Via Memeorandum, some sad news from hilzoy at Obsidian Wings:
Andrew Olmsted, who also posted here as G’Kar, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July.
Andy was a wonderful person: decent, honorable, generous, principled, courageous, sweet, and very funny. The world has a horrible hole in it that nothing can fill. I’m glad Andy — generous as always — wrote something for me to publish now, since I have no words at all. Beyond: Andy, I will miss you.
My thoughts are with his wife, his parents, and his brother and sister.
My heartfelt condolences go out to them as well. I also thank him for his service to our country.
Incidentally, our esteemed host is mentioned in Olmsted’s posthumous post, in which he writes that blogging is one of the things he will miss the most:
It has been a great five-plus years. I got to meet a lot of people who are way smarter than me, including such luminaries as Virginia Postrel and her husband Stephen (speaking strictly from a ‘improving the species’ perspective, it’s tragic those two don’t have kids, because they’re both scary smart.), the estimable hilzoy and Sebastian of Obsidian Wings, Jeff Goldstein and Stephen Green, the men who consistently frustrated me with their mix of wit and wisdom I could never match, and I’ve no doubt left out a number of people to whom I apologize.
Jeff may be indisposed at the moment, but I suspect he would return the sentiment.
****
update: I am so sorry to hear of Andrew’s untimely death.
I met Andrew at a few of the Rocky Mountain Blogger bashes. He was soft spoken and kind, generous and  most of all  curious. Not that he asked a lot of questions, mind you: he didn’t. But you could see it in the movement of his mouth, in the shade of his eyes, in the bend of his brow. Andrew was a man who was so comfortable in his own skin, it seemed to me, that it freed him up to explore ideas without the constraint of ego or self-consciousness (though his humility, ironically, put him in mind that his ego was large, which it most decidedly was not). In turn, this made him one of the few honest people I believe I ever met.
He will be greatly missed. He was one of the first wave of bloggers  a man whose military knowledge and expertise was a boon to those of us searching for answers in the early days after 911.
And he was the first person ever to buy me a drink simply because I posted stupid things about pinball machines or armadillos.
He will be missed. My heartfelt sentiments go out to his family, whose pride in him I hope will some day deaden the exposed nerves of their sorrow.
Thank you, Andrew. You were a far better man than most.
– Jeff
Comment by Dan Collins on 1/4 @ 3:25 pm #
I’ve never seen such an unacceptable apology.
Comment by Pablo on 1/4 @ 3:40 pm #
Up until now, I don’t think I’d ever read a word of his. What a shame. Thank you, Andy, for being one of America’s finest. Godspeed, and my condolences to the family for their tremendous loss.
Comment by Jeff G. on 1/4 @ 3:48 pm #
I met Andrew at a few of the Rocky Mountain Blogger bashes. He was soft spoken and kind, generous and — most of all — curious. Not that he asked a lot of questions, mind you: he didn’t. But you could see it in the movement of his mouth, in the shade of his eyes, in the bend of his brow. Andrew was a man who was so comfortable in his own skin, it seemed to me, that it freed him up to explore ideas without the constraint of ego or self-consciousness (though his humility, ironically, put him in mind that his ego was large, which it most decidedly was not). In turn, this made him one of the few honest people I believe I ever met.
He will be greatly missed. He was one of the first wave of bloggers — a man whose military knowledge and expertise was a boon to those of us searching for answers in the early days after 911.
And he was the first person ever to buy me a drink simply because I posted stupid things about pinball machines or armadillos.
He will be missed. My heartfelt sentiments go out to his family, whose pride in him I hope will some day deaden the exposed nerves of their sorrow.
Thank you, Andrew. You were a far better man than most.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/4 @ 4:05 pm #
There’s a comment on that page at the RMN by a Jeff Casey that I’m having trouble shaking off.
