internet.
Failing to comply with the Company's procedure relating to the activities of Customers on the Company's premises. Violators of the policy are responsible, without limitations, for the cost of labor to correct all damage done to the operation of the network and business operations supported by the network. Such labor is categorized as emergency security breach recovery and is currently charged at $100.00 USD per hour required. Network interference by any Customers that may cause or is currently causing network interference with another Customer will be disconnected immediately. No service credits will be issued to Customers disconnected for network violations.

Internet Etiquette

Each Customer is expected execute reasonable Internet etiquette (Netiquette), the accepted behavior and expectations of the Internet community. The Customer will comply with the rules appropriate to any network to which Company may provide access. The Customer should not post, transmit, or permit Internet access to information the Customer desires to keep confidential. The Customer is not permitted to post any material that is illegal, libelous, and tortuous, indecently depicts children or is likely to result in retaliation against Company by offended users. Company reserves the right to refuse or terminate service at any time for violation of this section. This includes advertising services or sites via IRC or USENET in clear violation of the policies of the IRC channel or USENET group.

If the site does come back up, sending complaints citing thier own T's and C's might get it pulled with emphasis on "likely to result in retaliation against Company by offended users"

angel

If this is a fake story, how much of an attention whore does he have to be to pull off something like this.

How could someone face their kids after doing something like this???

My guess is that he is trying to pop smoke -- meaning he is trying to create some cover so he could esacpe without getting pounded. He obviously started something he is AFRAID he cannot finish.

To Nope:

I don't need any time to "reflect", as you say.

I freely admit that I would take joy in the death of a POS like Michael Crook (appropos name), just as I'd rejoice in the death of a traitor, terrorist, dictator or numerous others. Maybe you need time to reflect and figure out the difference between those that are good and those that are evil. It seems you can't distinguish.

Some people just need killin'...

thebronze, you beat me to it, but I'm going to add my two cents anyway. I take pleasure in every terrorist's death, in the deaths of murderers, rapists and child molesters, and many other evil people. I also sleep soundly at night and have a healthy, well-adjusted life.

Nope needs a moral compass.

While I don't really care if he is dead or not and don't feel any sympathy for him, I do believe that the people who killed him (if this is true) should be punished under the law. We can not afford to allow people to kill people for saying mean things or being an asshole.

While some people may "need killin'", it's not necessarily virtuous to kill them.

My moral compass comes from God:

"Thou shalt not kill."

Please note that it does not say "Thou shalt not kill, unless it is someone with whom you disagree" or "Thou shalt not kill, unless it is a bad person"

My moral compass is based on the truth, not whatever hatred you may have within you.

".. figure out the difference between those that are good and those that are evil. It seems you can't distinguish"

It is not my place nor is it yours to determine who is evil and who is not and while it may happen that you decide someone is evil, it is certainly not your place to decide that they should die. Your doing so merely places you on the same level of evil as the person you are placing judgement on, thus relegating you to the same position as they - evil and therefore in need of killing.

From his weblog at michaelcook.com:

Mike is revived!
Submitted by mike on Tue, 2005-05-17 20:32.

Well, I suppose the cat's out of the bag, so....I'm not dead.

To those that sent heartfelt messages, and felt that this was a true story, I truly apologize. This situation quickly got out of hand, when national media outlets called looking for clarification.

http://michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/

Nope:

The actual translation of the Sixth Commandment is "You shall not murder." The word used, "tirtzach," is very specific and distinct from the word for killing in general, "taharog".

There is a big difference between "murder," and killing someone who deserves to die.

That said, I don't think this particular person deserves to die. I'm just making a general point here...

You can translate it any way you wish- killing a man because of his unpopular views is pretty well covered under the 6th commandment.

Also, which human gets to decide who "deserves" to die? You? Me? Margaret Sanger?

http://www.forsakethetroops.info/index.shtml

Our hero is back up and running, but he is no longer excepting contacts (email or IM) from the outside world. What a brave man.

It is not my place nor is it yours to determine who is evil

Really? Who said?

I can recognize evil when I see it, and I have no problem calling it by name. Your personal hang-ups have no bearing on my judgement.

"Really? Who said?"

I believe that it was Jesus. Something about judge not.

"Your personal hang-ups..."

