Blogs…The New Mail?
It’s no secret that technological advances have helped make communication easier. Long gone are the days of writing letters. E-mail has taken over that job. And why not? Today it costs forty-four cents to mail a letter, within a certain range. With many people in the world already owning computers and paying for internet service, why spend extra money to keep in contact with relatives? Especially for people with loved ones overseas. I used a postage calculator to find out how much it costs to mail a letter from the US to Iraq on The United States Postal Service‘s website. For a regular, plain letter, it costs $0.98 international. Packages start at $13.00 and can go up to around $28.00!
I feel that gone are the days of writing loved ones letters. It is much easier, much quicker, and more convenient to e-mail or blog to someone. It is usually instant, instead of days to even weeks-long delays in mailing. Sure, the letters we have seen in Since You Went Away had sentimental value, but that was in the 1940s. The internet, yet alone computers themselves, didnt exist, so people had to make due with what they had. Also, I’m sure if two people kept in contact through mail nowadays, it would have the same sentimental value. There is something about seeing handwritten words rather than generic text.
One of the blogs I am subscribed to, A World Away, which is from soldiers from Wisconsin, had a recent post from a soldier in Iraq. He blogged what he could have easily wrote in a letter, but instead of just sending it to his family, he is letting the world see what he has experienced. It is titled Sights and Smells on the Iraq Side of Camp Taji. In it, soldier Nick Druecke blogs about, literally, the sights and smells of Camp Taji, a military camp ~20 miles north of Baghdad.
The Iraqi side is the complete opposite. After passing an entry control point filled with armed guards, a series speed bumps, stop signs, detainee areas and more concrete, you enter what I call ‘the dark side.’ The roads are a nightmare, filled with pot holes and small fissures. Also road signs are a rarity, there is one speed limit sign to be seen (50 k.p.h.) which nobody obeys. You could be flying down those roads and somebody will always be trying to pass you, as there are no traffic lanes. More often than not you will see a truck with an obscene amount of Iraqi’s going down the road. In an average pick-up there will be upwards of 12 crammed in there. Also all of the road signs are in arabic, so unless you know where your going your in trouble.
If Nick would have written a letter, chances are it may be published in a Wisconsin newspaper. But I feel that may be where the story would end. Now that is online, anyone can read it. The same is true with all of the other military blogs. More people can find information online rather than just their local paper. Soldiers stories can be seen by the world, rather than just family or friends. Letter writing may be on the way out, like cassette tapes, VHS tapes, or maybe even house phones. As the world transitions into using newer technology, things will have to be phased out and replaced.
Sights and Smells on the Iraq Side of Camp Taji
By Nick Druecke
14 October 2009
I feel like lately, maybe since we were just reading, “Since You Went Away”, so many of our blogs have had to do with the communication differences in WWII vs. the Iraq War, and in some, which ones are better than the other. I think when it comes down to it, writing a quick blog or e-mail is much easier for someone than taking the time to sit down, write a letter and then find a way to get it in the mail. If you were at home with a loved one away at war, you could sit down for a couple minutes while you were at work and check up on their blog, check your e-mail or even write them a quick note to say hi and I love you. I do believe that blogging, skyping, and emailing has far surpassed letter writing since WWII but the significance of a handwritten letter from a loved one hasn’t changed. The feeling of getting a letter, or card in the mail has some different kind of feeling than just getting an e-mail saying hello. There’s something to be said of the heartfelt words of a loved one, in their handwriting on a piece of paper addressed to you. It does for some reason, mean so much more. I still haven’t figured out why though. In terms of documentation, I don’t think there’s a lot to be lost in the ways of blogging. I really believe that there is still a record being kept of this war, and that is most of the soldiers’ writing them intentions. It’s not only a way for them to keep in touch with their friends and family, but also with random people around the whole world. For some of them, their stories are being heard by hundreds of people every single day. I do believe that our children will one day read a book collected of blogs from soldiers of the Iraq War.
Family Matters - November 7, 2009 at 12:03 am |