Comment by BJTexs on 1/4 @ 4:12 pm #
Happy, you’re right. Apparantly Jeff Casey’s brother Tom was killed with Andrew in the ambush and was notified by Andrew’s mother in law.
Godspeed Andrew and Tom. You are both better men than I.
Crap, having trouble swallowing.
Comment by Techie on 1/4 @ 4:16 pm #
Well………..shit.
Comment by BJTexs on 1/4 @ 4:17 pm #
The comments at RMN that Jeff linked are very, very difficult to read through.
Comment by Techie on 1/4 @ 4:29 pm #
To the everlasting Glory of the Infantry..
Comment by fts on 1/4 @ 4:32 pm #
It’s Olmsted. Not Olmstead. Fix it.
Comment by Karl on 1/4 @ 4:37 pm #
Thanks.
Comment by dorkafork on 1/4 @ 4:38 pm #
I remember being disappointed at those blogger bashes that I didn’t get a chance to have a proper conversation with Major Olmsted. He was an insightful blogger and a good man.
Comment by SarahW on 1/4 @ 5:18 pm #
Oh, no.
Comment by RTO Trainer on 1/4 @ 5:29 pm #
When Soldiers gather at formal occassions there is a round of toasting. One of those toasts is a little different than the others. The diners are invited to raise their water glasses.
We toast those who can no longer stand among us with water.
We do not mourn our lost for mourning would diminish their sacrifice and wrongly place our focus inward on our loss.
Instead we celebrate their contribution and remember their sacrifice, sacrifice made for us.
We toast those who can no longer stand with us with water.
To absent commrades.
Comment by twolaneflash on 1/4 @ 6:27 pm #
Those of us with loved ones who operate outside the wire in Iraq and elsewhere take each death and injury as it could have been our’s, and might be next. There is a guilt for us, that someone else heard the knock on the door this time. Our debt, believing this death is blessed, demands our living be worthy of it. God be with Andrew’s loved ones, especially those still in harm’s way for us.
Comment by charles austin on 1/4 @ 6:44 pm #
Very sad, and then some. RIP Major Olmsted.
Comment by Bloodthirsty Warmonger on 1/4 @ 8:04 pm #
I only got to meet Maj. Olmsted once at a Blogger Bash, but I was as stunned by the news of his death as though I had known him for years. In fact, he revealed a lot about himself in his writings, and what he showed was admirable.
Comment by MayBee on 1/4 @ 8:40 pm #
Wow, How very sad. It seems he was a very good man.
Comment by ChrisP on 1/4 @ 10:51 pm #
I knew Andrew only through his writings. He impressed me as a decent man who loved his family and his country. He seriously believed he could make a difference to the Iraqi people, and he was willing to risk his life to do it.
I never met him, but I checked his blog every morning to see how he was doing and how the mission was going.
I always considered myself to be a “Crusty Old Fart”, and not emotionaly involved, but I cried at the news of Andrews death.
God Speed, Andrew.
Damn, that sucks!
ChrisP
Comment by Major John on 1/4 @ 11:03 pm #
Damn. This hits home a bit now that I am in the 1st BDE, 1st ID – we all have to try a bit harder to live up to MAJ Olmstead and CPT Casey’s examples now…
Comment by MayBee on 1/4 @ 11:24 pm #
Major John- do you know yet how often you’ll be able to keep us updated?
Comment by Major John on 1/5 @ 12:34 am #
Maybee – nope. I’ll be over there next month.
Comment by thor on 1/5 @ 1:21 am #
That’s some sad news. My condolences.
Comment by Lost My Cookies on 1/5 @ 7:53 am #
This is terrible news.
Years ago we had a hilarious email exchange over who was the bigger Sci-Fi geek. I never kept up, but I followed his blogs. He was very funny, a good writer, and not at all stupid.
Terrible shame.
Comment by slackjawedyokel on 1/5 @ 10:06 am #
To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord
No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the Mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord
Fair winds and following seas, Major.
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