Volume 33, Number 1
Covid-19 vs Dawn Patrol – Who Will Win and Why
Stephen Skinner
An email was recently sent to Fits Society members regarding the 2021 Spring Mini Con. The discussion quickly degenerated into demands that unvaccinated players be barred from participation. Alternative ideas were ridiculed (so much for diversity) and players rejecting vaccination were sarcastically told they would be "sorely missed" (so much for inclusion). But the exchange offered real insight into the vast chasm that separates us from the men whose exploits we recreate in Dawn Patrol.
Many Dawn Patrol gamers feign respect for the great flyers of World War I but in reality despise the values, culture, religion, loyalties and love of liberty commonly held by those men.
Few Fits players would have lasted five minutes in 1918. If they were to run their mouths as loudly and loosely on an actual World War I airfield as they do at the gaming table, they would soon get their teeth knocked out. The pilots of the early 20th century would not tolerate the arrogance of a know-it-all Dawn Patrol player whose six-Mountain-Dews-per day physique would not stand a snowball's chance in an honest fist fight against an angry flight lieutenant.
Yet these are the people who want to tell you what is “healthy," demanding absolute obedience from everyone else even though we demand nothing of them. They bring this fight to us, not vice versa. We are willing to live and let live, they are not. By definition, they are perpetrators despite posturing themselves as victims.
Many of these players would never have dreamed of flying actual combat missions. A paranoid coward too frightened to sit at a gaming table with someone who had the flu last week would never have the courage to fly through flak at 10,000 feet over No Man's Land with no parachute.
A British pilot in April 1917 could expect to fly 92 hours before becoming a casualty. That's about the same amount of time spent at last year's Fits Mini Con, which many declined to attend due to fears of an alleged virus from which each American has a 0.1% chance of dying as of this writing according to official statistics. We have nothing in common with World War I pilots, least of all courage.
The hypocrisy of hiding behind a face mask while calling others “conspiracy theorists” would have a real World War I pilot doubled over in laughter.
The hypocrisy of demanding that others get vaccinated while we destroy our immune systems with Cheetos, McDonalds and Snickers bars is truly incalculable. If anyone is a “super spreader” disease risk, it's the bloated, out-of-shape physical basket case hooked on more drugs than a Harlem pimp sitting next to you at the gaming table. Before issuing health demands to everyone else, we might consider looking in a mirror.
I can already hear the shrieks of victimhood. “You're ridiculing my weight and health problems!” No, I could lose a few pounds myself, but then, I'm not trying to tell everyone else what to do. A sick, fat person doesn't get to self-righteously lecture others about health any more than a thief can pompously preach on honesty.
Of the sixty or so World War I pilots that I knew, I enjoyed a particularly good relationship with Captain Charles Heater. One day he told me about his last flight, after which he climbed out of his DH-4 and never boarded another aircraft again. Why not? Because, in Charlie's words, he valued, “No regulations, no crowded skies... real freedom.”
Charlie had no interest in standing in line to be groped by TSA perverts over a 1 in 9.3 million chance of dying in an aerial terrorist attack and then be forced to cover his face in order to fly because of an alleged virus with a 99.9% survival rate according to the CDC. Captain Charles Heater and his fellow pilots had very different values than us.
They were courageous. We are sniveling cowards. They treasured minding one's own business. We want to control what everyone else does.
They were active and fit. We are pathetic physical train wrecks propagandized into believing that good health comes from a syringe.
They wanted others to live free. We demand that others re-breathe their own bodily waste and take experimental drug injections to make us feel "safe."
What future does a First World War gaming society have when a significant portion of its members dishonor and denigrate the core values that most early 20th century men held so dear?
Perhaps this game would have a better future if its players lived up to the standards of World War I pilots rather than ridiculing them.
Many of these players would never have dreamed of flying actual combat missions. A paranoid coward too frightened to sit at a gaming table with someone who had the flu last week would never have the courage to fly through flak at 10,000 feet over No Man's Land with no parachute.
A British pilot in April 1917 could expect to fly 92 hours before becoming a casualty. That's about the same amount of time spent at last year's Fits Mini Con, which many declined to attend due to fears of an alleged virus from which each American has a 0.1% chance of dying as of this writing according to official statistics. We have nothing in common with World War I pilots, least of all courage.
The hypocrisy of hiding behind a face mask while calling others “conspiracy theorists” would have a real World War I pilot doubled over in laughter.
