This may well be one of the easiest to read IGTNT diary that will ever appear here at dailyKos. (For those new to the series, IGTNT (I Got the News Today) remembers and honors military people who lose their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.) The best one of these diaries will be the last, the one in which the IGTNT team says ‘Thank you all so much. Our efforts are no longer needed because our troops are safely home."
The sooner that day comes, the better. Meanwhile, on behalf of the thirteen writers involved in the series, "Thank you" to this community for embracing and supporting this effort so wholeheartedly. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to i dunno, who singlehandedly began this remarkable series, and maintained it alone several years. Please join me over the fold for our fourth anniversary remembrance.
Here is a short history of IGTNT, provided by diarist monkeybiz:
"Four years ago, i dunno started a long, lonely vigil, keeping track of our fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. The earliest "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT) diariesdrew a handful of comments. Often, there were none.
"Four years and 4,024 deaths later, IGTNT has one of the most loyal, compassionate and caring readerships on the site. Every comment represents the time that one of us took to get to know a service member and to offer our condolences.
"On behalf of the IGTNT team: Thank you for remembering them. Thank you for your messages of sympathy to the families. Thank you for every letter and care package that has gone out, and for supporting those who are so far from home. Thank you for standing vigil with us."
In 2007, Sandy on Signal and monkeybiz began helping i dunno with the series. Since then, the diary team has grown to thirteen. All in all, there have been hundreds of IGTNT diaries here at dailyKos. To our knowledge, this series is the only one of its kind, anywhere in the media. Maybe because of that, it is frequently read by friends and family members of the fallen. A number of diarists have received very touching notes of gratitude. Other times, these ‘thank yous’ appear in comments, like this one monkeybiz received from llbear:
llbear, who's often at the VA, made me cry when he told us this:
"I've just returned from the Jesse Brown VA where a funny thing happened. I had three stops to make. Each time someone asked me to thank all of you. I wrote the 3rd one down:
'You know those people who write about our kids? Well, we lost 3 more since I saw you last. It's hurting all us of real bad. Those words help us. Could you thank those people for a whole bunch of us?'"
Thank you also for honoring the series so frequently here at dailyKos. gchaucer2, a girl in MIand others have gone out of their way to support this effort by writing diaries calling attention to the series. Front pagers BarbinMD and Bill in Portland Maine’sCheers and Jeers have also been kind enough to give IGTNT hat tips:
CHEERS to I Got The News Today (IGTNT). Since April, 2004, the series started by Kossack "i dunno" and carried on by others has told the stories of our soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last night we wrote:
I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that this is the best and most important diary series here at Daily Kos. These tributes reduce me to rubble every time I get up the nerve to open them. They're devastating in their homespun simplicity and quiet reflection. They don't feel like obituaries, but rather like stories being told in a relative's living room.
IGTNT is a not a place for "Damn that Bush!" condemnation. Rather, it's a sanctuary where one can offer thanks, prayers and godspeed to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. And you guys do it day after day after day without fail. I admire your intestinal fortitude.
Thank you, IGTNT'ers, for keeping this up. I hope you'll take this in the intended spirit when I say: I hope it ends soon.
But until then, keep telling the stories.
Thank you, BarbinMD, Bill in Portland Maine and everyone else who took the time to mention and/or read the series. It would be much more difficult to sustain this effort without your thoughtfulness and generosity. In fact, this entire community’s overwhelming display of compassion for our fallen and support for IGTNT deserves recognition. So today the IGTNT diarists would like to say "thank you" to those who stop in to comment or take the time to recommend the diary, even though reading or commenting may be too painful. And, of course, last but far from least, our sincerest thanks to i dunno for so faithfully honoring our service people and recognizing their sacrifices when no one else was.
As we mark this anniversary, however, we are reminded of all the other important dates and cherished milestones that others will never know now. As monkeybiz so poignantly put it:
"It's the anniversary of the series' founding, but it also represents our recognition of every anniversary that will be missed because of these deaths -- husbands who will never go to dinner with wives, mothers who will not bake their children's birthday cakes, and the most terrible anniversary of all, the day that someone got the news."
So to those whose loved ones have been honored here, we offer our sincerest condolences. This nation's fallen will always remain in our hearts, thoughts and prayers, as will all of you who have lost so much. May you find peace and comfort in your memories.
