Doc in the Box

The blog chronicles the life of Sean Dustman, a Corpsman of the Marines, who has been sent to Iraq four times already. He is from Arizona, and has taken the role of mechanic, soldier, cook, remodeler of homes, and photographer. At the moment, he is stationed in San Diego waiting to be deployed. He prides himself in being able to manipulate and fix electronics and other machines. Of worthy note, he sometimes refers to himself as the “glue that holds people together.”

Mr. Dustman exudes a very casual demeanor in his writing. He seems very laidback and carefree about his situation in a dangerous place. I noticed that he likes to write about his own personal development and his “skill sets”. He takes many pictures as a photographer, and notes that the more he does something, the more he develops that skill. He takes pride in knowing his aptitude in certain areas; that would explain why he started a blog in the first place. His self reflections in his blogs act as a record of his achievement and progress.

In his stories he never reveals his age, but one can tell that he is young through his writing perspective. He repeatedly claims that he has much time to decide what he wishes to do in the future. He also does not speak of a family or close friends for that matter. It seems that he is living a rather nomadic lifestyle; his four trips to Iraq seem to prove that he is mobile and not opposed to the idea of serving the country in Iraq.

When I see Mr. Dustman’s blog, I feel that he is not much different from many other bloggers. He adds little personal stories that seem trivial but have much meaning to him. He spoke of a myth in Iraq about a black bunny that visits soldiers and stops in front of them, so that they may pet it. Although he doesn’t have a very strong reading base (he receives few comments, if any, for his posts), he does seem to be addressing someone, a certain audience, whether it is there or not. He has a strong writing style, so perhaps he wishes to develop this skill set as well.