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 In 2006, Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau created a blog, The Sandbox, published along with David Stanford, where troops could “report on themselves” in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Sandbox offers soldiers a forum to share “…the unclassified details of deployment—the everyday, the extraordinary, the wonderful, the messed-up, the absurd,” and has since been turned into a book.
“I think the wars are just too remote for people’s minds,” Trudeau told The Nation. “They see two, three minutes on the evening news, maybe, if they don’t look away.”
The most recent post at The Sandbox is from a soldier calling himself Six Foot Skinny. He writes of leaving home for another deployment: Last check of the apartment. Didn’t bring much home, think I got it all. A last look around. I like this place. It smells and feels like everything that is home. Down the stairs and out the door. The weather has been mild. I take credit for that. Not too cold in the car. The slightest drizzle in the air and on the windshield. Perfect for the occasion really.
Short drive to the airport. She pulls up to the curb and turns off the car. We have decided that coming in to see me to the gate sounds like a better idea than it actually is. We look at each other. We get out. Hug. Kiss. Cry. Like the drizzle—just a little. Go, so you can come back. And I do. So I can. The last time.
On Jan 25th, Garry Trudeau, David Stanford, and artist David Levinthal will participate in a round-table discussion, moderated by Roger Rosenblatt, that examines the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through the lenses of cartoons, blogs, photographs, traditional journalism and first-hand accounts.
[Garry Trudeau, David Levinthal and David Stanford: War in Afghanistan and Iraq]
Upcoming events at 92Y:
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita: The Predictioneer’s Game: Jan 17
Israel and the United Nations: David vs. Goliath?: Jan 19
Above The Law: VIPs and Accountability: Jan 21
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