Final Blog Entry of Major Andrew Olmsted

Major Andrew Olmsted was a blogger serving in Iraq whose posts can be found on the Rocky Mountain News Site. Sadly, he became a casualty of the war in Iraq this week but because he knew this was a possibility, he had given a final post to a friend to make in the event this happened.

You may find Andrew's last post to be a heartbreaking, funny, and interesting read. It's hard to read it and imagine what it is like to compose something that won't be read unless you die.

This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits... What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin.

I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss... So if you're up for that, put on a little 80s music (preferably vintage 1980-1984), grab a Coke and have a drink with me. If you have it, throw 'Freedom Isn't Free' from the Team America soundtrack in; if you can't laugh at that song, I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact.

I do ask (not that I'm in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours. My life isn't a chit to be used to bludgeon people to silence on either side. If you think the U.S. should stay in Iraq, don't drag me into it by claiming that somehow my death demands us staying in Iraq. If you think the U.S. ought to get out tomorrow, don't cite my name as an example of someone's life who was wasted by our mission in Iraq. I have my own opinions about what we should do about Iraq, but since I'm not around to expound on them I'd prefer others not try and use me as some kind of moral capital to support a position I probably didn't support.

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