As I have spent much time recently trudging through various military blogs and blog database sites, I began to wonder what the underlying reasons are behind the writing of the blogs that I have come across. Oftentimes just finding a blog and starting to read tends to leave me confused about what the person is really trying to say throughout their continuing blogs. By going back to the beginning, I have found the reasons why and I believe that it is interesting to see why people are writing today, compared to the reasons why others have written about past wars.

By comparing the reasons for writing between present day bloggers, Vera Brittain, as well as some of the poets showcased in the World War One British Poets we read earlier for class, it is easy to see how perceptions of war have changed over time, and how differently one blogger will see their situation from the next person.

In the foreword to her Testament of Youth, Brittain described her reasons for writing her personal story:

“Only, I felt, by some such attempt to write history in terms of personal life could I rescue something that might be of value, some element of truth and hope and usefulness, from the smashing up of my own youth by the War.”

Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s reasons for writing poetry concerning his experiences as a soldier in WWI also spoke of that “smashing up” of his youth by the war:

“My subject is war, and the pity of war… All the poet can do is to warn.” – World War One British Poets, page 18.

In both instances, it seems as though the memory of this war was one of tragedy, heartbreak, and a loss of innocence. Today, most of the people that I have come across only hint at such ideas in their descriptions of why they have chosen to blog about their military experiences, speaking mostly on their frustrations with their everyday lives, political issues, and personal stories.

Army of Dude, April 24, 2006:
“this is not a blog to sing the high praises of my chosen profession, but rather a tool of expression for my disdain for the day in and day out mountains of bullshit and mundanity that I climb every day of the week dear reader, and it is a shame I didn’t begin this along with my career. There is an endless amount of moments that could have been recorded that would make the average Joe Taxpayer shake his head in shocked disbelief.”

My American-Iraq Life, August 3, 2006:
“it’s been almost a year since i’ve been back from Iraq…someone asked me to write about my time overseas, so i did. i’ve decided to share it with anyone who’s interested for a couple of reasons…1) i’m sick of hearing people talk about this is right and this is wrong, and Soldiers are bad people… blah blah blah….the majority of the people sharing their opinion really have no clue what they are talking about…its driving me crazy. 2) why not? could be interesting.”

L T Nixon, from an interview with VAJOE.com, December 20, 2007: “I started blogging because I thought that the American public was getting the wrong messages about Iraq from the media. It seemed many people didn’t understand what was going on over here, or just chose not to care…We’ve chosen to tune ourselves out and I was growing seriously concerned about the fate of our nation. I’m not naive, I know one blog isn’t going to make a difference, but I can’t sit back and passively watch our country go the way of the Roman empire.
I wanted to do my small part in ensuring that vets get heard by American society, since we all have some very unique insight into how American foreign policy is applied abroad.”

Often it seems that the majority of these blogs come out of frustrations dealing with current situations, frustrations from misunderstandings between those at home and what is really going on, and a need to set the record straight. Although not all blogs are pessimistic in nature, many of them seem to find their reasons to write within their frustrations about the world around them. However, I have found a blogger with a more positive outlook, although still grounded in the reality of deployment and the frustrations of being away from family.

Northern Disclosure, March 26, 2007 (Toby Nunn):
“My intent with this blog is to create an acquaintance with our guys and their experiences. Many have used this “war” to promote their personal agenda’s and politics. My agenda is simple I have some great and interesting soldiers and I believe in my heart that the human-interest story is far more relative than certain political angles. Do not expect any Operational Information just vignettes and reflections from myself and the men.”

Toby Nunn has even written a book, entitled Northern Disclosure, which mainly focuses on his experiences as an infantry squad leader, as well as the experiences of those under his command. The book follows his unit from their training in the U.S. to Kuwait, and then into Iraq for combat. The respect for and descriptions of the soldiers by Nunn has provided, at least for me, a very different description of military life in Iraq than I have been able to find within other current military blogs.

Although the reasons behind the writing for those recounting their WWI experiences and those describing current issues at home and in Iraq are obviously very different, I can’t help but wonder what kind of literature will be coming out about our current situation years after we have pulled out of Iraq. Will the bloggers that I have come across come out with very different views of war in the years to come?