October 4, 2007
Another in an occasional series honoring gamers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country... An Associated Press report lists a pair of gamers killed in Iraq in separate incidents:
Army Sgt. 1st Class David A. Cooper Jr. died September 5th following a vehicle accident in Baghdad. From the AP story:
David Cooper Sr. recalled that his son and his grandsons would hole up in the basement "dungeon," laughing and playing with their computers, video games and a wide-screen TV.
"They'd stay there all day long," Cooper said. "They'd come up for a meal, then disappear down there."
Marine Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks Jr. (left) was killed in action on September 10th in Anbar province:
Jon Hicks Sr. said his son enjoyed football and followed the Philadelphia Eagles. He "liked playing video games and loved playing paint ball," he said.
Comments
Not that I don't honour their sacrifices, but whilst it is gaming-related, it isn't exactly groundbreaking.
I really wish we would bring back the other soldiers already, I don't see anything over there changing soon and I would rather have our soldiers back and let that country descend into chaos or have another dictator rise we might be able to deal with diplomatically then keep seeing more stories of our soldiers dying.
I don't want to seem like I'm blaming people, but I truly think that George Bush and the military advisor-people should have handled this way better. We should have gone in with hundreds of thousands of troops, sweeped from one side of the country to the other, and gotten out within a few months (think, Gulf War), instead of sending in 5 troops at a time...
Well, there's a difference between a gamer and the guy that plays Madden every once in a while, you know? These guys sounded like big gamers, so I guess it's just refreshing to read that even the big time ones are working all over the place.
While posting that videogames were an important part of the lives of two soldiers who have sacrificed everything for their country may not seem like something revolutionary, that makes it all the more necessary that we share such stories.
This is the norm--we know that by far most of the younger adult demographics, heroes included, play videogames--but those trying to legislate the games are apparently under the impression that video games are a nearly impossible to find item that only exists in the clutches of the few deranged people who make the news and were of course turned into killers by these "video thingies" that tun everyone into killers and therefore aren't possessed by any save these criminals.
With the sensationalist qualities of so much news, all the average non-gamer hears about are the incidents in which massacre chasers play upon their fears to make them believe that these rare machines are nothing but a tool of the criminal and a guidebook forn violence, and that the existence of such an item in somebody's possession is automatically proof they're criminals.
We ought to honor ordinary people serving their country in extraordinary ways, regardless of those orchestrating this war. And less importantly, this kind of stuff is exactly what the public needs to hear: the truth that most young people play video games, many are even gamers, and none of that reprograms or desensitizes us or makes us nor does it in any way make us less patriotic, less conscientious, or less human.
Or else we'll end up with little decrease in the number of uninformed idiots continuing to try to pass frivolous and illegal laws, and more people buying into their lying rationale. Although with the way politicians are today, we just might have to wait until they die off and people who aren't willing to let personal or party agenda govern their laws get up there.
Condolences to both family's, and thank you for your sons service and sacrifice to preserve the freedoms we often take for granted.
Rest In Peace anyway lads.
To clarify: They are not fighting for your freedom. They are fighting because your President told them to.
That makes it even more tragic.
Again, Rest in Peace, and may you find your way to a better place than we could give.
True I can not forget or forgive the lies and deceit to start a poorly thought out conflict.
At this point if we stay if we go we already have lost.
If we go we will fight them again if we stay will be a constant target,compile 10+ years worth of deaths if we stay and build a few bases.....
well stated. I appreciate that we have people that exemplify the highest ideals of duty and honor that also enjoy the same freedoms that we do.
regardless of your political thought, we need to show our troops that we are behind them (if not necessarily the war). There are numorous charitable organizations that greatly support them. Two of my favorites are Navy Marine Corp Relief Society, and the Red Cross. I encourage you to contact one of the numorous charities and find out how to really help our troops.
Amen coravin, amen. To our honored dead, may they find peace where they are now, and let their cause be remembered forever.
Again, R.I.P. fellow gamers. *salutes*
You died honorably and will never be forgotten. Deepest condolences to thier families. Semper Fi
I find you, from your posting, to be insensitive and a whole host of other unflattering adjectives. Be careful what you write about people you don't know because people who do know them are reading it. Maybe you were trying to sound intelligent, but you're obviously not.