Honor the Brave is a memorial charity airsoft event to honor the memory of our fellow airsofter Cpl. Josh "Scorch" Harton, who was killed in action last year in Faryab Province, Afghanistan. The event was organized by his father TJ of Pennsylvania Airsoft and held at ET Airsoft in Stanhope, NJ. Players from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut and teams including NEST, Red Legion, DERP, Eastern Wolves, Blanco Boys, TRIAD, Blckwater, Eastern Wolves, Suicide Kings, JTF Vanguard, DAFT, PATCOM, December Regiment, Vanguard 6, GTU, NYC Airsoft and Brooklyn Contractors were on hand.

CPL Joshua A Harton
(Source: Pennsylvania Airsoft Productions)

Cookie and Eternal were the opposing generals, each representing a different charity, the Wounded Warrior Project and T.A.P.S. The winning team's charity would get 70% of the donations and the other team the remaining 30%.

The day started slowly as many airsoftsoft large events, often do. Cookie's green army had twice the number players of Eternal's tan army, putting them on the defensive for most of the game. I was embedded with members of PATCOM and Brooklyn Contractors lead by GTU's "Old Man". We were sent out to defend the FOB south of Ft. Dunkin.

A call came on the radio that reinforcements were needed ASAP at Ft. Triker and two squads were sent from my position. Before they could get even half-way to Triker, they met vanguards of the green army sent to take Dunkin. Both forces spread out to form a skirmish line.

The tan units inside Dunkin now found themselves surrounded. The bulk of green army's forces coming from staging assailed them to the north and behind them, the force that had driven back the tan reinforcements. There was some confusion as the the ability of defenders to respawn inside Dunkin but green eventually whittled down the defenders and took their objective.

Regrouping, green sent the bulk of their forces west. Their advance was blocked at the swamp bridge (an infamous choke point in the field) by a tenacious handful of tan defenders. Eternal's forces held The Ruins and the FOB for most of the morning, before they retreated to the stronger high-ground position of the Special Forces Camp.

Back at staging "Mom" (Josh's mother) set up a refreshment table. She had put out roast beef sandwiches, water and snacks for the players and staff. Inevitably, full belly's meant that many players went' MIA as they took time to digest and missed out on a huge assault to retake the hill at Ft. Triker.

There were many new faces (first timers at ET) which lead to many players getting lost and misidentifying respawns and objectives. When there are players who are unfamiliar with each other, the tendency is for them to doubt the other's honorable play. Inevitably there were more than the usual irritated players calling players out or minor arguments.

Possibly the most memorable moment of the day was when a young black bear walked through the field. Some players shot at and drive it off, which isn't the smartest thing. Had the bear been younger and protected by her mother, things could have gotten quite bad. Fortunately it scrambled off and wasn't seen the rest of the day.

At the end of the day, despite their outnumbered forces, tan managed to earn the most overall points (green would say they lost due to technicalities). In any case, it was a nearly perfect day to be playing airsoft and an ideal way to end the Summer. We were all playing a game we enjoy, raising money for a good cause  (actually two). What better way to paying honor to a fallen hero and fellow comrade.

About the author
Moondog is the founder of Moondog Industries and NYCAirsoft, the definitive guide for airsoft new New York. http://www.nycairsoft.com for more information.