Although I'm not leaving the regiment, I'd like to say a few things.
The first sight of the Marins was during the good ol' days, MM. At the time my bayonet and musket were still loyal to the 9te, but watching the pub stomping and utter dominance on the fields of US1 sparked envy. I remember my first encounter with the Marins during 5arge's friday night LB, Oreo doing his jump stabs, Smithy cutting with his highlander sword (you were playing as the Highlanders at the time, with your sexy cheese sticks), Panther spinning and winning, Gold being Gold, Gamechanger changing games and so many more (Bunro on his cannon can't be forgotten oh and Bauer's grumbling). Eventually, I came into contact with the Marins through.. the one and only, Panther. I joined a server and played with you guys. It was that day when we all had partizani wars and good laughs in TS. That day I knew I'd join the Marins one day.
When I joined the Marins I instantly fell in love with the community we had. It was just a bunch of people that were great at the game, and most importantly, funny as ****, Lefarge. We played many more games, not just MM, but at the time MM was by far the main focus. The day I put on Marins tags I experienced a sudden feeling of inspiration, I was a Marin. The person that hit me the hardest was Smithy. It was as if he radiated excellence only. We had a leader that had every single quality of a leader, and all of these qualities were near perfection. Our leader was, in my eyes, the best melee NA, but also one of our closest friends. Smithy knew exactly when to be serious and when he could have a laugh, which made it all such a memorable experience, the entire atmosphere was just fantastic.
Throughout our MM career I can say that my most memorable moment was when it was just us (Marins cannons and cannon guard) versus a horde of 50 Russian. 15 marins vs 50 reddit and more. We beat them with 5+ remaining. It felt as if during our Golden Age Smithy granted us eternal glory and respect in exchange for our loyalty and bayonets. I will never have an experience that's even close to my experience in the Marins during MM. We did have some good times during NW, sadly, they were short lived.
Now we are here, May 26th, 2013. There are only remnants of the old Marins. But, we can keep playing, maybe not be the best, but we can try. With Smithy's retirement, I feel as if the biggest piece of the puzzle is missing, a good friend, gone. I know he won't be leaving us, I'll play plenty of games with him and the other veteran Marins like I have been.
William, I won't leave you, however I wish to resign from my Kpl rank and be reinstated as a regular rank. I can't be an NCO with my shaking attendance and lack of dedication, which I wish could magically appear. I know you'll lead this regiment into greatness like you have been. You have my bayonet.
I feel as if we need to get a gunboat and fire all cannons at once in Smithy's remembrance, but NW hasn't given us ships!
We've had one hell of a run, Capitaine. May the wind forever be in your back.
Second-Maître Verhoeven.