War games
Airsoft lets players recreate Vietnam battles where 'nobody gets hurt'

By Anthony Violanti
THE STAR-BANNER

Tommy Blackwell was standing in the middle of a wooded field, wearing his old Army-green Khaki uniform, with a matching drab boonie hat tucked over his head. The sun was blazing, it was close to 90 degrees as sweat dripped off his forehead, over his gold, wire-rimmed glasses and down past his reddish gray, fu-Manchu. Blackwell, 65, wore that same uniform neary 40 years ago during a tour in Vietnam when he served in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands.

That was another time and another place but the memories were flooding back on this July Saturday in 2006. "The heat's the same, the foliage's the same and I keep seeing guys in black pajamas," Blackwell said. The Doors were singing "Riders on the Storm" over sound system speakers as Blackwell and about 110 other people were preparing to replay one day of the Vietnam War. Only this time, instead of fighting for his life, Blackwell was playing a military-simulation game called Airsoft at Wayne's World of Paintball off U.S. 441 in Ocala.

Airsoft is sort of like paintball on steroids. Players recreate battles and combat from wars ranging from Vietnam to Iraq. Competitors wear standard military outfits, (the Vietcong players wore black pajamas) use realistic-looking weapons that fire 6 mm. pellets typically made of solid plastic. All players must wear goggles to protect their eyes.

MindGame Productions is a Florida Airsoft company whose owners include Paul Janousek of Ocala. He says players are like Civil War recreators with a commitment to realism. "Real war is hell but what we do is fun," he says without a hint of sarcasm. The company had its first Airsoft competition in Ocala last week and expects to return during the fall. Competitors must be at least 18 to play, and Blackwell at 65 is among the oldest.

"This is something we can do together, it keeps us close," says Denise Thompson, 37, Blackwell's daughter. She, like her father, was dressed in combat fatigues but her uniform isn't original. She was born in 1968, when her father returned from Vietnam.

Something does seem strange that Blackwell would now be playing a Vietnam game after going through the real thing so long ago. But then, nothing about Vietnam seemed to meet expectations.

"Even today, I don't think most people understand what Vietnam was all about," says Blackwell, who lives in Melbourne. "I could tell you stories but I'm not going to get into it. I had some bad times over there but I had some good times with my buddies. I was lucky. I came back."

Blackwell had words of advice for his fellow players. "This is a game and it's fun. You get shot and you're out of the game but you still get to go home. In Vietnam the bullets were real and sometimes you never made it home."

MULTIMEDIA

Airsoft
A game of honor
Airsoft, a new trend in war game recreation, features little plastic BB's speeding through the air at about 400 feet per second.
DOUG ENGLE/STAR BANNER
GETTING HOOKED
In an era of video game-war simulations, Airsoft takes the action to the next, human level.

"People who play games like 'Rainbow Six' or 'Halo' want to experience the real thing," Janousek, 35, says. "When you're out there in the field, dressed in combat fatigues, carrying a gun, shooting and being shot at, it's a tremendous rush. I did this once, and I was hooked."

Don't get the idea that Janousek is a war monger.

"I'm a dedicated civilian," he says, and describes himself as a card-carrying liberal Democrat who supports the men and women who serve in Iraq. "They're great people giving up so much for their country and all of us."

A couple of years ago, he, along with Emilio Graveran and Robert McLaughlin, formed MindGame Productions.

"I think it fills a void for people who want to replicate video games or war movies," Janousek said, adding most of the players are men, 18-30. "It's not just the game, it's the realism of the weapons, the battles and the tactics."

Typically, it costs between $40 and $50 to play one simulation, which can last from late morning until sunset. Serious players often spend hundreds of dollars on weapons and uniforms.


WHY THEY PLAY
Nikolas Mellies is gently wiping his machine gun with a cloth, as if he were bathing a baby. He calls the gun "Little Evil," and adds, "this is a bad boy."

Mellies, 27, drove several hours from his home in Miami to compete. One reason is that he said his late grandfather, Steven Perdok, served in Vietnam as a medic.

"My grandfather was like a father to me, he taught me everything," Mellies says, as he loads his gun. "When I found out this game was about Vietnam, I had to come here for him."

Tammy Felt had a different reason for playing. She wanted to participate with her son, Leroy.

"Where else can I go to shoot my kid," she said with a laugh, sitting on bench in green fatigues smoking a cigarette.

"That's OK," her son replies, "we both like playing, it really gets your adrenaline pumping."

Out on the field, a platoon is bogged down near a village. A sniper in a tower is firing rounds of plastic pellets and a couple of guys go down. "I'm hit, I'm hit," one yells. Another screams: "get me a medic."

A soldier with a red cross on his arm runs to their aid as plastic bullets fly. Referees are out on the field to make sure safety rules are observed.

Tommy Blackwell, meanwhile, is hiding somewhere in the grass with his rifle.

"If you have to have war, this is the way to do it," says the Army lifer who served 25 years before retiring. "Nobody gets hurt and everybody goes home."

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Anthony Violanti can be contacted at 867-4154 or anthony.violanti@starbanner.com