I am sorry to read that Pat Tillman was a leftist and had a criminal background. It nevertheless does not diminish his tragic death and the heroism he displayed by volunteering to service his country in Afghanistan. However there are some disturbing revelations in this article about how he died and what he believed.
by Kyle Smith
In May of 2003, an enlisted infantry soldier named Pat Tillman wrote in Baghdad, “a bunch of EPWs [enemy prisoners of war] escaped from across the street today. Twenty escaped while four have already been caught. Nub [his brother Kevin, also a soldier] and I are rooting for the other sixteen. Sometimes it’s hard not to cheer for the underdog. P.S. — These are not military POWs, but civilians they’re holding for info.”
Tillman knew that many “civilians” had helped run Saddam’s despotic regime. Certainly he knew that soldiers in war zones do not ordinarily cheer for the escape of the people they are trying to capture or kill.
Pat Tillman was a complicated guy.
This week the fallen Ranger, patriot, all-pro NFL safety, Noam Chomsky admirer, atheist, convicted assailant, publicity hater, seeker and — yes — war hero is the subject of a Michael Moore-praised documentary, “The Tillman Story,” that explores the circumstances of his death in April 2004. A more complete picture of Tillman emerges in “Where Men Win Glory,” the book by the quest chronicler Jon Krakauer (“Into Thin Air”), which has just been published in paperback with new material about the reasons why Tillman’s death was not publicly termed a fratricide until the month following his demise.
There is a lot of Tillman to grasp, and a lot of Tillman to go around. He was the manliest of men, yet a week before he shipped out to Afghanistan his wife joked that he had become so sensitive he was practically growing breasts. Liberals and conservatives are equally interested in seizing his legend, and in defining what he symbolized. The left will revel in “The Tillman Story” and read it as a ferocious indictment of a coverup that went to the highest levels in a tawdry effort to market a phony war.
Conservatives will reply that Tillman supported the Afghanistan invasion (though he strongly opposed the Iraq war), that accidental fratricide is a blunt fact as old as war, and that it’s understandable that military officers would want to make certain of the facts (and get a second opinion, and drag their feet) before announcing that the most famous enlisted man since Elvis Presley had been ripped apart by bullets fired by his friends.
[...]
Every time he crossed that wire, he was on a mission to conquer the great within. At his worst, his gung-ho instincts betrayed his thirst for the ennobling, his warrior spirit — that flame Homer called thumos. In high school, a frenzied, out-of-control Tillman once joined a brawl that concluded with him savagely beating an innocent bystander he mistakenly thought had hit a friend of his. Tillman literally kicked his victim’s teeth in, and was charged with felony assault. When the judge learned that a conviction on this charge would void the teenager’s football scholarship to ASU, she lowered it to a misdemeanor. Tillman served 30 days in jail in 1994. Note that in Homer (whose “Iliad” furnishes Krakauer with the title of his biography), thumos is a quality that drives Odysseus forward — but one he must control in order to survive.
Tillman joined the Army for reasons that were stirring and selfless — or were they selfish? The question was much on his mind.
Though the point is disputed (by liberals, anyway), there can be little doubt why Tillman walked away from what could have been a multimillion-dollar payday as a strong safety in the NFL and enlisted in the Army. In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, Tillman said, “My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor. And a lot of my family has . . . gone and fought in wars. And I really haven’t done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that.” He added, “We play football, you know? It is so unimportant compared to everything that’s taken place.” He enlisted in May of 2002 — the same week he got married. (His little brother Kevin, who would be just down the road when Tillman was slain, enlisted beside him, having walked away from his own job — second baseman for a Cleveland Indians farm team.)
[...]
