Iraq War Veterans Protest America’s Army Game
By William on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 2:02 PM PST In Gamer Life
Often, the men and women who fight for our country become the biggest critic of war when they return home. Being a combat veteran myself, I can sympathize with their experiences and truly understand their frustration with the situation. However, we all knew what we were getting into. War is not a nice thing and will never be considered one. It definitely confuses me as to how so many veterans support war in the beginning, but stand against it when their experiences are negative. If you thought war was going to be pretty, perhaps you should have requested a mental discharge prior to graduating from basic training.
These veterans at the protest in Missouri were shouting “War is not a game!” I think that’s a fairly obvious statement. The video game is not a war also. The video game is used as a recruitment tool and PR device, but I see nothing wrong with that. Veterans really need to focus on more important issues such as the terrible care we receive at the VA hospitals around the country. I’m not sure if any of you have experiences with the VA, but it’s definitely the bottom of the barrel when it comes to health care. Unfortunately, people like myself cannot obtain health insurance and are forced to rely on the VA.
Personally, I am a supporter of the America’s Army game and will probably not change my opinion on that any time soon. It’s not the Army sending people to war. It’s our government. So if you are anti-war, take it out on the White House, or find something more important to protest.
Via Game Politics
Amen!
Agreed.
Meh, why protest America’s Army? Was this game dierctly responsible for them signing up. If so, I gotta say “Good Job” to the game makers:)
I served 8 years in the USAF, mostly in the 94th FS @ Langley AFB, VA and was deployed to Saudi Arabia 5 times, FYI.
Thanks for serving Tom. I pulled a little over 8 years myself with the 1st Cavalry & 82nd Airborne Divisions. I doubt a video game could make someone want to join. If it did, that individual has some serious issues. In my opinion, the game gets people talking, which is a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with kids visiting the recruiter to look into their options.
It’s not like the reality of war is a big secret these days either.
I personally refuse to play any game set in a modern conflict like the war in Iraq or war on terrorism. :S I don’t feel comfortable playing a game depicting real live people who are in the present fighting and dying.
My little brother’s a high school senior and is joining the marines at the end of this school year…