Will your accounts be read by the Ken Burns of the future?

CPO Jon Campbell — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:27:01 -0400

When i was in boot camp, recruits were encouraged to keep a daily log or journal. I kept a log for most of my 23 years in the Coast Guard. During my last tour, I had 19 fresh recruits and I found that none of them had been encouraged to keep a journal or a log of their activities. Most had never seen the little green stock system log books. Have personal logs disappeared? Are we all relying on social media to keep a record for us? Much of the historical, first hand accounts of battles, explorations, and military life come from personal journals and logs. Has this become an abandoned tradition?

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Jul 10 at 2014 2:20 PM

MSG Wade Huffman — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 14:20:26 -0400

Great topic! I wish I had kept a journal, not so much for others, but primarily just for myself. I often find myself struggling to remember names and places and that would have given me the resource.
As to your question, I do believe it HAS become an abandoned tradition, or at a minimum, the exception, rather than the norm.
All is not lost for the future history buffs though. I have a feeling that the Ken Burns of the future will not be looking through old, dusty journals, but rather searching through indexes of blogs, which are probably more prevalent with today's generation that journals were with our ancestors given that literacy is not as great a factor as in previous generations.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2014 10:25 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 10:25:55 -0400

I watched the Ken Burn's Civil War documentary repeatedly and read several Civil War books (Confederate in the Attic, Battlecry of Freedom) while I was in Afghanistan and thought about this topic myself many times. I think our deployments today are just so much different that there'd be no use. The most interesting parts (IMO) from those books/documentaries were the letters home or between the president and generals. Now, we use skype or email and have contact (often) on a daily basis, and all communications between the president and generals are held under security. Plus, for most of us, there's no more of the immense feeling of isolation when you're out of contact with friends/family for months to years at a time. When I was in Kandahar, I was able to talk with my wife twice/day on most days throughout my tour. I would also add that the advent of cell phone cameras has given us first hand video of a LOT that goes of out there, so letters would be far less interesting. The movie "Hornet's Nest" is several hours of first hand footage. GOD would I love to have something like that from the Civil or Revolutionary wars!!

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2014 11:12 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 11:12:56 -0400

CPO Jon Campbell Ken Burns is amazing and I love all his work. He is to history of this country what Carl Sagan was to Cosmology. So, I imagine that his work will be excellent with regards to the military.

Response by CPO Greg Frazho made Jul 14 at 2014 3:08 PM

CPO Greg Frazho — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:08:01 -0400

I frankly hope that social media accounts are not part of any Ken Burns or Burns-like historiography, military or otherwise. I find the garrulous chit-chat about fairly inconsequential rubbish not just narcissistic but also intelligence-draining.

As regards journals, wheel books, log books and the like, however, I think that is a lost art, as is handwritten correspondence. I would strongly encourage any service member and their significant others to keep a war journal or war diary of some sort to reflect on situations, feelings, and general events, with OPSEC clearly in mind.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 14 at 2014 3:24 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:24:34 -0400

I keep a daily work journal in an old fashioned green log book. I just started a new job and one of my new co-workers saw me writing in it at the end of the day and laughed at me for not putting it on the computer. There is just something about pen and paper...I read actual books too; no Kindle or whatever here (and I make handwritten notes in the margins, even with fiction).