That wasn't very nice. But I suppose if you need to say such things to make you feel better about yourself...

Nope:

It's kind of convenient that you only use the parts of the Bible that support your argument. Out of context as they may be...

You're very good at the whole hypocrite thing.

Another personal attack? You just can't stop yourself can ya'?

"It's kind of convenient that you only use the parts of the Bible that support your argument."

It's called quoting the relevant passage.

Dear Utopian Nope...

Try a little old testament on for size, you'll find your fair share of killing. It is for us to judge... we judge every day, rapists or child molestors are judged and hopefully harshly punished for their crimes. Would you suggest we "turn the other cheek" or perhaps befriend and forgive the poor sinners.. You have Jesus Syndrome... forgiving killers etc. is for God.. punishing them is for society as a whole, even if some people, like yourself, seem to think Jesus would empty the jails..

And the "harsh" punishment has worked? Surely such a system would have shown marked improvements in society by now...after four thousand years or so to practice we should not have any murderers or rapists right?

nope, there ARE some people who deserve to die. Michael Crook is a great example of a waste of space. He is too stupid to realize that the soldiers give him the ability for freedom of speech. I hope a Marine takes it away.
I belive that in the bible it says "He gives and takes away"

So Michael Crook deserves to die because he said something that hurt your feelings? We have really lowered the bar for death now haven't we? See my earlier comment about which human gets to choose who dies. The point is that human life is way too important to allow other humans to decide who lives and who dies. For instance, if it were up to you everyone who insulted the military would die. If it were up to some liberals, all Republicans would just have to go. Elites would say the "feeble-minded" (See the eugenics movement) don't deserve to live. .

I agree that he is too stupid to realize that the military has in large part guaranteed his rights. However, he has those rights along with a right to his life and in order for you to assert your God-given rights you must also allow him to assert his- even if he hurts your feelings.

Right-to-life is not just for the unborn.

BTW, as a former Marine I could not in good conscience kill a man for insulting me. Besides conscience, we were trained to not let the words of others deter us from our mission.

Well, Nope, after a few decades of lofty liberal ideas for rehabilitation of criminals, it is quite clear that the only way to prevent child molestors or rapists from committing further atrocities, either kill them or lock them up forever.. Your solution is??

I would certainly not equate the teachings of Christ with the liberal movement in this country. Liberalism as it is practiced today is a direct descendant of Marxism and very closely related to Nihilism. Humanism is at its heart and it bears little resemblance to Christianity.

My solution is to not embrace a culture of death and punishment that does nothing but lead to individuals wishing for the death of a man who insulted them. Let's change from an attitude of hate to one of love while accepting the imperfectablility of man.

Personally, I think this bottom dwelling pond scum sucker is in hiding. On Hannity and Colmbs last night, even the VERY left wing Colmbs was all over this idiot like stink on dung! I loved the way Sean Hannity jumped all over this piece of pig dung and I suspect this "great ameriKan", crook, has gone into hiding. I posted a comment to him/her/it/undecided suggesting he/she/it/undecided attend a funeral for an American Soldier/Sailor/Marine/Airman and go up to the Family and Honor Guard and spout his/hers/its/undecided's views. No, I supsect the little turd is still alive and kicking but has moved under his/hers/it's/undecided's rock. "People" (a word used in it's loosest form possible) like crook have Mountain Lion mouths and Prairie Dog asses.

Just to help clarify my views on this topic as I have to have presented them in such a way as to perhaps allow for misinterpretation.

I agree with everything that the fine Capt. has said above- this guy is unappreciative scum. But, speaking of joy at his death or him deserving death is altogether different.

What a sad looser. Fake your death for whatever reason and then appear on national tv to denigrate the sacrifice those who protect our freedom and ensure our security.

None of us should ever forget the sacrifice of all soldiers, sailors and Marines, who've either given their lives, or given their time in service to this great nation.

Everyone, whether you agree with current politics or not, should never act in a way that brings dishonor to them.

The piece of excrement that is M.Crook, doesn't deserve the attention he is getting, and letting him pass like a fart in the wind is the only way to treat him.

