Posted on 01/28/2006 7:23:54 PM PST by SmithL
Winter Haven, Fla. -- He didn't have to go, it wasn't his job and nobody paid him to do it. But Michael Yon says he went to Iraq because he wanted to see for himself what was going on.
The 41-year-old former Army Green Beret, self-published author and world traveler didn't know exactly what he was going to do when he got to the war zone last year, nor did he have any particular plans to report what he saw to the world at-large.
But that's what he did.
After getting himself embedded as a freelance journalist with troops last year, he used his Internet blog to report on the car bombs, firefights and dead soldiers. But he also wrote descriptively about acts of compassion and heroism, small triumphs in the country's crawl toward democracy and the gritty inner workings of the military machine.
Yon's dispatches have been extolled by loyal readers as gutsy and honest reporting by a guy who's not afraid to get his hands dirty. He has been interviewed and his blog quoted by major newspapers and TV news networks, and he has drawn comparisons to Ernie Pyle, the renowned World War II correspondent who shared the trenches with fighting soldiers.
Actor Bruce Willis is a fan and has said he wants to make a movie about the exploits of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment — aka the "Deuce Four" — which Yon followed through battles against insurgents in Mosul.
"Deuce Four is an overwhelmingly aggressive and effective unit, and they believe the best defense is a dead enemy," Yon wrote in one dispatch. "They are constantly thinking up innovative, unique and effective ways to kill or capture the enemy; proactive not reactive."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
We need guys like Michael Yon because AP and the rest aren't doing their job. They seem to think their job is to work for the enemy.
I read Yon for news. I watch the news just because it's on.
This guy is, without a doubt, one of the best. I hope his book sells millions of copies.
Great to hear he's writing a book about his experiences with the Deuce Four in Iraq. I will be first in line to buy it when it's released.
"While interviewing an anonymous US Special Forces soldier on his sniper
skills, a Reuters News agent asked the soldier what he felt when shooting
members of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan . The soldier shrugged and replied,
"Recoil.'
bttt
Big bump.
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