Cleveland, Ohio August 15, 2008. As a father of a fallen Marine (Iraq, August 2005) I find it contemptible that the Cleveland Air Show would sponsor a simulated killing exhibit.
And as a citizen of Northeast Ohio, where gun violence is on the rise, I find it equally contemptible that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has been silent on this.
At issue is a planned exhibit by the U.S. Army called the Virtual Army Experience (VAE) scheduled for this year's edition of the annual Labor Day testosterone fest at Burke Lakefront Airport.
Those 13 and older can ride in replicas of Humvees speeding through a virtual desert virtually shooting virtual machine guns at life-size pictures of virtual people. Read that, human beings, fellow men and women, albeit not alive.
The children and adults who participate in this exhibit have the luxury of walking out of it. No harm, no foul.
My son, along with 4,141 other Americans (as of this morning) did not have that luxury. These young people learned quickly the horrors of war. They learned the cost -- my son, age 23, told me the effort "was not worth it." These Americans learned about the blood of compatriots. They learned what a 50 mm round can do to a human body.
If the VAE could inject these lessons into the exhibit, I'd be all for it. But participants get only some sad sense of joy shooting at people, albeit virtual folks.
Some say the VAE is just a fancy video game. But we need to ask some questions. Does this kind of thing, game or not, breed an attitude that says if you have disagreements, it's okay to shoot first and ask questions later?
After the tragedy of Iraq, Americans should be about peace. We need to put away our John Waynes, our swaggering presidents, our reaction of reaching for guns (virtual or otherwise) first and begin to look our fellow human beings in the eye and try, just try, to understand them.
To parents who allow their children to participate in the VAE, what are you teaching your them?
-30-
1 hour ago
Posts
