Michael Yon Update

My last post (Gates of Fire) about the experiences of Michael Yon, the embedded reporter with an Army unit in Iraq, created an uproar in the blogosphere.

Yesterday, Yon joined Hugh Hewitt’s show, in the middle of the night, Iraq time. Radioblogger posted the entire interview that starts like this.

Hugh: Michael, thanks for the great dispatch yesterday. How is Deuce 4 doing after the departure of Lt. Col. Kurilla?

Michael: Oh, the unit's doing great. I mean, they continue with operations. You know, it's a great unit, and one of the marks of a great unit is that, you know, continuity of command. I mean, if a leader goes down, they know what to do.

Hugh: Michael Yon, today I got a letter from Lamonte Long, whose son is Specialist Craig Killian with your unit. Lamonte told me that your dispatches have been crucial lifelines for families of the soldiers you're serving with. Was that your intention starting out? Or what was the intention of the Deuce 4 reporting?

Michael: No, I never really intended to be a lifeline to units, or to families, although I'm very flattered by that remark. Basically, I just wanted to come over and tell what was going on.
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That’s just what the American people need to know: what is actually going on. I sent my blog post to the local rags and suggested they print some of Yon’s stories. I’m not holding my breath. But yesterday Yon’s site got over 100,000 hits, so some are getting the message.
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From Hugh: A father of a soldier with the Deuce Four unit that Michael Yon is embedded with called this afternoon to talk about how Yon has been their lifeline. This dad, who has had his son's great friend, Sgt. Lama, under his roof, wanted to make sure that my audience knew how much easier Michael Yon's work had made it for them.

If you'd like to drop LTC Kurilla or SGT Lama a note of appreciation, here's the address:

LTC Erik Kurilla or SGT Daniel Lama
9040 Jackson Avenue
Madigan Army Medical Center
Tacoma, WA 98431
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By the way, the title “Gates of Fire” is also the title of a great book by Steven Pressfield (“An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae”) much beloved by LTC Eric Kurilla.

Zone friend SpinDr (David) asked about other good military blogs. Here is Hugh’s list of Milblogs:
Argghhh!
Austin Bay
Belmont Club
Black Five
Centcom
Counterterrorism Blog
Froggy Ruminations
Mudville Gazette
Smash
Training for Eternity