The hypocrisy of demanding that others get vaccinated while we destroy our immune systems with Cheetos, McDonalds and Snickers bars is truly incalculable. If anyone is a “super spreader” disease risk, it's the bloated, out-of-shape physical basket case hooked on more drugs than a Harlem pimp sitting next to you at the gaming table. Before issuing health demands to everyone else, we might consider looking in a mirror.
I can already hear the shrieks of victimhood. “You're ridiculing my weight and health problems!” No, I could lose a few pounds myself, but then, I'm not trying to tell everyone else what to do. A sick, fat person doesn't get to self-righteously lecture others about health any more than a thief can pompously preach on honesty.
Of the sixty or so World War I pilots that I knew, I enjoyed a particularly good relationship with Captain Charles Heater. One day he told me about his last flight, after which he climbed out of his DH-4 and never boarded another aircraft again. Why not? Because, in Charlie's words, he valued, “No regulations, no crowded skies... real freedom.”
Charlie had no interest in standing in line to be groped by TSA perverts over a 1 in 9.3 million chance of dying in an aerial terrorist attack and then be forced to cover his face in order to fly because of an alleged virus with a 99.9% survival rate according to the CDC. Captain Charles Heater and his fellow pilots had very different values than us.
They were courageous. We are sniveling cowards. They treasured minding one's own business. We want to control what everyone else does.
They were active and fit. We are pathetic physical train wrecks propagandized into believing that good health comes from a syringe.
They wanted others to live free. We demand that others re-breathe their own bodily waste and take experimental drug injections to make us feel "safe."
What future does a First World War gaming society have when a significant portion of its members dishonor and denigrate the core values that most early 20th century men held so dear?
Perhaps this game would have a better future if its players lived up to the standards of World War I pilots rather than ridiculing them.
Book Review
Valour Beyond Measure; Cpt. R. W. L. Wain, Tank Corps at Cambrai 1917
Casemate Books, $19.99
It's not easy finding a good book for twenty dollars these days, but the latest from author Jonathan Hicks sets a new standard in value-for-money.
"All of the shell holes were full of water and the going was very bad," wrote Captain R. W. Wain in the 1st Battalion's war diary regarding the Battle of Cambrai in November, 1917. "At about 3 PM I was caught in our own barrage. A piece of shell came through the side of the tank and wounded one of our crew... we got behind about three German machine guns in a concrete emplacement and put the teams out of action."
Not only does Valour Beyond Measure give a rather complete biography of 20-year-old Captain Wain and a full description of the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, but it also delves deeply into the creation of the British Tank Corps and the development of the tank itself.
At 271 pages, it is thorough but not intimidating. It actually reads very quickly, perhaps due to the large font type and the prolific use of photographs throughout the book. Valour Beyond Measure does not contain an acid-free photographic insert section. Rather, the pictures are placed within the text at appropriate places that flow with the text instead of interrupting it.
The book measures 8.5x5.5 and fits easily into a backpack or briefcase. Its composite paper also makes the book surprisingly light. It is an excellent read and is highly recommended.
Valour Beyond Measure; Cpt. R. W. L. Wain, Tank Corps at Cambrai 1917
Casemate Books, $19.99
It's not easy finding a good book for twenty dollars these days, but the latest from author Jonathan Hicks sets a new standard in value-for-money.
"All of the shell holes were full of water and the going was very bad," wrote Captain R. W. Wain in the 1st Battalion's war diary regarding the Battle of Cambrai in November, 1917. "At about 3 PM I was caught in our own barrage. A piece of shell came through the side of the tank and wounded one of our crew... we got behind about three German machine guns in a concrete emplacement and put the teams out of action."
Not only does Valour Beyond Measure give a rather complete biography of 20-year-old Captain Wain and a full description of the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, but it also delves deeply into the creation of the British Tank Corps and the development of the tank itself.
At 271 pages, it is thorough but not intimidating. It actually reads very quickly, perhaps due to the large font type and the prolific use of photographs throughout the book. Valour Beyond Measure does not contain an acid-free photographic insert section. Rather, the pictures are placed within the text at appropriate places that flow with the text instead of interrupting it.
The book measures 8.5x5.5 and fits easily into a backpack or briefcase. Its composite paper also makes the book surprisingly light. It is an excellent read and is highly recommended.
The World War I Conspiracy Is Not A Theory, Part 3
Once again, YouTube has used soft censorship against this documentary by claiming it to be age restricted due to their vague, undefinable "community standards." That means it must be really good... and it is. If you want to understand the First World War, start by clicking the video below.
RSS Feed
