Good Call...

The US Army yesterday rejected a proposal for a military themepark on a Virginia army base yesterday. The plans called for:

"...rides that allow visitors to "command the latest M-1 tank" and "feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall."

A Florida developer wanted to erect the theme park at Fort Belvoir, a few miles from the nation's capital, in conjunction with plans for a new National Museum of the United States Army scheduled to be built at the base by 2011.

Though the Army is still willing to consider "some type of "visitor destination concept to go with the museum," officials stated that a themepark "would make a mockery of the Army experience."

"How do you handle war? You don't trivialize it. It's the most serious engagement," said Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Hyland, a retired Air Force colonel whose district includes most of Fort Belvoir. "I kind of hold my breath that you could do that and have it appeal from an entertainment perspective and at the same time respect the history of the Army."

Hard to argue with that. Certainly an Army video game studio is much more dignified...