European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 4, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June stars and stripes Page 7 Gas blog on not silenced a excerpts from eighty Deuce on the Loose by Robert Weller the associated press Denver eighty Deuce on the a blog run by an Arizona Soldier based in has gone sort like everything there is a right a wrong and the army Edward Watson got a chewing from platoon Leader for some of the things the 82nd airborne paratrooper from Phoenix had said in his he initially yelled at me for what he said were operational Security violations and pointed them out to the tone of the conversation calmed Down and we Dis cussed stuff for Watson said in an he said the sergeant gave him advice on what to say and not to say and that he could continue to blog but it would be checked under new rules imposed by the army in All Public communications on defense department especially from the Are supposed to go through a Security the army subsequently said it didst have the staff to enforce the in this wireless the army was concerned that whose blogs were overwhelmingly might be tipping the enemy has been in Iraq for five he said he decided himself that rather than posting scrubbed message he would wait until he got Home so he could say what he really wanted to say and in the style he wanted to say Hes not getting in said Thomas spokesman for the 82nd airborne in said of we encourage our soldiers to express themselves and to talk about How they feel about their Mission and How they feel about serving their we have nothing but Confidence in our paratroop ers ability to communicate with the american Earnhardt the web site is still but Watsons earlier posts Are no one is checking Watsons private through googles popular email before they go and there has been no indication that sol whose families rely on the inter net for daily reports on their have faced any new systematic retired Matt a Pioneer in military said it May take some time for the new Rule to reach com Manders in the War i know of blogs where the Soldier wrote of getting i think they have to be careful about telling the enemy How close the shot we dont want them to adjust later mortars based on where the Soldier said it said a former intelligence officer and author of the blogs of the enemy is increasingly using the including Sites like to get its message out with videos allegedly showing misconduct by forces or in surgent attacks on Burden said Watsons site is a Good whether its hanging out on the Forward operating getting shot or racing through a rain of mortars look ing for injured eighty Deuce gives readers a better understanding of what it is like to be a Corporal in the 82nd air borne in Burden Phil a blogger and former officer in its especially important to encounter these voices Given the general disconnection from the War our demo cratic processes for making and manag ing War break Down when so few Ameri cans have a personal stake in the out come especially among the Carter he also noted Many soldiers scrub their messages to avoid scaring their Iii know now is that there is a score to be this now became Sonal that it Ever and i feel sorry for the future sobs that Cross our in memory of Norman Lane you will never be forgotten and will always have a place with watch Down from heaven and be proud of your boys As we Are proud of you and your w e ended up pulling Security in the exact same area where i had the grenade thrown at a Little unsettling but what can you hopefully if it Hap pens again we can shoot the Bastard this Well not even 30 mins into sitting there All of a sudden we hear a loud explosion behind us and see a dirt Cloud coming from the a Check Point about 200m Back from our to they then come under Small arms fire and engage them 20 mins until things Settle Back no us troops nothing else ended up happening while we were out which is i eighty Deuce on the Loose in Iraq t was utter chaos Down there the closer we i honestly could not believe my it was people were being helped away from ground some of them covered in blood and windows hundreds of meters away were shattered Glass scattered on the windows hoods Bent blood on the paint Cricket device saved paratroops on Day helping others become army Strong is in More ways than youll get when someone you refer enlists in the new recruits will get the army leadership and Tor regular army and army Reserve Call 6cj473 or visit for army National guard Call 3727 or visit r army Strong by Phil Davis the associated press Sam Gib Bons knew his Mission was in Trou ble when he hit the ground in the Early hours of the Day invasion 63 years the future Congress mans 101st airborne troops were scattered far from their intended drop and the Only nearby sol Diers he could see were people Are always talking about behind enemy there aint no in said who was 24 when he parachuted into Normandy on june we jumped right on top of the on the in the the scattered american soldiers re lied on a childrens Novelty toy to sort things now 87 and after serving 17 consecutive terms in is one of the few operation overlord paratroops who held onto his military issued a brass and steel version of the cheap tin prize from a 1930s Cracker Jack the soldiers called the signalling devices Crick ets because of the Sharp Crick sound it made when the crickets were lifesavers for american paratroops scattered in the dark on a morning when using a flashlight to Check a map or shouting in English meant instant the Cricket was a stroke of be said Michael a re tired University of Florida history How else would you know who you bumped into in the dark if you came across some you if he responded in you were if he you shot Gibbons landed in a pasture at a group of germans less than 100 Yards away were fir ing furiously at the sky full of planes and parachutes and didst see it took him half an hour to crawl out of the then he crept Down a hold ing the Cricket against the Stock of his carbine the first american i picked i picked up with Gibbons Demon Strating the i gave him a Click and he responded with two was i glad to see he used it for the next few hours to draw More soldiers out of the Woods and form a com Bat patrol to engage the germans while the main invasion Force hit the by Dawn on the Crick ets Mission was we Only used it that Gibbons the germans were picking them up off people they captured and people they so it want a secret device Gibbons