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« Hey, Gerhard... | Main | Open Post »

October 14, 2005

greyhawk copy sm.png

Open Post

By Mrs Greyhawk

We are taking a couple days off to celebrate our 21st Wedding Anniversay. Some of you may remember that last year, Greyhawk was in Baghdad during our 20th, so we're making up for lost time ;-)


Posted by Mrs Greyhawk / October 14, 2005 5:45 PM | Permalink

92 TrackBacks

Open Post from Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho on October 14, 2005 6:03 PM

Alright....I have been screwing around with my blog programming all morning, and think I'm done. The trackbacks will now show up right in each post. I'm done playing with PHP code for now and as long as it's working...I don't care how it looks..lol. Th... Read More

The Bush administration has officially charged the North Korean government of counterfeiting US currency to help prop up its brutal regime. Worse, because the bills are being printed by a national government, they can be devilishly hard to detect. To... Read More

Update: Welcome back Michelle Malkin readers!!! Please bookmark us for a daily read! Tampa, Florida — If you’ve been to a Bucs game this season, you’ve seen and felt a difference — you get patted down before entering the sta... Read More

Crime is Crime from bRight & Early on October 14, 2005 6:38 PM

Back in July a local paper had this story with the headline Arsonist Targets Gay Men. Hearing the word "faggot" is common for Paul Day and his partner, Christopher Robertson. Disgruntled neighbors have threatened their lives and spewed epithets, ... Read More

The Ascendancy of a King from A North American Patriot on October 14, 2005 6:39 PM

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR WHO WILL BE CROWNED... Trying to shore up more votes, by begging at The Mudville Gazette's Open Post -- Hey, whatever it takes, baby! BTW - Go over there and wish Mr. Mrs. Greyhawk a Read More

The intemperant tone of Peggy Noonan's latest anti-Miers missive included a call for her "withdrawal/removal/disappearance." Maybe the Gottis can take care of it. It reminded me of an earlier Noonan column under the sub headline: "If Terri Schiavo is k... Read More

This evening I was browsing through some things I'd written at my old website, and had one of those “déjà vu all over again” moments. I found the letter I'd written to the Concord Coalition six years ago; a blast Read More

Most Americans still view the Smurfs as the same cute, harmless little creatures from the television show that ended more than 15 years ago. Nothing could be further from the truth.... Read More

I heard something on the radio today that--in all honesty--nearly made me wreck my car. Having just moved recently, I'm not intimately familiar with the local radio stations, and I didn't catch which major media outlet provides national news bites on... Read More

I noticed last month that my Blogpulse Profile page was no longer staying up to date. According to them, my last post was on August 25th. I sent an e-mail asking if something was up on their end or if there was some problem on my end. I finally got... Read More

Let's put an early end to the mindless chatter that W had to stage a conference with the troops lest they rip his throat out over satellite due to their hatred of him and Rummy, or whatever. Read More

Via Yahoo News: DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. sales of new cars and trucks at the retail level appear to have fallen off the cliff in October, led by steep declines at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., J.D. Power and Associates said on Friday. ... Read More

WGST Radio (640 AM) a local station here in Atlanter has introduced a contest in which any of our local military heroes can be nominated for a prize from WGST and Georgia Natural Gas.from WGST's site...Just send us the name Read More

New Chief of Armor interview from A Healthy Alternative to Work on October 14, 2005 8:13 PM

"Quite frankly, the Abrams has shown itself to be the premiere weapons system, even in an urban environment. If you want to quiet a neighborhood in Iraq, park a couple Abrams in it. It has an enormous psychological effect, and of course we know its l... Read More

Al Qaeda Wiretap Strikes Gold, Bin Laden In U.S. from Political Satire Fake News - The Nose On Your Face on October 14, 2005 8:19 PM

Late last week, a very telling letter sent from Ayman al Zawahiri to Abu Musab al Zaqawi was intercepted by coalition forces. In effect, the letter is a blueprint for Al Qaeda's strategy for victory both in Iraq and worldwide Read More

