This post is for new members and old alike. Its primary purpose is to explain in depth why we have expectations of our members which are higher then the average gaming organization. Of course we have rules and standards but I don't expect any thinking man or women to blindly follow rules without having first answered why those rules are established in the first place. Please don't construe this post as a sermon, rather as an affirmation of why I am here, and hopefully, why you are here as well.
....We have a Bundeswehr Major as a long term member. The Major was in the same unit as many ex-116 members were assigned to after WWII. The Major served as an honor guard at many former 116 members funerals.
Most of us know that Generaloberst Guderian's son, Heinz-Günther Guderian, was a member of the 116. Heinz-Günther Guderian had a distinguished military career himself, eventually reaching the rank of Generalmajor and holding the exact position as his father held during World War II, Inspector of The Panzer Troops.
I would like to think that Major "Maloghurst" is our direct connection to the actual 116. With that connection comes a very deep and real, to me, sense of responsibility to the men who served in the 116, their families, and the Guderian legacy.
While we are not shaping history, we are carrying a piece of it forward to be remembered for what it was and what it was not. I am compelled to carry the burden because quite frankly it is much easier for an American whose family fought against The Third Reich and Imperial Japan to bear, then the families of 116 members living in Germany today, primarily for political reasons.
Thereby, it is safe to say the existence and standards of this version of the 116 are designed for more than just the cadre we have now and in the future, rather as an homage to the departed for their loyalty, honor, and courage.
By being an international organization that is inclusive of all nationalities, races, and creeds we help to demystify preconceived notions about the 116 and the typical German soldier in WWII. By doing so, we may help people to realize that the enemies our various governments hope to vilify and dehumanize today, are in the end just as human as us, and that divisiveness between mankind is an artificial construct implemented by those few who wish to wield power over the many via fear.
Clan Time (GMT +2)
