Victory In Iraq Day

Why was this day picked out to celebrate Victory In Iraq? No real good reason. It just seems appropriate in light of what is happening in Iraq now.

This post though is going to be about the people who are bringing you this day and those responsible for making it possible.

It only seems right that this is going to be an effort of bloggers and the blogosphere. I owe a debt of gratitude to the group of bloggers known collectively as the milbloggers. They are the people, both serving and out of uniform, that brought us the stories that the mass market media ignored or chose not to report. It was the thirst for information on what was actually happening in Iraq that led me to the milbloggers.

Every time the talking heads on the tv or the reporters in the news would report on a story I was left in disgust. The simplest of things they seemed to get wrong. Whether it was getting a unit designation wrong or describing a weapon they consistently got it wrong, and to this day continue to get it wrong, even though we have been fighting for 7 years now. I was always angry because they couldn't tell the difference between a soldier or a seaman, a Marine or airman.

I knew if they couldn't get the simplest of details right that they could not be depended on to get the big details right. It was for that reason that I turned to the web and was profoundly surprised to find out that we had service members using this new medium called blogs to tell their stories. For those of you who did not know about the milbloggers you didn't even get a tenth of the true story of what was going on in Iraq.

My main source of information became a site called The Mudville Gazette, hosted and moderated by somebody known simply as Greyhawk. It was through him that I learned the story of CPT Ziegenfuss. A truly inspiring story of courage and perseverance not only on his part but his wife and family too.

I became introduced to Matt over at Blackfive and his merry band of cohorts in crime.

But this post isn't going to be a story of the bloggers, but rather the people, places, and events that made up this war. It is their stories and courage and dedication to the mission that made this day possible.

Before there was Gen Petraeus there was Cpt Travis Patriquin. Cpt Patriquin who had a Powerpoint presentation that laid out the surge strategy using stick men long before it was written into doctrine. A presentation he never made because he, like so many others fell victim to an IED.

This is for SSG Paul Smith, Cpl Jason Dunham, PO2 Michael Monsoor, SPC Ross McGinnis
This is for the 4000+ who gave their lives in the pursuit of this day. This is for the hundreds of thousands of service members who rotated in and out of Iraq over the last five years to make this day a reality.

This is for some of the celebrities who never really made the headlines for all the things they did for the troops. People like Bruce Willis, Gary Sinise, Toby Keith and Piers Morgan.

This is for the embedded reporters, who at their own expense, went to Iraq and got us the stories and the pictures that the news and pop culture media wouldn't and couldn't bring you. Guys like Michael Yon, Michael Totten, J D Johannes, and Pat Dollard. Each of them had compelling stories to tell.

But especially this is for a young man named James. James came home on his mid tour leave. He asked my daughter out on a date. My daughter came home from her date and told me about how the young man went ripping up some back roads in his shiny new Mustang at speeds not exactly safe. The next day when he came over I talked to him about what he was doing in Iraq and discovered that the young man owed his life to the ballistic armor vests they wear. He took a couple of direct hits from an AK to his chest and escaped with only some good bruises. I then brought up the fact of his speeding and reminded him that right now he was not wearing either Kevlar helmet or his ballistic vest. By the look in his eyes I can safely say he was wishing for them at that moment. I made my point and the young man learned to slow down.

James completed his tour and came home safe. I haven't seen him since but he does occasionally drop my daughter a line.

So James, this day is for you.