Major Andrew Olmsted, who posted a blog since May 2007, was killed in Iraq on Thursday, Jan. 3. Major Olmsted, who had been based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, began blogging after his unit was sent to Iraq with the mission of helping to train the Iraqi Army. No official details have been released on his death, but reports say that he and a second member of his unit were killed during an enemy ambush in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. Olmsted was determined to make a difference in Iraq. “The sooner the Iraqi government doesn’t need U.S. support to provide security for its people, the sooner we will probably be asked to leave.”

I wasn’t familiar with Major Olmsted’s blogging until I just stumbled across his final post. I cried like an absolute baby, especially over the last few paragraphs. Read it, but grab some tissues first.

Rest in peace, sir, and thanks for doing your part to bring the truth to those of us back home.

EDIT: I’ve now located Major Olmstead’s personal blog, which he had to discontinue due to military regulations about political activity. I’m perusing back entries, though, and it’s eloquent, thoughtful stuff. I wish I’d discovered him when he still had more to write.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 5th, 2008 @ 05:37

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 5:37 am and is filed under Blogging, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.