I have news for the author: if this "religion" is primarily defined by militancy, and that in order to protect their way of life they must kill all those who were made enemies by Islamic historical revision, it isn't a religion. It's a military doctr... Read More

Earlier this month, an astounding scientific accomplishment was reported: The 1918 Spanish flu virus was reconstructed in the laboratory. The story behind this feat is a fascinating one. But will this creation help more than it harms? ... Read More

I’m feeling like crap this morning, so the Weekend Link Whorage Open Trackback Post Covered Fest Carnival Dish is up early. Send your links! [This WLWOTPCFCD post will be updated with other open trackback post links as they become available.] ... Read More

Canine Correspondence from Soldiers' Angels Germany on October 14, 2005 11:14 PM

Dear K-9 Heroes! Hello, my name is Bandido and I am a Collie mix dog from Aruba, in the Dutch Caribbean. I am now living in Palm Beach, Florida and happy to be here. I wanted to write to thank all of you K-9s for all the great things you are doing ove... Read More

I won't steal any of Dafydd's thunder with an excerpt. Just go read it. Update: Jason van Steenwyk has related thoughts here, as does Lorie Byrd here. Update 2, 10/14/2005: Dafydd and Jason may have beaten her to it, but Read More

Investigators with the Medicaid fraud control unit are looking into whether facilities bungled evacuations of patients, abandoned them as conditions deteriorated or carried out euthanasia while waiting on rescue workers. Read More

Thank you for your Open Posts everyday and thank you Mr. Greyhawk for bravely defending our country. God bless both of you. Read More

Some Nobels recognize our worst from http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2005/10/political-diversity-and-law-school.html on October 14, 2005 11:53 PM

Some Nobel prize awards recognize the best that humanity can do. But others recognize was worst in humanity. That's what I think Harold Pinter's award does. Read on and see if you don't agree. Read More

Just to Refresh from Isaac Schrödinger on October 15, 2005 12:10 AM

Cliff May at The Corner:Iraqi insurgents have cut power and water to Baghdad. ... Ali Velshi. He says: “Under the Read More

Firefighters assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron here took time to honor a fellow firefighter killed in action Sept. 24 in Iraq. Read More

Here are the sites with Open Trackbacks for this weekend (it will update often, so keep checking back) Read More

TGIF! Thank God I’m FREE! C’mon and trackback! Put up a post that you think deserves some special attention from this past week. Watch for Open Trackbacks here on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays. Here is the trackback link to this... Read More

IowaHawk guest blogger Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has posted about his company's latest motivational weekend retreat and his loathing for his boss. How’s it hangin,’ homos? Same ol’ – same ol’ here in the Big Sandbox. Not much new since my Read More

Trackback Weekend from BIG DOG's WEBLOG on October 15, 2005 1:07 AM

It is time for another trackback weekend. If you have an article you want to trackback to this site please do so. You may send as many trackbacks as you wish, all I ask for is a link. I will update this with others who are having a trackback par... Read More

Never let the facts get in the way of a good opinion. Case in point: the "staged" military photo op with the president. Read More

Miers and Bloggers from Conservative Musings on October 15, 2005 1:23 AM

I'm not sure what to think about this Financial Times article. My initial take is this: why waste time addressing a group (like bloggers) unless there is something there to worry about. Very little in news on this link, with Read More

"Yesterday, I (bottom right corner in the picture) was chosen to be among a small group of soldiers assigned to the 42ID's Task Force Liberty that would speak to President Bush, our Commander-in-Chief. The interview went well, but I would like to res... Read More

All over this planet, where ever you go, there will be Americans helping those in need. And leading the way will be the US military. Read More

Today's Washington Post brings this story about the latest version of Nimby-ism to hit Northern Virginia Read More

I have been a conservative for the most part of my 59 years on this earth. I would like to think also that I am a person of principle and that I vote for the man rather than the party. In fact, I usually shock both my Republican and Democrat friends wh... Read More

It is sometimes unfathomable what is construed as a controversy in the MSM ("Mainstream Media"), particularly when such poisonous darts are lobbed at President Bush. It seems as though with each passing controversy, there is an attempt to out-do the ... Read More