Finally, in the words of the diarists themselves, here are some thoughts on why we do what we do:
From Sandy on Signal:
In January, Bush announced there would be an escalation of troops in Iraq. I knew this meant an escalation of deaths, and asked i dunno how he would deal with this bad news. He asked both monkeybiz and me to help him out with covering IGTNT. I said yes, but did not want to do it because I did not think I was strong enough to do it. Also, I was not proficient in html so I thought that would doom me, it turns out the html is the easy part, the content is what is difficult. Writing about the fallen has been a rewarding and enriching time for me. Often, the fallen come from modest homes in rural areas and are well respected and loved by their community. They were courageous, unselfish, smart and kind, the loss is huge for their family, town and this nation. I am glad to write about how loved they were and how they are not forgotten.
From monkeybiz:
"I came to the series late -- back in December 2006 -- and started writing diaries just over a month later. News of the death of Pvt. David E. Dietrich, 21, of Marysville, Pa. hit me hard, especially when I sought out more information about him. At the time, I had a friend serving in Iraq, and I remember being glad that it wasn't my friend who had been killed.
"Then it hit me. David was someone's friend. And then Oh my God, someone loved every single one of them. I felt so small and petty and mean for not having understood it sooner. For having hoped so hard for the survival of my friend and not for every other member of the military because they were just numbers to me.
"That was then. Now, fifty-odd diaries later, I can't not know. The details get burned into my heart: pictures of weeping men, holding their fatherless grandchildren; wedding day pictures on myspace; last letters home; parents falling to their knees as the news comes; the interviews with high school teachers and coaches who remember the fallen as recent graduates. This one's smile. That one's promise to his grandmother to stay safe.
"They're not numbers. And I won't let them be reduced to talking points for any particular position, or as excuses to bash politicians. As I've said before, I try to honor the mission of the diary, "To honor, respect and remind," fairly, neither highlighting anti-war sentiments nor omitting the pride some families feel even in the face of tragedy. No life is worth more or less based on how a family responds or what it believes. I have read enough hometown reporting to have seen, over and over, the fear a mother has for a son on duty, the pride that parents feel in their sons’ choice, the denial of what it means when uniformed men ring the doorbell. Their children have died; it’s not mine to question how each survivor answers the questions of why, or whether the death was worth it, or what the death stands for. They deserve to be remembered in their own right, regardless of their politics or mine.
"The feedback is sometimes the best and the saddest part of writing these tributes. One family member said it all for me: "Thank you for not forgetting them."
"We won't.
From noweasels:
Members of my family have served in the military since the Revolutionary War. Of those I knew and loved deeply and remember were both of my grandfathers and my wonderful Dad.
My paternal grandfather dropped out of Columbia University just weeks before his graduation in 1918 to join the Navy as an aviator. Before leaving for France, where he flew Jennies as a bombardier without a parachute or radar, he transferred to the Marines.
My maternal grandfather, a lover of the great outdoors, gave up the fresh air of Vermont to serve on a tin-plated tiny submarine in the Atlantic during World War I. He hated every minute of it.
My dear Dad -- a non-athletic night owl -- graduated from the United States Naval Academy through sheer force of will. A reader and history lover, he became a pilot and later taught not history, as he had wished, but aeronautical engineering at the Academy. This is where I was born.
These men were American patriots. The men and women who serve in our military now are great patriots, too. As are their families. And our country owes them so much and is so often so very short in its gratitude.
I am honored to write for the IGTNT series because it allows me, if only for a few moments, and not often enough, the chance to say thank you to our fallen and, especially, to their families. Perhaps the greatest thing about this community is the so frequent reminders to all of us that we are not alone. I write, even as a stranger, to let the families and friends and communities of those killed in war that they are not alone, either.
From greenies:
In May 2007 I read this IGTNT diary by noweasels. I’m not sure if it was the utter sadness I felt for the loss of these heroes, the pain of the loved ones left behind - especially the children, or if I thought I could somehow pay tribute to someone I lost to post-Vietnam demons a long time ago...but something compelled me to contribute to these memorials. Each one is harder to write than the last one, but it seems the very least we can do. I’ve developed a much deeper appreciation for why it is so important to support the troops and honor the fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq, regardless of what one thinks about the government’s policies.
Twice I’ve been contacted by a family member or someone else connected to someone I’ve paid tribute to in an IGTNT diary, thanking us for honoring the memory of the fallen in such a personal, sensitive way. That’s a big part of why I'll be a part of this series until there is no need for them. Which I pray is very soon. I'm honored and humbled to be a part of this sacred effort.
