“ When I hit seven seconds , I stood up , and ran to the flag as fast as I could ,” Ronin said . “[ I threw ] the flag up in the air , screaming a German ‘ Ahhhhhooo ’, and denied the Allies the point they were about to win from that flag .”
On the other side of the flag , Boss , commander of the 2nd Rangers and captain of the First Strike sponsored Task Force Ranger , exhibited the same level of heroics , but remembers the events very differently .
As he tells it , the grass made very little difference compared to the six referees set up in the middle of the field behind riot shields , approximately eight feet away from a 2-foot post that had a flag mount attached to it . One team needed to insert the staff of the flag into the mount to score the points . The referees ’ proximity to the post was confusing , according to Boss .
“ Why were they there with riot shields to begin with ?” Boss said .” If this was a tournament , they would have been laying on the ground watching . Why was this different ?”
But clearly , both teams took advantage of the temporary barricade created by the riot shields , as three Allied players - Phil “ Flip ” Harter , Patrick “ Mercer ” Whalen , and Boss slid in behind them , opposite Ronin ’ s position .
“ My Division linked up with the other Allied teams on the beach , and I grabbed the flag from ‘ Shoop ’ ( MIchael Herr ),” Boss said . “ We pushed up and used the shields for cover , and then the three of us launched ourselves to the post .”
Flip used his body to protect Boss in the movement , and Boss also used the fabric of the flag itself .
“ The balls don ’ t break on the loose fabric ,” Boss said . “ I heard the balls hitting the flag as we moved , but I , myself , was never hit .” www . paintball . media
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