Thunder6: When I started the blog I was surprised by just how many people were turning to milblogs to get a feel for what is going on here in Iraq. I had no idea just how many people were interested in our day to day experiences. The situation really hit home when our active duty replacements arrived here in theater. In just the first week I had several dozen Soldiers and Officers approach me and admit they used my blog to prepare for their rotation here in Baghdad. That was a really humbling experience.
JP: You're helping inform people. Have you actually been able to change opinions of some people about the war? Take my Mom for example, is there any worse feeling for a parent than to see their kid go off to war. But as soon as I landed in Afghanistan and started milblogging, she became a huge supporter.
Thunder6: My intent was never to change people's opinion on the war, I just tried to give people a window into our time here in Baghdad and let them draw their own conclusions. But apparently that was enough to change quite a few people's opinion on our mission here in Iraq. I don't think a day went by where someone didn't send an email telling me that reading through the site gave them a completely different perspective on the situation in Iraq. The email that touched me most was written by a middle aged man in Paris, who went from being (in his words) "a determined opponent of the American occupation" to someone who wanted to do something to help the American soldiers deployed to Iraq.
JP: Have you ever experienced support like this other than blogging? For me, I still regularly hear from readers who supported me in Afghanistan. Some still send me care packages. And for all I know, some of them don't even know I'm back.
Thunder6: The support I have received from readers eclipses anything I've experienced in my "normal" life - I am still in awe at the generosity of the American people. My company has literally stuffed several LMTV's (which have the same basic cargo area as a U-Haul moving van) with packages readers have sent for the Iraqi people. The soldiers in the unit mail room use my name as a curse word - after the first few months they set aside part of the mail room just for my packages.
JP: Talk about that first entry on your blog back in March, right? Getting that under your belt how'd it feel?
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