Tribute to Rick May

“

Rick May, the inimitable voice of the Soldier for thirteen years, many shorts and countless updates, passed away this April at age 79. We were lucky enough to work with Rick many times in the studio over the past decade. A quick-witted and kind-hearted collaborator, Rick endowed the character with a trademark bellow and bootfulls(sic) of idiotic charm. The Soldier wouldn’t be the Soldier without him. — TF2 Official Website, posted May 4, 2020

”

With the May 1, 2020 Patch, Valve commenced a month-long tribute to Rick May. Rick May, who passed away on April 8, 2020 from complications related to COVID-19, was the voice actor for the Soldier. For the month of May, the main menu class image was set to the main menu Soldier image, and the soundtrack selection was set to Saluting the Fallen, which is a rendition of Taps, a traditional salute performed at funerals and memorials of members and veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Rick May served in the U.S. Army in Japan, where he coordinated United Service Organizations (USO) shows.

Valve also placed 29 Soldier statues within most active released maps. These are bronze statues of the Soldier saluting on a marble pedestal with a plaque that reads "Rick May / 1940 - 2020 / That was a hell of a campaign son!". Random voice lines of the Soldier play as players linger around the statue. These statues reappear every 8th of April.

On May 4, 2020, the TF2 Team at Valve posted their respects for Rick May.

A permanent tribute was added to Granary on August 21, 2020, featuring the severed heads from the Meet the Soldier short as well as a Soldier statue.

The 7th comic, The Days Have Worn Away, is dedicated to Rick May.

Soldier statue locations

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  A Soldier statue seen on 2Fort.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Badlands.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Badwater.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Barnblitz.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Coal Pit.

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  A Soldier statue seen on DeGroot Keep

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  A Soldier statue seen on Doomsday.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Doublecross.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Dustbowl.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Foundry.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Frontier.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Goldrush.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Gorge.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Granary.

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  The permanent Soldier tribute on Granary.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Gravel Pit.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Gullywash.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Harvest.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Hightower.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Kong King.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Mercenary Park.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Mountain Lab.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Pipeline.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Process.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Sunshine.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Swiftwater.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Thunder Mountain.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Turbine.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Upward.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Viaduct.

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  A Soldier statue seen on Well.

Voice lines

Lines Spoken by the Soldier Statue

"That was a hell of a campaign, son!" "Tonight, your ass will be visited by three ghosts: my foot, my other foot, and a ghost!" "I love the smell of a kicked ass in the morning!" "All men gave some. Some men gave more than some." "TEN HUT!" "AT-TEEENNN-TION!" "Medals for everyone!" "Stay frosty!" "Friendship is magic, creampuff." "Time to inform your next of kin!" "Charge!" "Forward!" "Give 'em hell, boys!" "Last one alive, lock the door!" "Attack!" "Hehehyaaa!" "Maggots!" "If you know what's good for ya, you will run!" "You are scum! You are nothin' but a buncha' cowards!" "I am going to enjoy killing each and every one of you sorry sacks of scum!" "You sissified maggot scum have just signed your death warrants!" "If God had wanted you to live, He would not have created me!" "I am going to claw my way down your throat and tear out your very soul!" "Take your lumps like a man, Private Twinkletoes." "You are all weak. You are all bleeders." "Each and every one of you will be sent home to your momma' in a box!" "We have you surrounded, at least from this side!" "I joined this team just to kill maggots like you." "Do not look at me, I did not ask you a question!" "Surrender now maggots and you will not be harmed!" "The last word out of your sorry mouth will be Sir, and it will be loud!" "This is my world. You are not welcome in my world." "You are a spineless worm! You are a mistake of nature! You are walking vomit!" "You are a maggot hatched from a mutant maggot egg!" "I am going to strangle you with your own frilly training bra!" "You are all maggots, you scum sucking fruit baskets!" "Today is a good day!" "You've done me proud, boys!" "Everyone of you deserves a medal!" "The worm has turned, gentlemen!" "Booyah!" "Hooah!" "That hat is not mercenary-issue, son! There is no room for fashionistas in the art of war!" "Son, your hat is writing checks your head cannot cash!" "That is not a hat, that is an excuse to kick your ass!" "That is not a hat, that is proof that you hate America!" "Do you call that a hat? That is a pile of nonsense!" "Son, your fashion sense has gone AWOL!" "All gave some! They gave a lot! We didn't give an inch!" "Sun Tzu's got nothing on us!" "Sun Tzu might have invented the War, but we invented winning them!" "I am a courage-filled machine of war!" "Hah, we did it!" "Oorah!" "I've got three words for you: U! S! A!" "Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting for in a tank!" "This tank runs on blood, guts, and glory! The guts and glory I will provide! The blood is where you come in!" "If you do not like losing to an enlisted man, do not pick a fight with one!" "Dear other team: please reach into your ass and give me my foot back! You can have it back next game!" "They said we couldn't do it! They said we shouldn't do it! They begged us not to do it! And we did it anyway!" "All gave some! Some gave more! But only one gave nothing, the winner!" "Pick up their asses, gently men. Put them in a tub with scented candles. Tuck them into bed and kiss their asses on the forehead. Because we have kicked them all over this map and they are devastated!" "Sun Tzu said, 'Winning a hundred wars is not the best thing. The best thing is to win without fighting at all.' Men, Sun Tzu is an idiot! And if I ever see him, I will punch him in his mouth!" "This is my rifle, this is my gun! You maggots stink and that's why we won!" (Reference to the Rifleman's Creed) "Boots on the ground, boys!" "Let's show these muffin-tops what the wrong end of a Rocket Launcher looks like!" "Men, you are about to become someone's new worst nightmare!" "Any man comes at me airborne, I am turning into a meat cloud!" "Let's make some pain, boys!" "Drop your bibs and make some gibs, maggots!" "Everyone, please stand! [singing] God bless America, land of...America...and so forth and so on...Move out!" (Sung to the tune of "God Bless America") "War is like a game of chess: with guts on top of it! And instead of chess pieces, there's just brave blood-hungry sons-of-bitches who love war!" "Everyone, take a knee! Dear God, we are sorry we angered you, please stop helping the other team! Over and out!" "A winner knows when to fight and when not to fight! Answer: Never! Stop! Fighting!" "Men, George Washington never lost! Jesus never lost! Patton never lost! If winning's good enough for those war heroes, it's damn well good enough for us!" "[singing] I love to win, by the dawn's early light!" (Sung to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner") "[singing] I love to win, so I guess we should win!" (Sung to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner") "Now that is what I wanna see!" "And that is how you do it, men!" "I just tore you a new chimney, Smokey Joe!" "Less talk, more fight." "Pain is weakness leaving the body." "Down and give me twenty!" "If I have to crack some skulls, I will."

Update history

May 1, 2020 Patch

• Added a tribute to Rick May, voice of the Soldier.

August 21, 2020 Patch

• Updated cp_granary with a permanent Soldier statue.

Gallery

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  A news message in-game, announcing the tribute.

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  The Soldier statue on the TF2 Team's Official blog post.

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  Tribute to Rick May in The Days Have Worn Away.

External links

• A Hell of a Campaign, TF2 Official Website, May 4, 2020