| Major Mike | 10 Feb 2022 8:17 a.m. PST |
I'm saddened to report the passing of Major Bill Harting. He was the founder of HMGS-MidSouth and a very busy figure around the wargaming community from the late 1980's till around 2010. After he retired from the Air Force he would travel around the convention circuit (mostly on the East Coast and the Chicago area) trying to drum up support for HMGS. Responsible for helping to bring about Nashcon which has run for over 30 years and bring together gamers all over the South which helped to give rise to other conventions. He suffered a series of many strokes during the last decade which severely restricted his mobility and finally left him bed ridden. He will be missed but many will remember with a smile his trademark phrase for a bad die roll of "Kiss your sister". So long Bill, glad to have met and known you. link |
 Mserafin  | 10 Feb 2022 9:09 a.m. PST |
Now there's a real loss. RIP, Major Bill. I hope the gaming in heaven is everything you hoped for and more. |
| David Manley | 10 Feb 2022 9:16 a.m. PST |
Very sad news, I never met him but we did chat occasionally, he will be sorely missed. |
 McKinstry  | 10 Feb 2022 9:53 a.m. PST |
A true loss. I gamed with Bill in Tullahoma in the mid/ eighties. Just plain a nice guy and a credit to the hobby. |
| skedaddle | 10 Feb 2022 10:19 a.m. PST |
My first memory of Major Bill was walking into Games Extraodinaire on a Saturday and having him come up to me and ask if I was interested in playing in a Napoleonics game. This was in 1992. He had me hooked from the first die roll. Next thing I knew, I was an HMGS Mid-South member and helping with conventions. He will be missed by many Mid-South members for all the games, fun, and comraderie. |
| lkmjbc3 | 10 Feb 2022 11:12 a.m. PST |
The end of an era… I first met Major Bill around 1989? 90? at the Royal Tiger Hobby Shop/Comics in Chattanooga, TN. Bill had come to run a game and introduce gamers there to Historical Miniatures. We of course all ready had a good community and were delighted to find a regional organization supporting our hobby. If forget whether the game was before or after the first Nashcon (which I missed). The deaths of Bill and recently of Gavin Gossett (one of the founders of Games Ex in Nashville- which continues to the day as the "Game Keep") are dual blows to the hearts of gamers in Tennessee. We must soldier on… "Somehow, somewhere, someway, I just know
Somebody out there has to see
The world is tore up from the floor up
Man I think it shows
Ain't much living left for you and me Raise the flag, cut the sails, we're going down
This old world has become a raging sea
Tie the lines, let that old fog whistle sound
Soon all we know will no longеr be Sailors of the Lord turn your collars to the wind
And hunker down for she will surely blow
It's so hard to see horizon through all of this cold dark sin
To the wind and on to Heaven we must row " Joe Collins |
| rustymusket | 10 Feb 2022 11:15 a.m. PST |
Sorry to hear the news. My sympathies. |
 lewis cannon | 10 Feb 2022 11:28 a.m. PST |
Yeoman editor of the HMGS Mid-South newsletter for an age…. RIP Major Bill PT |
Old Glory  | 10 Feb 2022 12:24 p.m. PST |
So sorry to hear this!!
A gentleman in every sense of the word.
He will be missed and this old world just keeps on a-changen. Russ Dunaway |
| Titchmonster | 10 Feb 2022 12:44 p.m. PST |
This is very sad news. I met Major Bill at the Atlanta Toy Soldir show in 1989 and he pulled me into HMGS and I enjoyed the game he was putting on. He was a true gentleman and a great gamer. He will be missed. Without his encouragment the past 30 years of my life attending cons and meeting people through gaming would probably never unfolded like it has. T |
 Nashville | 10 Feb 2022 4:42 p.m. PST |
A great person… just a dedicated wargamer who made our games more fun…..
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| doc mcb | 10 Feb 2022 5:21 p.m. PST |
He will indeed be missed. |
| cavcrazy | 10 Feb 2022 9:43 p.m. PST |
I had never met the man, but after reading what everyone is saying, I certainly wish I had. I'm sorry for your loss. |
| KSmyth | 10 Feb 2022 9:48 p.m. PST |
Never met Bill but was always aware of his contributions to HMGS Mid-South. Tough to lose a fellow like that. Sorry he's gone. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 11 Feb 2022 9:03 p.m. PST |
Sorry for your loss. Thanks for letting us know about him. |
| mildbill | 12 Feb 2022 6:26 a.m. PST |
Sorry to hear this. I hope that there will be room at the table when I go, there sure are plenty of good gamers that have gone before. |
| Tumbleweed | 12 Feb 2022 9:09 a.m. PST |
If you couldn't attend that first meeting in Wally's basement back in the day, you could still attend one of the many impromptu staff meetings held in Bill's command vehicle – that old RV of his. He was tireless in his promotion of the HMGS and made a major contribution to it's success. Bill had a keen wit and a wry sense of humor. He was a great friend and will be missed. |
| torokchar | 12 Feb 2022 10:24 a.m. PST |
I never met him but saw his name everywhere over the years – RIP Bill. |
| BW1959 | 13 Feb 2022 4:56 a.m. PST |
I did meet him and gamed with him when he was stationed at Wright Paterson Air Force base. Sorry to hear of his passing. RIP sir you will be missed |
| greenknight4 | 20 Apr 2022 8:45 p.m. PST |
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thanks you for your donations.