SoCalPundit’s Election Coverage: Iraqi Constitutional Referendum Situation: Workable, Ahead of Referendum By Kevin D. Korenthal – SoCalPundit.com 9 months after nearly 70% of Iraq’s eligible voters dipped their fingers in purple ink to symboli... Read More

Tomorrow the Iraqi people will be voting for or against their new Constitution. The response from the terrorists has been to sabotage the power grid leading to a blackout in Baghdad. Given the violence leading up to this election I am certain that they... Read More

Harriet Miers deserves to be confirmed as justice of the Supreme Court. Although it is obvious now that she is no Antonin Scalia, but merely a cipher, she could nevertheless bloom into a grand federalist. Attaining the bench does unexpected... Read More

I heard this back in 91 when I was going through boot camp, Never Again Volunteer Yourself, well yesterday, I lifted my right hand and said these words I, Sean Dustman, do solemnly swear... Read More

Its the weekend, lets celebrate with an open trackback post! If you have something interesting that you would like to share with us, and our readers, please leave a trackback to that post, and link to this post so others can join in on the linkfes... Read More

This just in: the Bush Administration may be trying to put a positive spin on the war in Iraq. I'm sorry. Am I the only one who feels he's stepped into some weird mirror universe? The number one goal for... Read More

Michelle Malkin linked to this column/form which can be sent to your Representatives and Senators. It's another example of the idiotic random screening set up by Norman Minetta. Read More

Piracy prevails along the coast of Somalia with UN chartered freighters carrying food and other relief supplies to the coastal regions coming under attack. The real skull and bones left behind on land by the feuding war lords are continuing to grow in ... Read More

It is once again time for the Weekend Buffet. Your chef has surfed the blogosphere to bring you these delicious entrees. Read More

Babe's Trackback Bash from Two Babes and a Brain on October 15, 2005 6:58 PM

It's Saturday....let's have a bash Read More

I cant believe I am about to say this, but I agree with the U.N. For years, anti-growth / anti-everything groups have blamed the logging industry for all the woes of the world particularly devastating mudslides associated with flood events. It app... Read More

Since I had to pay for my haircuts while in boot camp, this doesnt surprise me. It appalls me, but it doesnt surprise me. The Washington Post reports: His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robe... Read More

Worldnet Daily An atheist group is complaining about two signs posted outside a city hall in New York state that declare “God Bless America.” But the signs hung by a Long Island official outside the town hall of Babylon, N.Y., are perfe... Read More

NBCs Andrea Mitchell has uncovered a massive scandal that threatens to tear apart the fabric of the Republican party. Ms. Mitchell reported Thursday night, that an NBC investigation has uncovered a vast conspiracy to stage the entire Bush Presidency... Read More

Program Over-Proselytization from Peakah's Provocations... on October 15, 2005 9:50 PM

Unless these kids were shackled and led off to the local church and forced to pray at gunpoint there is no violation of the First Amendment!! The First Amendment protects exactly what this comedy team was doing. Read More

13 October was the Navy’s birthday. I feel a special connection to the Navy since I live in Annapolis, Maryland — it’s pretty hard to avoid that feeling given the United States Naval Academy’s pervasive influence here. ... Read More

I spoke to my father last night about 8am his time in Nejaf and he said he was going to go vote at 9am. ... I called my father gain around 9am my time. He said he had voted (yes for the constitution) and that the turnout was strong and matters were cal... Read More

About MSM planting and staging from http://www.johnincarolina.com on October 16, 2005 12:39 AM

Here goes the MSM again Bush-bashing for all their worth. But we remember some things about MSM that MSM would line us to forget. And we have a laugh along the way. But let's never forget to tell our kids, "Don't believe a lot of what you read and h... Read More

Off the coast of Vietnam in 1972, after the North Vietnamese started the Easter Offensive, the big gun ship that began patrolling the South China Sea was USS NEWPORT NEWS (CA-148), one of the heavy cruisers carrying 8-inch guns. Read More

