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Pat Tilman VS Ali,
Time to stir the pot. Things are boring. Pat Tilman made a great sacrifice and should be remembered for that. In fact he made the ultimate sacrifice. My son asked what makes him more heroic than a neighbor who left behind a wife and children. Probably n othing.
We need to remember, however, that, like Jessica Lynch, he did nothing to "Toot his own horn". The hulabaloo iwas created by the media. Tilman had a conviction and he stuck to it.
Since more seems to be made of his financial sacrifice than his actual military career I would like to submit a man who did likewise - Cassius Clay aka Mohammed Ali. I was on active duty when he resisted the draft, and like most others I hated and despised what he had done.
Many years later I saw a movie entitled: "I Am the Greatest", which explained some of the reasons for Ali's actions. Ali had a conviction and, like Tilman, he stuck to it. Agree or disagree he was correct in the fact that his conviction was overturned. To understand some of his racist remarks you have to have lived in the day.
Ali could have reported for active duty and never seen a shot fired in anger. That would have been the easy way out. Instead, he gave up more money per round he would have fought, than the 2,3 mil. multi year contract Tilman gave up. He also sat in prison during the what would have been the height of his career.
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