These are the words of Gen. Whittlesey as he remembers it:
Once MOHAA was released for OS X, I bought the game for myself
as soon as it was released. I'd already been playing MOHAA on
PC over the
Gamespy networks for some time, so it wasn't anything new to me.
Once I refreshed myself with GameRanger, I started checking all
the
different clans, and those involved with them. There were only
a handful of MOHAA clans on GR at the time, so I decided to start
one of
my own. <TLB> began in early September of 2002.
I came up with the name <TLB> which stands for The Lost
Battalion in reference to the famed 308th of World War I. My current
rank at the time from all my Gamespy endeavors was Major. So,
I named myself after the real leader of The Lost Battalion - Major
Charles Whittlesey, or <TLB> Mjr. Whittlesey. So I slapped
that rank and title on my name, and started recruiting! It only
took a day or two before I recruited my first soldier. Our first
member, was none other than Oz. At the time he was a freelance
player. Unaware of the world of clans, I hosted a game, tested
out his playing skills, and asked him to join. He accepted, and
became our
first Pvt. of <TLB>. Oz and I played for a few days together,
and started to improve his skills on MOHAA. After that, I left
him with instructions to go ahead and start recruiting players
to join <TLB>. He did so, and our next member to join was
some guy named "Hitler's Lost Testicle." I was a
little surprised at this player's name at first, but he revised
it to Hitlerhoden. Alex, our second member to join also started
off as Pvt. Our next member, Eric, or MacDaddy joined a few days
after Hitlerhoden. I recruited him for his remarkable sniping
skills. It was just the four of us for a week or so. Then after
that, another free-lancer called Lt. Page, or Zach asked us if
he could join. We tested him out, and saw that he was a fine player.
So he joined us a Pvt. Page. Including myself, these five remarkable
individuals would eventually become our senior staff, and all
have a hand in shaping <TLB> into what it is today. The
next important player to join <TLB> was some kid named Diablo.
I was impressed by his personality, and ambition on all things
<TLB>. Skilled in the ways of MOHAA, Diablo was particularly
gifted at designing websites. This was capitalized on, and Diablo
remains our website designer/administrator today. Diablo has also
helped out <TLB> greatly but substituting as commander of
<TLB> while I 've been gone on vacation, etc. For another
week or so, it was just the six of us. The rest to me, is a recruiting
blur. Many more soldiers joined our cause, to help us become the
greatest, most powerful, and organized clan on GR. <TLB>
went through many tough times, and trial periods. Not in combat,
but in politics, ethics, and other issues that affects us all.
Essentially, we went from a small "care-free" MOHAA
clan to a very serious, competitive, hard-core MOHAA clan. This
happened in my memory, almost over-night. Once we had over 15
members we immediately reorganized <TLB>. We assigned a
clan secretary, formed our own senior staff, and created a solid
clan policy. Now, <TLB> is recognized as a formidable clan
on GR. With our solid staff, great organization, and battle-hardened
soldiers, <TLB> remains in my opinion, one of the best clans
in the business. We play clan battles against other popular clans
on GR, and currently have a winning streak. We also play on GameSpy,
along with inter-clan scrimmages. I'm very proud of <TLB>.
Creating this clan has been very rewarding for me, and I know
there are still many great things to come in our future. Our members
have all become friends with each other, and there's a real sense
of teamwork, comradship, and maturity. Thanks for making <TLB>
what it now is guys. Keep up the good work, and long live <TLB>!
<TLB> Gen. Whittlesey