Extinct Blog of the Day

Today's departed blog belonged to soldier Andrew Olmsted, whose blog ended when he was killed in Iraq on January 3rd of this year. His last post (pre-written, to be posted in the event of his death) was published by hilzoy over at ObsidianWings. I read his blog before his death and remember crying when I read his last post more than 8 months ago. I didn't know then that I'd ever have a blog, much less a feature whose confines allowed me to rediscover his writing. I learned more from reading his blog than from every embedded reporter I ever saw on NBC combined. Money quote(s):

What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin. I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.) I had a pretty good life, as I noted above. Sure, all things being equal I would have preferred to have more time, but I have no business complaining with all the good fortune I've enjoyed in my life. So if you're up for that, put on a little 80s music (preferably vintage 1980-1984), grab a Coke and have a drink with me. If you have it, throw 'Freedom Isn't Free' from the Team America soundtrack in; if you can't laugh at that song, I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact...

I do ask (not that I'm in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours. My life isn't a chit to be used to bludgeon people to silence on either side.

Fair enough. As he wished, I won't espouse my personal views about the Iraq War in this space, under his last words asking me to refrain from doing just that. But, I hope that he will excuse me if I do take this opportunity to remind people that through the Olympics, through McCain's attack ads, through Obama's vacation choice, through Paris Hilton's jail time and John Edwards' paternity issues, the Iraq War continues. Andrew's fate, while particularly public, was not particularly special, having been shared by 4,137 other American soldiers as of today. I think we owe it to them, not necessarily to call for troop withdrawal, or further commitment and involvement -- but to at least care. To think about the way forward. To realize that, in a democracy, our government's involvement is your involvement, and my involvement, and to think about what our roles are (however small) within that framework. To refuse to be bystanders.