Powerful, first-hand accounts

Capt. Jeff Leonard is a counselor with an Army infrantry unit in Iraq, a regular blogger for the Fresno Bee and our national site in DC. If you're not reading his posts, you're missing a powerful, first-hand account of the war told in very human terms:

"No, sir, I don't really sleep. Well, maybe an hour or two, then I get up. I don't want to dream," the soldier said to us. His name was Staff Sgt. Johnson. He was a good soldier, and you could tell when you spoke to him. He was a man of honor. He was ashamed to be speaking with us, but his leaders had insisted. He had served three combat tours as a squad leader in a line unit. His body and his hands shook during pauses in his speaking and he stared at us, and sometimes past us, with a wide-eyed look of hyper alertness. He had just returned from leave and two guys in his squad were killed days before his return.