Tillman had said that he was repelled by the idea of his legend being “parade[d] through the streets” by the administration of George W. Bush, whom he derided as a “cowboy” for launching a “f – - – ing illegal” invasion of Iraq. But if Tillman could today talk to the soldiers who shot him, he would understand them. No matter how opposed he was to the Iraq invasion (at a time when American support was 79% and support among the troops “probably exceeded 95%,” according to Krakauer), he also wanted in. As a raw rookie, he was judged too green to come along when most of his team boarded helicopters and went off to engage the enemy at Iraq’s Qadisiyah Airbase a week after the war began. A few days earlier he had written, “My heart goes out to those who will suffer . . . most of those who will feel the wrath of this ordeal want nothing more than to live peacefully.”
Read the rest here: The complex, tragic life and death of Pat Tillman
Tags: Kyle Smith, Pat Tillman
Friendly fire is all too common in wars.
I didn’t know most of that abt. Pat Tillman. I think I’m sorry I found it out.
chickadee wrote:
Me too. I knew his brother engaged in a lot of Bush bashing.
I still wonder why Tillman enlisted given his politics seemed to be to the left of John Kerry.
@ chickadee:
Same here. Complicated indeed.
@ Speranza:
Maybe he wanted to be a Senator from massachusetts some day. I agree with Chickadee. It would have been better to think of him as a hero tragically felled.
Bizarre.Why did all this not come out 7 years ago when abc, cbs, nbc and cnn could have used it?
So, rather than being an uber patriot he was just a thrill seeker?
Speranza wrote:
Wtf was he up to, even joining the military. I really like and admire Kyle Smith. He is a great writer. He has portrayed Tillman almost as a dilettante who had maybe seen a war movie but had no idea what he was getting into. And Tillman’s musings and ramblings on the enemy and the war effort were like something a high school kid would write. It doesn’t sound like he had his boots on the ground when he landed in Af-gone-ee-ston. This is sad.
@ BatGuano:
With Hard Left tendancies. Like Vin Diesel in XXX, except several shades of red darker.
Iron Fist wrote:
I quite agree. Recall that famous line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – “when the truth comes up against the legend, print the legend”.
chickadee wrote:
That’s how I feel. Sad.
He did go to fight for his country, unlike most other liberals who sit around wringing their hands about opposition to a mosque near Ground Zero.
BatGuano wrote:
What’s with the Moshe Dayan avatar?
@ Speranza:
It should be noted that this doesn nothing to denigrate the heroism of the thousands and thousands of real heros who have served and are still serving over there. This is ultimately just a let-down about a guy who was, in his own words, supremely selfish.
vagabond trader wrote:
The whole thing seems like an exercise in frivolity. A waste. I wonder if the military should even allow famous (semi-famous) people in, in a capacity like this. He had an attitude of philosophical elitism where he waxed poetic abt. being thrilled the enemy had escaped. I bet his fellow soldiers didn’t share it.
i heard what happened from the father of a soldier who was there…. and if what he said is true….. and i have no reason to believe it’s not….the gov’t should not have tried to cover this up but what they actually covered up is not what everyone thinks….
@ Iron Fist:
He wanted to be a hero.
@ livefreeor die:
He still has my respect for that but did he do it just to put it on his
list of dangerous things he has done? I never served so I can’t be too critical of his service. He is a complicated man (complete the appropriate “Shaft” reference).
@ BatGuano:
Can you dig it?
BatGuano wrote:
Agreed. I feel that whatever the reasons behind why he went, he still went. I think a lot of major decisions people make in life (i.e., enlisting, getting married, having children) are often not just based on noble reasons.
@ Rodan:
Yes, but to whom? It doesn’t sound like he had that part totally figured out.
Iron Fist wrote:
I agree but I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness about this whole affair.
@ Speranza:
I attended a speech of his in the late 70′s and he always exemplified the spirit of the Israelis to me. He was been a hero of mine since 1967 when he liberated Jerusalem.
Now that you mention it, could my nic give the wrong idea? I’ll change my avatar if it is misunderstood.
