Being a Milblogger, I receive the a weekly newsletter informing me of what is going on in the Milblog word. I received the following newsletter this morning. With a heavy heart, I am posting it here. My prayers are with Andrew’s family and friends.

This is very tragic news I have to report to you today. Milblogger Andrew Olmsted, was killed in Iraq.  Our hearts and prayers are with his family, friends, and everyone that got to know him, as they face this enormous loss and tragedy in their lives.

From The Huffington Post:

(The Huffington Post)  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.

You can read the entire story here from The Huffington Post.

Here is also an excerpt from his final message that was posted on his blog, in the event of such a tragedy.  He provided the letter to a friend for posting with the last revisions made this past July:

“I am leaving this message for you because it appears I must leave sooner than I intended. I would have preferred to say this in person, but since I cannot, let me say it here.”G`Kar, Babylon

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”Plato*

This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits. And so, like G`Kar, I must say here what I would much prefer to say in person. I want to thank hilzo! y for pu tting it up for me. It`s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn`t hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn`t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don`t know. I hope so. It`s frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won`t get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.

Read Andrew’s blog and his entire letter here.