T2k and the Media

[pmulcahy11b]

That last one, I was thinking of the other night when I watched We Were Soldiers. The Sergeant Major drops an M16 and a pile of magazines in front of the reporter. The Reporter said, "I'm not a soldier." The Sergeant Major said, "Son, we're all soldiers tonight." The Reporter got his share of NVA and VC that night and the following morning.

[natehale1971]

In T2K, frag 'em all unless they're willing to tote a rifle.

OR provide some really kick ass non-combatant duties (medic/interpreter)... we had a character in one of our campaigns who did that. played a left-leaning (and very left-leaning at that) journalist who got stuck with our group. when asked what skills he had since he wouldn't touch a gun... he answered he knew how to cook, that he spoke six languages (German, Polish, Russian, French, Czech, Yiddish) that he had done a lot of work with EMTs and was assigned to work with the medic... and when it came time to meet new people, he was there to act as interpreter if no one else could do it. .

[helbent4]

In T2K, frag 'em all unless they're willing to tote a rifle.

Paul,

Not an unreasonable expectation behind the "lines" in Poland, where everwhere is like the A-Shau valley! In other areas, it's not that simple. In a real declared war, do combat photographers carry weapons

Tony

[natehale1971]

Paul,

Not an unreasonable expectation behind the "lines" in Poland, where everwhere is like the A-Shau valley! In other areas, it's not that simple. In a real declared war, do combat photographers carry weapons

Tony

Marine Combat Correspondents carried during WW2, Korea and Vietnam.

[pmulcahy11b]

Paul,

Not an unreasonable expectation behind the "lines" in Poland, where everwhere is like the A-Shau valley! In other areas, it's not that simple. In a real declared war, do combat photographers carry weapons

Tony

In the Army (and I would guess the rest of the military), there is an MOS of Correspondent, and they carry weapons and cameras. A civilian reporter would not -- I don't know, it might even be a violation of one of the Geneva or Hague accords.

[natehale1971]

In the Army (and I would guess the rest of the military), there is an MOS of Correspondent, and they carry weapons and cameras. A civilian reporter would not -- I don't know, it might even be a violation of one of the Geneva or Hague accords.

Yup. because their civilians and can be tried as illegal combatants/espionage agents.

[dragoon500ly]

That last one, I was thinking of the other night when I watched We Were Soldiers. The Sergeant Major drops an M16 and a pile of magazines in front of the reporter. The Reporter said, "I'm not a soldier." The Sergeant Major said, "Son, we're all soldiers tonight." The Reporter got his share of NVA and VC that night and the following morning.

The reporter is Joe Galloway and Hal Moore always considered him to be one of the very few reporters with a favorable view of the service man. Loved his columns!

[Targan]

That last one, I was thinking of the other night when I watched We Were Soldiers. The Sergeant Major drops an M16 and a pile of magazines in front of the reporter. The Reporter said, "I'm not a soldier." The Sergeant Major said, "Son, we're all soldiers tonight." The Reporter got his share of NVA and VC that night and the following morning.

Excellent book. Obviously due to constraints on the length of films the film couldn't pack all the detail in but I wasn't disappointed by it, I thought the film did the book justice.

I recommend that anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War who hasn't read We Were Soldiers Once, And Young should do so. Paul's mention of the film has me wanting to dig out my copy of the book and re-read it.

[HorseSoldier]

Tsk,tsk, tsk gentlemen!

You are missing the point! Just think of introducing your (least) favorite left-wing journalist to an ole Army tradition...fragging!

Some former coworkers were notably uncivil about telling Geraldo Rivera to find somewhere else to be when he and his retinue rolled up to their safehouse near Gardez. I believe there were suggestions to heads stuffed into empty sandbags and express flights to Guantanamo Bay.

Not as good as the guys during Katrina who had a running pool on who could hook up with Katie Couric when she showed up on scene, though that story suffered from no one succeeding, as far as I ever heard . . .

[TiggerCCW UK]

Excellent book. Obviously due to constraints on the length of films the film couldn't pack all the detail in but I wasn't disappointed by it, I thought the film did the book justice.

I recommend that anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War who hasn't read We Were Soldiers Once, And Young should do so. Paul's mention of the film has me wanting to dig out my copy of the book and re-read it.

Targ, have you read 'We are soldiers still', about Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, Basil Plumley and others returning to the battlefield a couple of years ago and meeting, among others, the NVA commander. Fantastic read, very humbling and moving. Amazing how well so many of them got on with their estwhile enemies.

[helbent4]

Yup. because their civilians and can be tried as illegal combatants/espionage agents.

Nate,

In some situations, then, you could say that a given reporter PC in a war zone (like, Poland) should be a military correspondent due to conscription.

On the home front, I would imagine that a reporter (and crew) could be armed for self-defence under the law or with suitable police/military permission, not to mention having armed security.

Tony

[Canadian Army]

Lee,

I use this in my game, which is set in Vancouver, BC. The local government is based on a university campus, which has restored limited TV broadcasts, including a nightly news program.
Tony

Wouldn't the CBC based at the Emergency Government Headquarters Communication Bunker at Nanoose Bay, British Columbia. All the Emergency Government Headquarters Communication Bunkers had a CBC Emergency Broadcasting Studio and were to staffed by the CBC when activated.

[helbent4]

Wouldn't the CBC based at the Emergency Government Headquarters Communication Bunker at Nanoose Bay, British Columbia. All the Emergency Government Headquarters Communication Bunkers had a CBC Emergency Broadcasting Studio and were to staffed by the CBC when activated.

CA,

My game is based in the Lower Mainland, not de eyelun, mon! There is quite a long commute from the 'Mo to Vancouver, eh The CBC's Lower Mainland "volunteers" are based out of UBC (designated as a pre-war "disaster recovery node", by the way) because they settled there after the bombs fell.

The Nanoose Bay facility is not specifically mentioned in Legion McRae's adventures "The River" or "Red Maple", but there could be some kind of surviving facility there housing the CBC. It seems a little far from the emergency Provincial capital at Duncan, and may have been destroyed/damaged by nuclear/non-nuclear strikes, etc.. If there is a surviving facility at Nanoose Bay, it could be in the process of coming on-line as civilian government is re-established. That is, they might not be able to provide more than minor technical support for anyone on southern Vancouver Island but may be able to broadcast local and national news, still a crucial step in restoring order and normalcy.

Along the lines of what has been said earlier, the local news team has had considerable success talking to the civilians who tend to see soldiers as being the cause for the destruction and chaos. Further, bad guys like the Hells Angels and New America could take an interest in taking out a "soft target" like the government's pet news team to disrupt nascent government efforts.

Tony

[dragoon500ly]

Targ, have you read 'We are soldiers still', about Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, Basil Plumley and others returning to the battlefield a couple of years ago and meeting, among others, the NVA commander. Fantastic read, very humbling and moving. Amazing how well so many of them got on with their estwhile enemies.

It's always intresting to watch combat veterans return to the former battlefields, and happen to met veterans from the other side. There is surprisingly little hatred...they had both survived the worst that could be thrown at a person, and lived to tell the tale.

[natehale1971]

Nate,

In some situations, then, you could say that a given reporter PC in a war zone (like, Poland) should be a military correspondent due to conscription.

On the home front, I would imagine that a reporter (and crew) could be armed for self-defence under the law or with suitable police/military permission, not to mention having armed security.

Tony

Very true. once the war had reached a point that the civilian reporters were no longer seen as Non-Combatants, it'd be like 'Monk' in the T:2013 story in the Stage 1 Rules they gave out... given a gun and taught how to use it.