Another MilBlog That People Ought to Read from Eric's Grumbles Before The Grave on October 16, 2005 1:02 AM

I didn't realize it when I started this post, but this is a When I Wore Green post, as well as introducing a blogger I just discovered. Folks, go read Confessions of a Military Recruiter. I'm positive he's a recruiter,... Read More

This year literally thousands of requests are coming in to Soldiers Angels from deployed soldiers requesting Christmas stuff. It's a big need, and yet the items requested are small. These requests need to be filled - absolutely every single one of them... Read More

Many of you have probably heard of the death of Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jacobson. She was the first female Airman to die in the line of fire duty supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the first Air Force security forces member to perish. She was... Read More

Despite the best efforts of the various terrorist groups and their staunch supporters in the media and anti-war movements, the Iraqi's took yet another step forward in their progress towards becoming a Constitutional Democracy by voting in large number... Read More

Despite the best efforts of the various terrorist groups and their staunch supporters in the media and anti-war movements, the Iraqi's took yet another step forward in their progress towards becoming a Constitutional Democracy by voting in large number... Read More

A FNG in Iraq reports! Without question, the quality of life is light years beyond what many old soldiers knew. Good! Our soldiers deserve nothing less. Life on the Shire, a Fobbits Tale (apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien) Read More

I wonder if that is what Mother Sheehan and her supporters are thinking. Remember, not too long ago, Sheehan and her minions were saying we should be out of Iraq. It didn’t take long for her to add Afghanistan and New Orleans to the list. Perha... Read More

There was little violence as almost 70% of Iraqis, entire families even, turn out to vote on their country’s consitution. Dressed in their best, they even voted by candlelight as some of the areas of the city were blacked out. “The co... Read More

In darkness now, Baghdad and all of Iraq prepares for the night after a long day, a day in which the vast majority of those elegible to vote on an Iraqi constitution did just that. They braved threats and intimidation from Zarqawi and his band of thugs... Read More

M551 Sheridan Ft. Knox, c. 1978 Me neither. But we tried. You'd think for being such an odd duck the thing could float. But not quite. More in a bit. The contest was to guess the vehicle ID with... Read More

Gaza Developments from Cutler's Yankee Station on October 16, 2005 4:43 AM

I've been watching the reports of chaos in Gaza, gunbattles between the PA and Hamas, and lawlessness on the Gaza-Egyptian border with interest. The "international community" got what it wanted, and now the Potemkin Village of Palestinian responsibil... Read More

In an attempt to lighten up on the subject of the Miers' nomination, and parody the 'conservative elitism' which we are accused of, I have depicted her in a composition painting as Queen Victoria, Judge Hecht as Prince Albert, Hugh Hewitt as The Prince... Read More

There are no prizes, only fun. Give us your best caption for the Cafe Image of the Week. Don't forget to check out last week's Cafe Caption Contest, where Mr. Right of The Right Place gives us the winning caption.Farmer... Read More

Again the from Hello Iraq on October 16, 2005 1:29 PM

"The New Iraqi Army has much to be proud of. They gave the arhabi the purple finger. It was a very good day." This is a quote from Major K Read More

If you haven't stopped by Bucks blog lately you don't want to miss the first segment or chapter on his novella. It certainly kept me interested to the end. Read More

More Top 9 Suggested Ann Coulter Book Titles from Political Satire Fake News - The Nose On Your Face on October 16, 2005 3:25 PM

As has been mentioned here in the past, we at The Nose On Your Face have a strong working relationship* bordering on true friendship** with conservative icon Ann Coulter. As many of you surely know, she is a very busy Read More

"The Cost Of Freedom" from The Stupid Shall Be Punished on October 16, 2005 4:07 PM

I believe wholeheartedly that our mission is Iraq in inextricably tied to defending our freedoms at home. Read More

Last week I posted a Female Milblog Banner after learning of the lack of them. A few days ago it hit me...why should the girls have only one banner when the boys have a ton to pick from. So I made two more. Once again, please feel free to use them: Read More

