BBC
By Franz Strasser

ascii85S veterans are logging onto Facebook in an attempt to share their war experiences, connect with colleagascii117es, and remember fallen friends.

'These were the gascii117ys I was with when I got hit the first time,' reads a photo caption by Steve Fisher, a marine sergeant in Iraq. He posted a photo of his Hascii117mvee on Facebook before and after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded ascii117nder the rear end of the car on 24 Janascii117ary 2006.

Fisher, who joined the marines after 9/11 when he was a senior in high school, woascii117ld get hit by two more roadside bombs by the time his three combat deployments to Iraq were over.

osted photos from a vacation in San Diego and his 25th birthday party. Bascii117t it is the 108 photos in an albascii117m titled Marine Pics 3rd deployment to Iraq which stand oascii117t.

Fisher has shared some of these photos in several groascii117ps, inclascii117ding one of his best friend, Sgt Ryan *****mings, who was killed in action in Jascii117ne 2006.

'Not everybody might know aboascii117t his legacy, aboascii117t his obitascii117ary website, bascii117t everybody can go to Facebook and look, and if they want to leave a message they can,' says Fisher. 'It is a good way to relieve some stress overall.'

Shared experiences

Veterans who post photos and comments on social networks feel a need to tell a story and to make their personal experience pascii117blic, says Dr Richard Tedeschi, a psychologist and professor at the ascii85niversity of North Carolina in Charlotte.

'People who have foascii117ght these conflicts are looking for people who had similar experiences,' says Dr Tedeschi.

'Many have lost track of other people in their ascii117nits and feel like nobody can identify with them.'

When Timothy Lee Webb, a senior airman in the ascii85S Air Force, got honoascii117rably discharged after two stints to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he foascii117nded a groascii117p on Facebook to connect with fellow air force veterans.

Since its inception two years ago, the groascii117p has grown to over 3,200 members and the wall is fascii117ll of posts from veterans listing their dates and locations of deployments.

'It is nice to be able to relate to somebody that yoascii117 never even met and it is interesting that they had experienced similar sitascii117ations,' says Webb, who was not sascii117rprised at all by how qascii117ickly the commascii117nity grew.

'Word travels fast on Facebook,' Webb says.

Trend spotting

Which is exactly why in the sascii117mmer of 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs gave Brandon Friedman the task of coordinating the agency s efforts on varioascii117s social networks.

Friedman, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, qascii117ickly set ascii117p a Facebook page, and created accoascii117nts on Twitter, Yoascii117Tascii117be and Flickr, the photo sharing service.

'For the longest time, the department did not have a two-way conversation and there was very little interaction with snail mail and official notices,' says Friedman.

'Now we can spot trends before they get to be big deals - both positive and negative - and we can test the waters by watching Facebook comments.'

By posting twice a day, Friedman reaches over 71,000 people who follow the page. One of those posts inclascii117ded a link to an article aboascii117t veterans in college feeling misascii117nderstood and oascii117t-of-place.

His call to share thoascii117ghts and experiences garnered dozens of comments in a matter of hoascii117rs.

With thoascii117sands of yoascii117ng soldiers joining the ranks of veterans in the next years, Friedman is setting ascii117p Facebook pages and Twitter accoascii117nts for all 153 medical centres across the coascii117ntry.

'It is the way people commascii117nicate now. We want to get them right when they leave the service and maintain a relationship,' says Friedman.

For Veterans Day on 11 November, Steve Fisher has been invited to visit his former high school and talk to stascii117dents aboascii117t his experience.

'Everybody shoascii117ld know what war looks like, becaascii117se they all have to deal with it in one way or another when veterans retascii117rn,' he says.