EDIT: Thank you!!! I was so happy when I came home and saw that Sandy's diary is now on the Recommended list!
Please take a moment to remember two brave young solders: Spc. Joseph A. Ford, 23 and Pvt. Matthew W. Brown, 20 over at Sandy on Signal's dairy IGTNT: we remember two more
Those who have lost a loved one to war will never be able to forget.
Please, do not rec this diary, but instead rec IGTNT: we remember two more.
Sandy's diary deserves to be on the recommended list!
For those who are not familiar with IGTNT:
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn and me, a girl in MI. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but, we believe, an important service to those Americans who have died, and to our community’s respect for and remembrance of them.
A history of the series and more about the IGTNT team can be found here in a beautifully written diary by moneysmith which marked the fourth anniversary of the start of the IGTNT series.
We treat these diaries as a wake. We pause to remember those who have given their lives and we remember the loves ones who are mourning their loss. We always ask that comments to these diaries be full of compassion rather than politics since the friends and families of the soldiers we mourn do often read these diaries. We respect the fact that the loved ones of the solders we profile may have politics which differ from our own, and may be deeply hurt were they to read comments which connect the death of their loved one to specific political positions.
The following is from a diary I wrote on February 1st about why I thought IGTNT was important. This was shortly before I joined the IGTNT team.
In 1994, when I was 13 years old, I went on a school trip to Washington, DC. As part of our trip, we visited the Vietnam Memorial. Several of my friends and I, after being told that people sometimes left letters at the Memorial, decided to write a letter of our own. We sat together in our hotel room and wrote a short letter thanking the solders who has served. We left the letter at the Memorial and pretty much forgot about it until several weeks later we were informed by the school that someone had found the letter (we had put our school's name on it) and written us back.
The man who wrote us back was a veteran from Connecticut who had served in Vietnam.
He wrote:
On Tuesday, April 26, 1994, I visited the Viet Nam War Memorial in Washington, DC during a break in my business trip there.
While I was looking at the panels with all of the names on it (including some good friends of mine) I noticed a letter at the base of one of the panels. I noticed that it was not written to any one person in particular and being a Viet Nam veteran myself, I decided to read it.
I was already full of emotion walking through this monument and your note meant more to me than you can probably imagine.
You were not alive during the time of the Viet Nam war. The United States was in turmoil over our involvement. Most Americans were against our presence there. It did not matter that the vets who, despite what they may have believed, were putting their lives on the line. You can only imagine what was like to be involved in a war. You can't even imagine what it was like to come home and have your own people chastise and berate you for serving your country...
I want you to know that your words to both the veterans who had died and especially the words to those of us fortunate enough to come home alive were greatly appreciated and I truly wish that you were there to "welcome" us home after our time of service.
At the time, we thought it was cool that someone had found the letter and written us back, but we really didn't think that much about what the letter said, or at least I know I didn't. Every so often, I think about that letter and how important it is that we all remember those who have served. How important it is that we remember those who were never able to come home as well as those who were lucky enough to make it home.
That is why I believe that the "I Got The News Today" diaries are so important.
Please, do not rec this diary, but instead rec IGTNT: we remember two more