OK you have got to read Micheal Yons latest report from Iraq 'Gates of Fire'. Mr. Yon deserves to win a Pulitzer for some of the best war reporting I have ever read. Just click on the link to read his latest dispatch.
Michael Yon : Online MagazineCameron, even you should know that Pulitzer awards go to serious journalists who at least attempt to cover all sides of a story, and not to Hollywood script-writers nor to publicists of episodic heroism more befitting "Boy's Own Paper".
histclo.hispeed.com/lit/child/nat/eng/type/per/eclps-bop.htmlWhile, like Kipling and Charles Dickens, he may well go on to pen some good literature in time, he certainly seems to be starting out in Dickensian style writing stirring episodes for the next 'penny dreadful'. I suspect, however, based on this exhibition, that Yon will likely remain as culturally relevant as the likes of Tom Clancy, John Gresham and Dan Brown in 100 years from now.
That the man can write effectively is not in question, nor that - strewn among the sensationalism - are pockets of fact, but his style, adjectival excess, personal injections and gratuitous asides, are hardly the stuff of written, objective journalism. Had it been done with a camera and microphone it would likely have been well-received on Fox.
His self-advertisement sets the tone [my emphasis]:
"Please
stand by for the "Gates of Fire" dispatch explaining the circumstances of the firefight wherein TLC Erik Krill was shot. "Gates of Fire" should be available no later than Thursday, 25 August.
Accuracy demands time." - but so does embellishment.
True to his word [and self-imposed time-line] the blog is dated August 25, 2005 while Spc J. L. Ruiz died on August 15. [Fact confirmed in CNN Iraq Casualties]
The blog then starts out like a novel, continues, and eventually ends, all in the same vein. Yes, a thoroughly good "read" but more like a screenplay for Ridley Scott [Blackhawk Down] in the wrong format.
To my mind, Yon even breaks the 'code' under which he is tolerated by the team leader [my emphasis]:
"Kurilla's reluctance to allow anyone outside Deuce Four ride with his soldiers--including writers--is well known.
Partly because of writers, people hearing about Deuce Four in the news
might think of Mosul as some kind of thrill ride where everything will end okay after a few hairpin turns. This is not true."
BUT - anyone reading further could be excused for thinking just that:
"LT Flynn was first out of the Stryker, and both he and the airguard CPT Westphal, saw the pistol at the same time and also shot the man. The other suspects started running. But all Kurilla saw was LT Flynn stepping off the ramp, and then there was a lot of shooting. Kurilla yelled /F L Y NNNNNNNNNNN!!!!/ and was nearly diving to stop Flynn from shooting, thinking the new lieutenant had lost his mind and was shooting a man just for running from Coalition forces. Soldiers can't just shoot anyone who runs."
and not forgetting the obligatory car-chase:
"We were searching the area for the source of that automatic weapons fire when Kurilla spotted three men in a black Opel and his sixth sense kicked. When Kurilla keyed in on them, he pointed his rifle at the car and signaled them to get out. The driver tucked his head and gunned the gas. The chase was on.
Strykers are fast, but Opels are faster. We were roaring through little streets and along roads, horn blaring, cars zipping off the sides, the steady chatter of multiple radio channels colliding inside the Stryker.
A Kiowa helicopter pilot radioed that he spotted the car. As the chase continued, the Kiowa pilot said, "It's going about 105 mph."
'How can the pilot know it's going 105 mph?' I thought.
<http://photos1.blogger.com/img/233/3034/1024/21.jpg>
This Kiowa shot the Opel
As if in reply, the pilot radioed that the Opel was outrunning his helicopter. Captain Jeff VanAntwerp came on the radio net saying he was moving his section into position to intercept the Opel.
"Watch out for that kid!" yelled Kurilla over the intercom to our driver as we made a hard turn, managing to avoid hitting the child.
Opels may be faster than Kiowas on straight-a-ways, but when the car made turns, the helicopter quickly caught up. Kurilla ordered the Kiowa to fire a warning shot, then quickly authorized the Kiowa to disable the vehicle."
This has "Lethal Weapon 69: Mosul" written all over it, and even I could write the script in less than a day even though I have not seen the 'picture board' because the photo site is blocked by the 'cultural' censors in this country.
Yes, a great read but not Pulitzer material in my opinion.
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