Walk in a soldier's boots on military blogs

Military blogs, or “milblogs,” serve as a first draft of our wartime history, written by those who are living it. Online accounts from soldiers and their families can be dramatic, funny and introspective. Three good examples:

Milblogging.com.

This index site showcases the content of more than 2,500 milblogs. You can search by branch or see the “Top 100” list, picked by users.

Some Soldier's Mom.

Written by Carla Lois, who has two veteran sons and another still in the Navy, this milblog (somesoldiersmom.blogspot.com) weighs in on issues that are important to military families and shares personal reflections about war. Also, families can find resources for dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Michael Yon.

This unique online magazine (michaelyon-online.com) includes remarkable photographs taken by its author. One captures a fallen soldier memorial — a brightly lit tepee against the still of an Afghan night. Yon is a former Green Beret who is a reporter in Iraq and Afghanistan.