From blue jersey mom:
I was a long-time reader of "I Got the News Today," but I did not join the team and start writing diaries until this June. For me, the toughest diary to write was this one. It describes the loss of three servicemembers, all of whom left wives and young children behind. I think that IGTNT is one of the most important diary series on Daily Kos. However we feel personally about the war in Iraq, it is important to remember and to honor the sacrifices made by these heroes. It is an honor and a privilege to write these diaries.
From Chauconne:
I started reading IGTNT around the beginning of this year and they very quickly became close to my heart. I'm Canadian but my husband was an American Vietnam vet and POW who was tortured by his North Vietnamese captors. He lived with his injuries for over thirty years, until his fatal heart attack on June 12th, 2005. It took several months after starting to read the diaries to gain the strength to be able to take the responsibility for writing one, but every time it is a privilege. This was my most difficult diary to write, because of little Reagan, who will grow up without her father who loved her so very much.
It is in Dan's name and memory that I honor these extraordinary men and women who have given the last full measure of sacrifice for their country.
From MsWings:
When the team posted that they were looking for volunteers to join the team, I felt compelled to join them. It's one of the most painful things I've ever done, but aside from raising my sons, I believe it's one of the most important. My most sincere goal is to honor each of the fallen as completely and compassionately as possible, and that not one of them should ever be forgotten. The IGTNT diary I'm most proud of is this one, which honors two young men recently killed in Iraq. One of them, although a couple years older, he looks no older than my sons. That was hard. But I believe it matters and we must see their faces and hear their stories.
From labwitchy:
I am a retired forensic scientist and i've seen more than my fair share of death and destruction. I have been a voice for the dead who cannot speak words, but who do speak volumes nevertheless. Our soldiers and their families deserve that same voice.
From SisTwo:
I've appreciated the IGTNT diaries for some time now, and thought about contributing, but was a little afraid. Finally, when a casualty hit close to home (see the link below) it seemed to be time the help with these meaningful tributes to our fallen troops.
Diary mentioning my son's friend
From roses:
I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam War, which was front-page news every day and was also featured daily on every network evening news report on TV. But in our everyday lives today, it's all too easy to forget that our nation is involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For that reason, I have appreciated the IGTNT series for reminding me and all Daily Kos readers of the tremendous losses that the families of our fallen - and our nation as a whole - are experiencing. Since I became a contributor to the series last December, I feel these losses even more deeply. Like others on the team, I consider it an honor and a privilege to be a part of this project, and as much as I love being a part of the team, I hope that one day soon we can disband. I'd also like to thank the Daily Kos community for participating in our tributes to the fallen and for putting these diaries on the recommended list.
From SpamNunn:
I was drawn to this continuing diary series by the love and respect shown by the diarists for our fallen heroes. I come from a family with a long history of military service, and we have lost a few of our own.
Night after night, I am amazed by the compassion and respect shown by this community for our fallen heroes and the care and concern shown for their families. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be a member of the IGTNT team.
From a girl in MI:
I started reading IGTNT in January soon after I joined DailyKos. I didn't know what IGTNT stood for, but I clicked on one of the diaries and was very moved both by the diary itself and also by the comments people were leaving. I quickly became a regular reader of the series, and wrote several short diaries urging people to recommend the IGTNT diaries. I wrote a diary about why I felt that the IGTNT diaries were so important and llbear left me a comment suggesting that I step up and join the IGTNT team. After thinking about it for a couple of days, I volunteered to write for the series. My first diary is here.
Before I joined the IGTNT team, I'd hear the latest numbers about how soldiers had died in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it wasn't actually real to me. Writing for IGTNT has made me realize how devastating the loss of each and every one of these brave men and women is. While I find these diaries incredibly difficult to write, I believe that we must never forget our fallen soldiers. I feel incredibly honored to be a part of the IGTNT team. I am continuously amazed by the response of the Daily Kos community to the IGTNT series. The love and compassion expressed in the comments people leave often moves me to tears.
Again, thank you, i dunno, for remembering and thank all of you for embracing IGTNT. The only thing we ask now is that the series end soon.
Peace and blessings to you all.
One final note: For those who may not be comfortable reading IGTNT, please be aware that if you’re interested in helping our service people with packages, letters and other types of donations, scroll down to the last few paragraphs of every IGTNT diary, where you’ll find a wealth of information on how to do that. (Since we are running a bit long here, please see SisTwo’s diary later today – or any IGTNT diary - for those details.)