Image by jacQuie.k via Flickr
One of My favorite Milblogs, Kaboom; A Soldier’s War Journal, shut down by the authors command structure not too long ago, is rumored to have a book deal in progress. The author, Matt Gallagher AKA Lt. G. or Capt G. ( he was promoted shortly after his blog was shut down) is in negotiations with William Clark Associates for a book. I for one can’t wait to read his book. He has a unique style, and was capable of taking his audience along for the ride. At it’s peak, Kaboom had an RSS feed that boasted over 4000 subscribers. I was one of those subscribers, and looked forward to his posts two or three times a week.
He was ordered to shut down his blog after he made this post The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage , without having it approved by superiors. I’m sure that painting his superior officers in a not so favorable light didn’t help. When he was shut down, it caused repercussions throughout the milblog community and elsewhere. There was a considerable amount of press coverage including an article in the Washington Post entitled, Silent Posting . On Lt. G’s final post simply titled A Tactical Pause, there were 178 comments voicing outrage at the decision.
Lt. G. told stories about the war as he saw it with a collage of words that created, what one reader thought of as “wordgasms”. The young man has unbelievable talent, and regularly shared stories such as The Happiest Dog in Iraq, or The Night of Gun-Toting Barrel-Blazing Ghost Panda’s. There was a post about the unbearable heat, Triple Digits where you get a very good feel for the temperatures his platoon was dealing with. He shared his vacations with us, including when he proposed to his fiancé, and she accepted. I have sorely missed his humor and outlook.
Kaboom; A Soldier’s War Journal, even has it’s own Wikipedia entry. And soon, I hope, will be on the best sellers list, so I can pick up a copy to savor for myself.
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