"no more will virtual pine boxes be draped with American flags." My article for Time magazine, those guys make up shit anyways right?

The bullets whipped past his troop’s head, but all he could do was watch as the German force overpowered his men on the beach of Sword at Normandy. Ryan’s eye filled with a salty tear as he continued sending wave after wave of soldiers to continue pushing forward on the beach, advancing on the German machine gunner positions. He knows that this is going to difficult but that’s what it takes to overcome the strongest military force in the world. Ryan wipes a bead of sweat off his brow when suddenly his mom calls up to him in his room, “Ryan is your homework done.” Ryan signs and rolls his eyes. He double clicks the mouse and pauses the game on his computer screen.

Ryan Reed isn’t your average teenager; he instead spends over 150 hours on the internet each week, his game of choice, Command and Conquer Red Alert 2. Ryan isn’t typical in his game play however. A student of the History of War, Ryan uses his intellect in the game’s field general aspect to prove the power and tenacity of certain general’s skills in combat. He uses what he calls “The Patton Offensive”, a serious of tank maneuvers that entail the use of little of no ground troops. “The Rommel Offense” is also keeping a keen eye on lower troop usage, allotting for use of the blitzkrieg (the use of a great deal of air support for tanks on the ground). Ryan takes his measures to the extreme. When playing the game using American forces Ryan dresses in full military garb that resembles that of General Patton, from the helmet, to the pearl handled pistols, down to the shined boots. He even sports the bullwhip when he can find the time. Watching him play one can almost become as vanquished as the faux foes on screen. His bitter comments through his microphone are relentless as he pushes through lines of the enemy mowing down the forces with little heed. His eyes glint with little despair until he looks over the totals for the kills. He notices the whopping number of enemy forces dead, and then looks over at his own losses. His eyes gloss over at the number. 102 lost to the offensive that claimed him a key part of the French landscape.

At one point in his career as a gamer Ryan gave up on Command and Conquer after losing 200 soldiers in battle with another player online. He pointed out his ignorance of the terrain and his lack of planning and vowed to never return to competitive gaming on the internet ever again. After a year of mourning Ryan finally returned to foray that kept him up until the wee hours of the morning on school nights.

He still marches his shoulders out on the battlefield, but he has learnt from his mistakes and now uses more offensive military tactics. He has vowed to never lose as many men as he did that day at Normandy. Never again will he have to send the virtual widows of war tiny government issued envelopes of death accompanied by a miniature minister and a pint sized Army representative, no more will virtual pine boxes be draped with American flags.