Everyone else is doing it, its a slow news day, so help me create a linkfest! If you have something interesting that you would like to share with us, and our readers, please leave a trackback to that post, and link to this post so others can join in ... Read More

Open Posts: Sunday Edition from California Conservative on October 16, 2005 4:33 PM

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it! If you have something newsworthy, humorous, unusual or otherwise interesting to share, please use our trackback to your post, and link to this post so others can read all about it. And you don’t have to be fro... Read More

Strategic Defeat from The Cool Blue Blog on October 16, 2005 5:03 PM

Many in the media were caught off guard as events unfolded in Iraq. AMID unexpected calm, millions of Iraqis turned out in the sunshine yesterday to vote on a new constitution whose advocates claimed it would unite the country in Read More

Looks like Jodie Foster's got some competition now for who can be the worst Islamophile in the film industry: a sports team owner by the name of Mark Cuban. Read More

Break some legs from MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy on October 16, 2005 8:34 PM

Click here and break some legs for me, wouldja? All you have to do is click and I get “broken legs” points. No spam or popups or selling shit. Just click it or I’ll have to crack some kneecaps. I have no idea in hell what this is... Read More

St. Judith The Martyr from All Things Beautiful on October 16, 2005 11:44 PM

In the The New York Times today under the heading 'My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room', Judith Miller tells a rather comprehensive story... Read More

Chinese rocket scientists announced today that their Shenzhou VI spacecraft was experiencing orbital slip. Despite frantic calculations the they have been unable to determine that cause of the dangerous orbital decay. They announced Thursday that t... Read More

In this dispatch, my correspondent reflects on the referendum this past Saturday, and what it took to get Iraq to that point. Read More

Oh wow - they're voting from Liberal and Loving It on October 17, 2005 2:13 AM

As I searched for news this weekend about the voting in Iraq, two things hit me. First - at least for the last couple of days, Iraq has been a functioning democracy. Interest groups were trying to influence people's votes, Read More

....They were virtually ignored by the mainstream press. All weekend, it has been a challenge to find any reporting on the Iraqi elections. Instead, we have been bombarded by reports of the unrest in Toledo. You can bet your ass that if there had been ... Read More

Terrorism Al Qaeda "barber" arrested in Iraq — Reuters U.S. forces in Iraq said on Saturday that they were holding a man suspected of acting as a barber to senior al Qaeda militants and helping them change their appearance to... Read More

To Mrs. and Mr. Greyhawk... Read More

It is hard to dislike a company whose motto is "Don't be evil." But Google is learning that Evil is a relative term, as its quest to make the world's information easily searchable draws criticism and lawsuits from some newly... Read More

Once again, the ACLU are confused on who is truly the victim. Stephanie E. Robbins, 24, was arrested Tuesday at her home in the rural community of Wittman. She is charged with reckless endangerment and possession of drugs. Test results showed drugs i... Read More

Ok, Basil's having trackback issues, The Greyhawks are still celebrating their anniversary, and MNF comes on in about thirty minutes. So, I'm shutting down the computer (a little earlier than usual) for the night. (I do get up before dawn to bring you... Read More

Update on the Constitution from The Makaha Surf Report on October 18, 2005 12:59 AM

I have some raw numbers about the status of the Iraqi Constitution. It looks like I was right on the money in how it was going to breakdown so far. Results are only in for 8 provinces, but 3 of the 8 were crucial to the success of the Constitutional Re... Read More

Sometimes, even a superior life form like myself can get conned by the mainstream press. For two days now we have heard over and over the basic mantra that the new Iraq constitution would lead to a wealthy north and... Read More

Hat tip to Gina’s Rantings ANN ARBOR, MI — On Wednesday, October 19, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, California, will hear oral arguments in Eklund v. Byron Union School District. The Thomas Mo... Read More

Headlines from The Gray Tie on October 30, 2005 11:59 AM

Here are some headlines for your reading pleasure this Sunday morning. Or, maybe they aren’t so pleasant. I just linked some of the ones that caught my attention, obviously. Dutch Witches Get Tax Break for Studies Want to learn how to concoct... Read More

38 Comments

Well my best wishes to ya both for your 21st Anniversary. Guess you definitely got past that 7 year itch. :))

Happy Anniversary!!!!