Michael's a loser and that is all that needs to be said. He's probably just jealous because he's to big of a wimpy nerd to be the military. In fact he probably doesn't even have a "real" job. That's probably why he had so much time on his hands to create that site in the first place. Personally, if he is dead, I really could care less. If he isn't dead already, with this many people wanting to hurt him, I am sure he will end up getting what he deserves. Not saying he deserves to die really, but I would'nt mind giving him a punch or two in the face myself. I know a lot more people who feel the same.

Hmmm.. if he is DEAD, who is posting to his personal blog on his personal website? There is even mention of the removal of his forsakethetroops site and a reply from "him".

http://michaelcrook.com/mikesweblog/?q=node/1&PHPSESSID=ce28e48f4ab9724e11bb1a2f13799b09#comment-219

What a misinformed, attention-seeking and PITIFUL individual.

Daughter, wife and sister of US Vets,

~Valerie
Delaware

I wouldn't feel joy at his death. I wouldn't feel anything much at all. This guy obviously craves attention and is willing to take whatever attention is given to him.

I can't beleive he thinks the military gets paid to well. What an ass. I suppose teachers, police, and firemen are all also over paid.

I like what the Captain up above said. "Mountain lion mouth and a prarie dog ass."

I feel most sorry for his wife and chlidren, if he really does have any. It is sad that they will be judged by their spouse/parent.

I just think that it is honestly sad that someone could be that ignorant.....almost feel as if is impossible and is clearly a scam of some sort....crook is, in one phrase, a waste of breath. If america is so bad then get out. but i guess that would require to much thinking for an asshole like that to figure out.

THIS IDIOT DOES'T HAVE A CLUE. THROW HIS ASS INTO NATIVE DRESS AND PUT HIM IN COUNTRY. I'LL BET HE'LL CHANGE HIS TUNE A.S.A.P.
BETTER STILL, LET HIM JOIN THE INSURGENTS, THEN WE'LL REALLY SEE MR.BIG MOUTH SISSY PANTS CRY AS HIS ASS GETS BLOWN AWAY.

THIS IDIOT DOES'T HAVE A CLUE. THROW HIS ASS INTO NATIVE DRESS AND PUT HIM IN COUNTRY. I'LL BET HE'LL CHANGE HIS TUNE A.S.A.P.
BETTER STILL, LET HIM JOIN THE INSURGENTS, THEN WE'LL REALLY SEE MR.BIG MOUTH SISSY PANTS CRY AS HIS ASS GETS BLOWN AWAY.

350.jpg
Mrs G copy.png

November 26, 2010


America@war
[Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit.

That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary.

From their about page:

The Naval Institute shall remain

INDEPENDENT - A non-profit member association, with no government support, that does not lobby for special interests;

NON-PARTISAN - An independent, professional military association with a mission, goals and objectives that transcend political affiliations; and shall encourage

IDEAS - Through its respected journals Proceedings and Naval History, its conferences, its books and its online content, in support of those who serve.

"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation:

The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism.

Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented.

I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are.

"Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result.

Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web...

And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed.

The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down.

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But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:

Closing Blogs is nothing new. So many site's owners just give up on their own. They come and go, you know, these MilBloggers do. Like any other sort of blogger. Many post in the lonely down hours far from home, spill their guts for the world, then abandon their spots when the tour of duty is up. They have lives again somewhere in the world, and no need to share the details. So it goes.

Many are truly gone - no site left at all. "The page cannot be found." Other blogs remain, like abandoned defensive positions in shifting desert sands.

Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down.

If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real.

And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale.

We've already made history, it's time to save it.

(More to follow...)




Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

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The Mudville Gazette is written and produced by Greyhawk, who recently retired from 24 years of active duty in the US military, but will maintain this disclaimer: Unless otherwise credited, the opinions expressed are those of the author, and nothing here is to be taken as representing the official position of or endorsement by the United States Department of Defense or any of its subordinate components.

Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house.

I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email.

Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed.

Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com

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Tending Distant
Fires


Far from hearth and home, watching
Cold alone but not alone
On distant shore and only wanting
Safe return and little more

What tales we'll tell
When that time comes
When tales can be told

When things grim
Seem far away
When other fires go cold

Some distant sunset, vision fading
Memories remain
And tired eyes gaze 'pon folded flags
While distant drums beat their refrain

Saluting fallen friends whose names
And youth will never fade
Here's to those on other shores,
for them live well, the price is paid

- Greyhawk,
Baghdad,
December 2004