Outside the Beltway

LT Smash in Library of Congress

James Joyner · Thursday, May 12, 2005 · 4 comments

USA Today has discovered milblogs.

‘Milbloggers’ are typing their place in history

Imagine some of the soldiers who survived the Battle of Gettysburg stopping the next day to write their dramatic tales — and people around the world instantly reading them. If that battle had been fought today, no imagination would be necessary.

The number of Internet Web logs — or “blogs,” as online diaries are known — by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is soaring, giving people everywhere unprecedented windows into servicemembers’ lives.

From 50 or so a year ago, the number of their online journals is now about 200 and is expected to be near 1,000 by the year’s end, say the bloggers themselves and experts who track the Web.

The growth means a historic phenomenon is gaining momentum: Anyone with access to the Internet can read many first-hand accounts of life in a war zone within seconds after they’re finished.

The story is about three years old, so hardly a surprise. More interesting is this news, buried in a sidebar article:

Historians hope to preserve candid glimpses of war

Many of the soldiers and their families will likely print out the stories, or save the blog pages on hard disks or CDs. The Library of Congress is preserving one of the “milblogs,” The Indepundit by Lt. Scott Koenig, 33, of the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Congrats, Scott!

Command Post garnered a similar honor at the conclusion of major combat operations in Iraq.