© 2024 Blue Ridge Public Radio
Blue Ridge Mountains banner background
Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
BPR is hiring an Account Executive in our Business Sponsorship Department. Learn more and apply.

'Just Another Soldier' Revives a Banned Blog

Listen

The war in Iraq has been one of the most-documented conflicts in history, with reports and photos reaching a worldwide audience from embedded reporters, satellite imaging, Web video feeds -- and often, e-mails and blogs set up by soldiers themselves.

While serving in Iraq, Army National Guardsman Jason Christopher Hartley kept a blog of his experiences -- until his commanders forced him to shut it down. Now back from Iraq, Hartley has incorporated his blog into a new memoir: Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq.

The book combines Hartley's impressions formed while his Guard unit served in Iraq with his approach to the war and the military today. His perspective is a unique one: In September of 2001, Hartley was called to duty to help secure the perimeter of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks brought down the buildings.

A Utah native, Jason Christopher Hartley now lives in New Paltz, N.Y., where he remains a member of the New York Army National Guard.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.