@ livefreeor die:
When I find out someone is a Leftist, it changes my opinion about them. Everything they do or have done is colored with the knowledge that they are a Leftist. I would feel the same way learning that they were a Nazi, for example, or a Mohammedan. This is not prejudice, unless you consider knowledge of an ideology that is antithetical to your own, and understanding that it is antithetical, to be a form of prejudice.
@ vagabond trader:
Right on.
BatGuano wrote:
No you can use whatever avatar you like. Dayan’s leadership during the
1973 war however I must inform you was pathetic.
BatGuano wrote:
“They say this cat Shaft is a bad ****** ******.Shut your mouth!”
Iron Fist wrote:
sadly, I have to agree with you.
Iron Fist wrote:
He didn’t have ANYTHING WHATSOEVER figured out.
Speranza wrote:
But I’m I’m talkin’ Bout Shaft!
Speranza wrote:
Me, too.
BatGuano wrote:
Well you can dig it!
I got a DVD of Isaac Hayes performing that song with an orchestra. It’s freakin’ bad ass.
1389AD wrote:
I mean Audie Murphy was a lifelong Democrat but the Dems were normal during his lifetime.
@ Speranza:
I don’t know about his role in the ’73 war. He was overshadowed by Golda Meyer and Ariel Sharon: both were heroes.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
He became a Scientologist -not so bad ass in my opinion.
BatGuano wrote:
He pretty much had a nervous breakdown predicted the Fall of the Third Temple and was absolutely useless.I always felt he was overrated as a military man.
New DOD coming up, SFZionist and Killgore are OK with Hamas supporters.
Iron Fist wrote:
To the Left.
Rodan wrote:
Fuck them both. Let’s not get away from this thread which is actually an eyeopener.
@ Speranza:
Thanks. I’ll look further into that. Are there any good bio’s of Dayan you can recommend?
@ Speranza:
Wait, shit! The fall of the THIRD Temple?
Chomsky admirer? That’s odd. You wouldn’t expect a leftist to enlist.
Speranza wrote:
How about his Kosher counterpart?
BatGuano wrote:
Just do some internet research.
@ Macker:
Thank you. I love shooting wine out my nose!
Urban Infidel wrote:
Occasionally a leftist will have a military background – Kerry, Wesley Clark, Tony McPeak, Ricardo sanchez.
HAHAHAH~
Rodan wrote:
The two of them, still giving the Johnson a tongue bath,huh? Losers!!
typicalwhitey wrote:
I see they are eating their own.
Michelle getting beamed up. Proof they are using alien technology.
@ Speranza:
Will do.
Does anyone think that Kyle Smith was alluding to the possibility that it could have been more than ‘friendly fire?’ I hate to even pose such a question but he did emphasize the fact that the guy standing right next to him didn’t even suffer a scratch in the barrage of bullets. Maybe just the luck of the draw.
Bye, Ya’ll
I saw the assholes comments about Charles Krauthammer. Krauthammer on his worst day is 5 times smarter the magnificently ignorant Fatso Johnson.
BatGuano wrote:
That’s how I read it. Overwhelming irrational pressure to prove himself. His politics don’t matter. Was it ruled a fragging, or was it fubar?
Kinda reminded me of “Hurt Locker.” Gung-ho thrill seeker puts his squad in danger.
New DOD!
Killgore Trout and the Fraudulent Zionist are OK with Terrorist Supporters
@ BatGuano:
P.S. Nice to see you’re still around.
Urban Infidel wrote:
Not really, there are Leftists in the military. They join sop they can use their service as a shield. My cousin encountered some when he served and hated them.
@ chickadee:
Chicy, I think the father has heavily hinted at the govt having a hand in his death, as in assination. I have no idea what happened but I always cut the family lots of slack. Even Sheehan. Their grief is something I hope I never experience.
@ Rodan:
OT– That NYP article that Possum dredged up from last January had a reference to CJ’s post on 10 September 2001. One sentence, one comment.
Bunk X wrote:
Where did he do this?
