Andrew Lubin, who blogs at The Military Observer, is headed back to Afghanistan, and is asking for support to help pay travel expenses. Andrew asked us to mention that his book “Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq” is available for sale off his website, www.andrewlubin.com. Book sales are his primary source of funding his embeds.

This is his fourth trip to Afghanistan, along with multiple past trips into Iraq. His work also appears Leatherneck, Small Wars Journal, Proceedings (U.S. Naval Institute), and others. He’s one of those few free-lance correspondents who goes out in the field with the Marines and soldiers; he understands both the strategies and tactics over which he writes. He has embedded and written from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beirut.

“Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq” won the Military Writers Society of America’s 2007 Gold Medal for best military non-fiction. It’s about his Marine son and his artillery battery fighting at An-Nasiriyah, six years ago this week.

It’s a great book, and in this market, he needs all our support. Without reader support, trips like this would not be possible.

Michael Yon is a blogger and truly independent reporter who has spent years covering the war in Iraq. No one has seen the war more up close and personal.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Yon addresses the “surge doubters”.

I may well have spent more time embedded with combat units in Iraq than any other journalist alive. I have seen this war – and our part in it – at its brutal worst. And I say the transformation over the last 14 months is little short of miraculous.

The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about “GoArmy.com.”

Here is a link to his newest book, highly recommended! Moment of Truth – Michael Yon’s New Book