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GIs, IMs & e-mail

May-23-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]
By Jay Davis

BELFAST (May 23, 2004): When he was a soldier in Vietnam, Mike Gallant called his mother collect when he was on R and R in Taiwan.

He heard from her later: "Son, I love you, but $17 for three minutes; don't do that again."

Gallant, the postmaster at Lincolnville Beach, said mail call was the best part of his day in Vietnam, and the letters he received, many from strangers, kept his spirits up. There was no thought of letting people know where he was, what he was doing or how the war was progressing, though. The media did the communicating, and it was far from direct.

Last week in Mosul, north of Baghdad, the commander of the 133rd engineering battalion told his crew they would likely be moving their base six or seven hours north before too long. Camden Police Officer Jason Hall, a member of the unit, told VillageSoup, "When (the commander) asked if anyone had any questions, the availability of the Internet came up before anyone asked what the enemy situation was in that region. That seems to be a good indicator of what the people find important."

Welcome to the first war in history in which soldiers are sending dispatches from the front that are received instantaneously back home, in which families and friends are better informed than anyone, even the brass, about some aspects of the war.


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