Hated to learn this about Tillman. Now my question is if he was so into justice and for the underdog, did he apologize to the innocent guy he savagely beat and kicked his teeth out? Did he help him buy new teeth? And how do these fucking judges get off reducing the crime because it might mess up a scholarship? I have no sympathy or respect for someone that did what he did. Now it looks like he is just another worthless Leftist, with a violent streak.
OT Sheriff Joe Vs Oily Hack Douchebag Paul Begala On Border Insecurity, Amnesty
Love me some Sheriff Joe.
Rodan wrote:
On a recent OOT. Here’s the link to the NYT article. I know you’ve seen it. It’s where the writer coined the term “Un-Mata Hari.” lol city.
I just watched the metrosexual mayor of NYC say that we cannot deny Muslims to build a Mosque at ground zero, “Where liberty was attacked!” Hey you stupid spineless Libtard, liberty was attacked by whom? Zod? The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? The Blob? Predator? No you fuckwit it was attacked by Muslims! I want to hold your face into a pile of shit until you say it! We were attacked by Muslim! Liberty was attacked by Muslims!
Say it fucktard, I will not pull your head up out of the crap until you say the FUCKING TRUTH! No more of these half-truths! Yes we allow freedom of religion here in America. No Islam had NOTHING to do with the founding or greatness of America. Yes the first amendment protects religions. No it does not protect philosophies, whether cloaked in brown uniforms with double lighting bolts, or in a clerics robes, when that religion is a pronounced enemy of us, and of every other way of life on the face of the earth!
What was that mayor I could not hear what you said with your mouth buried in crap, do you say Islam is a religion of violence and misogyny? OK, you can pull your head up and breathe now.
@ Rodan:From the article:
@ Bunk X:
Link isn’t working!
The first Obamacare Death Panel has voted 12-1 against breast cancer treatment.
@ Jehu:
I, for one, don’t believe Mayor Bloomberg is a metrosexual. Оба́ма is that. Is it possible he’s more like Барни Франк?
With all due respect, who gives a crap what Tillman was? So fucking what if he was a liberal. He died serving in the United States Military, period end of story.
@ Macker:
I don’t know what is wrong with Bloomberg. One of these guys that has always won and thinks the sun rises out of his ass. He needs to lose a few times in life, and lose big.
@ Rodan: Worked for me.
http://www.webcitation.org/mainframe.php
huckfunn wrote:
Threadworthy.
@ Bunk X:
Not me. Comes up a blank page.
@ Bunk X:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24Footballs-t.html
@ 1389AD:
Go for it. This is just the beginning. I wonder what will be next.
huckfunn wrote:
Prostate cancer.
@ Bunk X:
It’s good now.
huckfunn wrote:
Prostrate cancer treatment for men….I remember reading that someone
in the government felt that the best treatment for prostrate cancer was no treatment.
@ Bunk X:
Bread and butter again.
Bunk X wrote:
I’m thinking lung cancer will be next. They will determine that if you had/have a bad habit that is detrimental to your health, it’s your fault and you’re done.
@ Bunk X:
That was a great article for two reasons. One: It revealed Foster as a petty paranoid narcissist and,… Two: Was a slap to his face for the fact he touted and advertised the article was upcoming. He thought, wrongly, he would be embraced by the Left by his blog turning Left and would show him in a favorable light.
HA!
huckfunn wrote:
Well, we have to drop this care because the money for this care now has to go to pay the bureaucrats who administer this care that is no longer offered because of lack of funds.
There is going to a lot of this. Just prepare yourselves to get the red pill.
huckfunn wrote:
I already have a ton of material that I haven’t gotten around to writing up yet. Gotta work tomorrow and that takes a lot out of me in terms of what I can do afterward. Could you write it up and submit it?
@ Lily:
It’s amazing that we’re even having this discussion. Remember the move Logan’s Run? Our betters will decide who makes the cut and who doesn’t.
