After listening to and reading a lot of the discussions about the recent move by Electronic Arts to change the antagonists in the upcoming Medal of Honor game from Taliban to “Opposing Force”, I decided to weigh in on the subject.
Let me begin by giving you a little bit of background on myself and my connection to this issue: I served as a public relations specialist in the Air Force for six years and have attended funerals for fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Marine, and Airmen. On top of serving as liaison between the families of fallen service members and the media, I also had the distinct opportunity to serve as a member of the Air Force Honor Guard and act as a pallbearer, rifleman, and flag presenter during burial ceremonies for our past and present heroes.
I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoy playing a first person shooter as much as the next guy (or gal), but the thought of trying to make a profit by sensationalizing an ongoing war that our country is involved invokes feelings at a deep level. I know that we have all played games that depict the previous wars the United States has been engaged in, but those wars have enough chronological separation that the emotional stresses caused for families and nations on all sides have had time to mend for the most part.
I have seen a number of offhand remarks made by readers posted in the comments of the stories leading up to this latest announcement. Please allow me to clear a few things up for the less informed Internet readers.
First, “Don’t our military members have anything better to do than play video games while we are at war?”
Yes. Many of our military members have husbands, wives, children, and other family issues to deal with when they are not working, training, and studying. Fortunately, they are able to spend their free time partaking in pretty much any type of legal activity they feel the need to do. If that activity happens to be playing video games then so be it; they fight for your right to enjoy the freedoms that people so quickly believe they do not have.
Second, “Some kind of freedom; they are censoring the games they can buy.”
I’m sure they are quite capable of dealing with the concept of the game; the bigger issue is will they buy it. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service is a government run business and like any business it is out to make a profit. Most AAFES stores are little bigger than a Family Dollar store and provide basic household supplies, a few clothes, military uniforms, and an electronics section. If Army Maj. Gen. Bruce A. Casella, Army and Air Force Exchange Service Commander, and Michael P. Howard, Chief Operating Officer, don’t believe that the game will serve as a good source of income for their limited retail space then so be it. Military members are not confined to the base for the duration of their service; the people that want to play the game have outlets to purchase it. Military police will not standing by checking their bags for illicit games as they come through the gates.
It all boils down to not whether you can or can’t do it, but should you. Most of the military members I have met during the time in the service have pretty thick skins and if they can deal with the protesting of hundreds of people at a fallen soldiers funeral, then they can deal with this game. The real issue is when you are playing as the “opposing force” and kill a U.S. military member, just keep in mind that at that same moment one of our military members may have just died in a very similar situation.
Can you deal with that?
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