Wow....
I never expected such a response to a simple question about music tastes. Something that struck me in reading the answers in this thread, was the diversity of our Aces High community. Judging by the music tastes and names of some of the groups, we have everything from youngsters in their teens, through to retired (getting there) grandfathers like myself. It's something you really don't think about that much when you're on-line flying with your squad or engaging bad guys. It makes you wonder how much we would all have in common if this pastime was "face to face", as opposed to a virtual world of "handles". We have a very strong, growing rapidly and culturally diverse community, which personally, I think is an awesome thing.
As with any on-line environment today, where it's possible for people to hide behind masks of anonymity, we do have the odd occurrence of "out of control" characters, either via inappropriate behavior on-line or self serving ego driven flame fests on the BBS. Comparing this community so far to others I've participated in, I find the self policing aspect in dealing with these characters very commendable. You all should be proud of what you have helped build as a community and I hope those attitudes with maturity (but fun) continue to make AH on-line and this BBS such an enjoyable place to be.
Anyway, enough of the emotional stuff. It doesn't mean we're going steady.
The real point of my e-mail was to thank many of you publicly, who sent me private e-mail saying you had downloaded Panzerlied and fired it up on-line while you were grinding along in your Panzer IV's. I agree with your comments, as it really is a rousing melody with strong words. You can almost visualize those warriors of the past, driving into battle singing the virtues of their camaraderie over the drones of the engines and tracks creaking. By the way, to avoid any of the "let's start a flame fest" politically correct types, it isn't about the political agenda and cause they believed in, it's simply about the fact that they were warriors fighting for their country with the same "duty, honor, courage" convictions that allied soldiers possessed. I don't believe anyone here for a moment is advocating or supporting their cause, as that part of it was definitely pure evil.
As an old "tanker", personally I'm very pleased and excited as to how many of the "pilot types" have tried out the ground vehicle portion of AH and found it to be a lot of fun. I know some of you say it can be boring as it still takes a LOT of time (HT/Pyro take notes) to get to a fight, but with a balance of enemy vehicles and limited vulching by planes, it can be as exciting as a good dogfight. Now if I could just figure out how HT nailed me at over 4.0k while I was moving laterally at over 22 mph, I'd be a happy camper. That was one heck of an outstanding shot, right through the top of the CC's turret cupola, a first round kill.
Some of you asked what the English translation to Panzerlied was, so here it is as close as one can get translating from German to English.
For those of you that missed the link, here it is again:
http://members.aol.com/debheitmann/private/pzlied.wav Panzerlied
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In blizzard or storm,
Or in sun warm and bright,
The day hot as hell
Or bone-chilling be the night,
Our faces may with dust be laid,
But spirits never fade,
No, never fade;
Relentless, our tank
Thunders out on a raid.
With engines a-howling,
Fast as is the wind,
We head for the foe,
Safe, as we're in armor skinned.
Our comrades still behind us roam;
We fight the foe alone,
Yes, fight alone.
We stab through the line
To break the foes backbone.
Whenever the foe
May appear in our sight,
We'll ram throttle full,
Then we'll humble all his might!
Of what use is our life if we
Our country serve freely?
Yes, serve freely!
To die for our country,
Our honour shall be.
With tank traps and mines,
Our foe tries to impede.
We laugh at his ruses;
We know he'll not succeed.
And when, in threat, his cannons stand,
Half hidden in the sand,
Yes, in the sand,
We can find our way
Over much safer land.
And should at long last,
Fickle Lady Luck leave,
And we remain here,
Leaving family to grieve,
A bullet with our name on it,
Find us and seal our fate,
Yes, seal our fate,
Our tank will our grave be
On that final date.