Rodan wrote:
It’s all good.
Lily wrote:
What’s HER name?
For men, if nothing else gets you, prostate cancer will.
huckfunn wrote:
My father’s father died of lung cancer even though he never smoked. But he worked in a factory in a place where he was exposed to all sorts of contaminants, then lived most of his adult life in a highly polluted city.
1389AD wrote:
Why don’t you go ahead and do it. I’m going to be pretty busy rest of the week and I’m not much of a technical writer. Besides, you have done the research. Go for it. Doesn’t bother me a bit. I’ll even throw ya some updings.
huckfunn wrote:
Yes it is. But it isn’t lung cancer yet …. it is prostrate cancer.
And I do remember the movie Logan’s Run. These types of decsisions should be made between Doctor and patient. Period.
@ Bunk X:
I don’t remember her name….let me see if I can find this nasty bit of article.
Lily wrote:
We’ll tell our grandchildren (if we live that long) “those were the days”.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
What amazed me was that a liberal writer for the NYT pegged him so precisely. Anyone here who reads that article also knows which “stalker blogs” he’s talking about, and, without naming them, made obvious reference to Rodan and Savage, too. Lol city x 2. Oughtta be republished at DoD. [hint hint].
@ Lily:
Pssst– It’s prostate, not prostrate.
I can’t seem to find it …. probably because do not know the name of the woman ….I know I read it the newspaper a couple of months ago.
Because I was thinking thank God my husband was diagnosed and treated (surgery) this year and is now cancer free. Under ObamaCare he would not be treated.
@ Bunk X:
Yeah …… my spelling at times sucks….
@ Bunk X:
@ Lily:
The FDA has just approved this treatment for prostate cancer:
Lily wrote:
Friendly heads up. No such thing as grovelling cancer for real men.
Bunk X wrote:
Prostrate is what they do over at the swamp.
gulfloafer wrote:
That is true.
Oh noes, not another new thread already? I hate when that hasppens. Beam me up.
huckfunn wrote:
And THAT’S why the missus is planting nothing but tomatos.
[I also notice that spellcheck wants me to change the spelling to Dan Quayle's approved alternative spelling: tomatoes.]
Worlds Deadliest Warriors, US Green Berets vs Soviet Spetznaz…
Bunk X wrote:
Thankfully, Mrs. Funn plants nothing but the little ones. I call them Tom-Ah-Toes.
@ Bunk X:
Now THIS is funny: selrahC says he’s never been to Россия. I’m sure Путин would love to have him around as his Propaganda Minister!
@ doriangrey:
Go Green Berets!
Macker wrote:
According to the article from the NYT, Chuck enjoyed touring Russia. Where did he deny it? Heh.
@ Bunk X:
It certainly wasn’t September 10, 2001.
huckfunn wrote:
OK, done.
I put the article up. But I covered just one particular angle, mirroring Obamacare with a historical view of political corruption from Chicago.
I CANNOT do an exhaustive take on Obamacare and death panels and the anger and outrage it should arouse. That will require MANY threads.
Everyone, whenever you find more evidence of death panels, administrative euthanasia, corruption and conflicts of interest with regard to government-controlled health care funds, and the like, PLEASE submit your own threads. They need NOT be elaborate; it is vital to keep hammering away on the issue. People ARE reading this blog!
What Pat Tillman’s politics and his stances on Iraq were doesn’t matter to me because he was willing to enlist and serve after what happened on 9/11. As for his motivation, I don’t believe it was thrill-seeking on his part, but a sense of guilt that he wasn’t laying his life on the line like his ancestors had done.
Jehu wrote:
I think every one needs to experience some major disappointment or humbling experience in life.
doriangrey wrote:
Nobody is denying that. The whole popint is that initial appearances and assumptions can be deceiving,
Jehu wrote:
I was thinking the same thing. THe story about him beating the crap out of the guy was more disappointing to me then his leftist politics.
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