21st is "cordite," right?

Happy anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. G. Here's to many, many more.

Congrats and hope you have many more.

Have a wonderful 21st Anniversary! Thank you for all you've done for us. The least we could do for you is to leave alone. lol. Take your time, enjoy each other, enjoy life, enjoy America (turn off the TV except for football!), etc. You guys are great. Thanks.

Congradulations. Happy anniversary. You deserve some time off. Who's minding the kids? Oh! they deserve some time off too! I remember when we left our sons at home alone but they were not alone very much. Party, Party. You better go home!lol. Love you all very much.

Happy Anniversary!

And many more to come...

Twenty-one years - wow! That's wonderful. Happy anniversary!

Congratulations! I hope you have a great time "away from it all." :)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. G! My parents celebrated their 55th last week - may the two of you also celebrate many, many more.

Happy 21st and congratulations! Thanks to both of you for all the wonderful work you do here as a couple!!

Congrats! NOW through the phone out the window, put the dog outside and velcro the kids in their rooms and have a good time! Capt B sends.........

Congrats to both of you. Have a great time and many more.

Every blessing to you both. Enjoy, enjoy, and enjoy.

You do great good.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, born 115 years ago today, Oct. 14, 1890 would agree. Ike loved people who looked after the military.

John
www.johnincarolina.com

Happy Anniversary!!! 21 years ~ How wonderful!

Happy anniversary. You've earned it.

May you have many many more happy anniversaries!
God Bless you and yours today and always.

Congratulations!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations. May you have many ever happier returns to your anniversary. Even when you grow old and tired (since GreyHawk is already grey by definition), may this day bring you great joy, and revive fond memories of the good times together, and may it dampen the pain of deployments, missed opportunities to be with each other, and any sorrow of Love or Time lost or misspent because of your service and dedication.

Our Country thanks you both for your Love and Patience with each other, and wishes you both to enjoy at least one day for yourselves every year, at every chance that She offers. Liberty for the Brave. Liberty will expire when Mrs. GreyHawk says so. Have a nice day and a better tomorrow.

Subsunk

Happy Anniversary, enjoy your time together.

Happy Anniversay to the both of you, look forward to reading you blog for the next 21 years!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, from a partner in another 21-year marriage!

You two don't need a special day you two Lovebirds!! Congrats! Wishing you many more years of wedded bliss!

Happy Anniversary! Here's hoping you have twice as many more as you have had already.

Congrats!!! Enjoy your time together.

Happy Anniv. The two of you have the toughest jobs on earth -- warrior and warrior wife.

BZ,

Jibtrim

For some reason I'm having trouble with the trackback :-( Any suggestions?

Wow- Da big 20. Congratulations to you! Hope you enjoy it... gobble it up, have fun and do everything you want. You've earned it!

Happy 21st Anniversary! Rendered all the more memorable because you get to be together this year. That is terrific; enjoy and celebrate having someone that special to love. Great to know there are people who have some 'staying power' in matters of the heart. Thank you for a wonderful blog, btw, I never miss a chance to read.
Congratulations!

Congratulation and have fun!!!

Congrats and thanks are in order for sure. Your hard work and your dedication to our wonderful country and to our warriors is to be commended and admired.

I also wanted to let you know that one of our warriors is back. Sgt. Hook, was and is one of my favorite American Warriors, lets all give him a warm welcome back.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA

Congrats! You guys are a few months ahead of myself and SubBasket (we celebrated our 20th last month).

Conkrackerwackerpackers! The big Two One calls for C-4 and silver inlaid Swiss Army Champion XLT matching knives. Thank you both for your devotion to duty, hard work and sense of humor.

Happy anniversary

Got company, so running late with this. Happy Anniversary! Thanks for your hard work on this blog & all you do for our great country!

Happy Anniversary!! And thank you for all you do.

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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.

*****

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