Ronin - a samurai a master. This is also the nickname adopted by Tu Lam, a former US special forces soldier, veteran of the Iraqi War and a participant of anti-terrorist operations in the Philippines.
As he confesses in one of the interviews, he strongly believes in the Bushido code, and adopted the nickname after he left the army:
"When I retired I became the Ronin (masterless warrior). The process was to seek truth in the world, seek truth in myself, and to take my life’s teachings and to give back to the good of this world. The good in this world being law enforcement and military. (...) I stepped off the battlefield and now I’m meeting the people I protected while I was overseas."
The life story of Sergeant Lama is also a path of loneliness and struggle. Born in Vietnam in 1974 just after the fall of Saigon, two years later he was forced to flee the country with his mother and brother after the communists killed most of his family.
On a boat full of emigrants, he got to a refugee camp in Indonesia. From there, it was only because his aunt had married a Green Beret soldier some time before that the entire Lama family managed to get to the USA. Thanks to the care and upbringing of his stepfather, also a US Special Forces soldier, since the age of 10 he knew that he wanted to continue the family tradition and become part of the elite US Army commando brotherhood. He did it 10 years later. To describe Lama's service, you would need a separate book, but it's worth knowing that he was active in Iraq in the Delta unit, among his other military duties.
After leaving the service, he founded the Ronin Tactics company, which deals with shooting and martial arts training.
Lam also has his tactical equipment line, including Ronin Senshi belts, well known and regarded in the military community.
The media are nothing new for Ronin, but this time he will come or stay with some of us on a computer screen in the third season of Call of Duty Modern Warfare as one of the new operators which we can play in the new installment of the iconic game. Lam said the e-mail from Infinity Ward, the game's developer, was one of the best in his life.
The game developers, working with Lam, transferred all his movements while operating firearms and melee weapons to the game. Attention is especially drawn to the combat sequences using melee weapons.
The commando itself summed up the final effect as "Bad ass".
The developers of Infinity Ward also scanned his face and body for use in the game.
In game Tu is equipped with a Ronin Assaulter Lite plate carrier, American Rōnin Hat, Taran Tactical Innovations magazine bottom plates and Safariland holster among other things. On the hero's shirt we can see the Ronin's company logo.
And how do you like the game? Was it a good idea to involve a real commando to "take part" in the game? Write in the comments.
Sources: blog.activision.com, ronintactics.com, essentiallysports.com, thevetsproject.com, asgmag.com,youtube.com, gamepro.de, authors archive
Consultations: Piotr Pyc
