Pat Tillman

[Archangel]

Don't think that this has been posted here already, but it was a good article:

http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Tillman_Pat.html

A patriot whose death gave a face to the sacrifices in the war on terror, Tillman openly squeezed life hard with both hands – no peeking through closed doors. And he lived it unconventionally, the norm be damned.
"Pat's driving on the same highway as everybody else," said Barbara Beard, the athletic director at Leland High School in San Jose, Calif., his alma mater. "But he's just on the other side of the road."
Cases in point:
• Defending a friend in a fight, a 17-year-old Tillman roughed up the assailant so badly that he served 30 days in juvenile detention for felony assault, a charge reduced to a misdemeanor. "I learned more from that one bad decision," he said years later, "than all the good decisions I've ever made."
• After Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder discussed the benefits of a redshirt season, Tillman responded: "I've got things to do with my life. You can do whatever you want with me, but in four years I'm gone." In 3½ years, the linebacker graduated summa cum laude with a marketing degree and 3.84 GPA.
• Looking for solitude, Tillman often climbed a 200-foot stadium light tower to relax and enjoy a panoramic view of the Phoenix area. "If you don't know Pat," said Phil Snow, Arizona State's defensive coordinator, "you would think he's crazy."
• Bored between NFL seasons with the Cardinals, Tillman raced in a marathon one year and a triathlon the next.
• Offered an average of $1.8 million annually for five years by St. Louis in 2001, he stayed with the Cardinals for $512,000, a statement of loyalty.
• Deeply affected by the 9/11 tragedy, Tillman turned down a $3.6 million, three-year offer from the Cardinals in 2002 to enter the service with his brother Kevin. They became Army Rangers – salary about $18,000 a year. It was his most head-turning choice of all, a choice he refused to speak about publicly.
"It's not just a snap decision," said then Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis. "You're dealing with a guy whose waters run pretty deep."
Patrick Daniel Tillman was born Nov. 6, 1976 in Fremont, Calif., the first of three sons to Patrick, a lawyer, and Mary, a teacher. Tillman started walking at 8½ months. His family had no television, and he and Kevin, two years younger, spent a lot of time playing outdoors. Pat had little fear of heights and enjoyed activities such as climbing trees and jumping from cliffs.
When cut from the baseball varsity as a freshman at Leland High School, Tillman turned to football. By his senior season in 1993, he was a star. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder scored 31 touchdowns, mostly as a running back, and had 110 tackles. Removed from one game with Leland safely ahead, he snuck back onto the field and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Considered small for major college football, he drew little interest from Pac-10 schools, except for Arizona State. Tillman became a starting linebacker in his junior year, when he was the Sun Devils' second-leading tackler during an 11-1 season that ended in a last-minute loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. As a senior, he led Arizona State in tackles and was the Pac-10's defensive player of the year.
The NFL largely ignored him, too, except for the Cardinals, who made him a "hometown" pick in the seventh round of the 1997 draft, No. 226 overall. When the Cards had scheduled a 15-minute, pre-draft workout, he made them stay for 45 minutes as he tried to improve every drill.
Tillman, switched to safety by Arizona, arrived at his first training camp looking like he'd come straight from Malibu, long hair flowing, wearing flip-flops and riding a bike. The mellow image melted on the field, where his trademarks were hard hits and high energy.
"We used to have to gear him down sometimes in practice," McGinnis said. "He only knew one speed."
The rookie started 10 games in 1998. Two years later, the strong safety set a franchise record with 224 tackles. The Cardinals, though, kept losing (25-39 from 1998 to 2001), which tested Tillman's leadership skills. "Don't tell me about the pain," he said in exhorting teammates. "Show me the baby."
The terrorists' attacks in 2001 brought Tillman a different pain. In an interview the following day with NFL Films, he talked about the relative unimportance of football. "My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor and a lot of my family has gone and fought in wars," he said. "And I really haven't done a damn thing."
Tillman and Kevin, a minor league baseball player, were determined to change that. Just weeks after Pat married his high school sweetheart, Marie Ugenti, he and his brother joined the Army, their goal the elite Rangers fighting corps. Pat turned his back on wealth and celebrity, telling friends he planned to return to football after duty.
Including basic training, Tillman trained for 28 weeks, in some phases enduring 20-hour days, before he and Kevin indeed became Rangers. The two had a tour of duty in Iraq in 2003 with the 75th Ranger Regiment. They returned to the United States that summer before going to Afghanistan as part of Operation Mountain Storm. The operation's objective was to disrupt and destroy the infrastructure of the al-Qaida terrorist organization and ultimately find Osama bin Laden, the group's leader considered to be the instigator of the 9/11 attacks.
On April 22, 2004, Tillman's platoon was ambushed in the early evening near Khost in a mountainous region near the Pakistan border. Fighting in difficult terrain in low light and with a disabled vehicle in tow, the platoon – accompanied by allied Afghan armed forces – battled enemy fire for 20 minutes, senior defense officials said. It was announced that Tillman was killed by the enemy after his heroic leadership helped to move a split section of his platoon to safety.
Five weeks later, the Army gave a different story, saying he died by probable friendly fire. The media reported that an army investigation indicated a Ranger squad leader mistook an Afghan soldier with Tillman as the enemy. The squad leader and other Rangers opened fire, killing both Tillman and the Afghan soldier.
In December 2004, The Washington Post concluded "that Tillman died unnecessarily after botched communications, a mistaken decision to split his platoon over the objections of its leader, and negligent shooting by pumped-up young Rangers – some in their first firefight – who failed to identify their targets as they blasted their way out of a frightening ambush."
Shortly after his death, Tillman was promoted from specialist to corporal and awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. The honors were not revoked following the investigation of the incident.
An estimated 3,500 attended a May 3 memorial service in San Jose, one of many tributes to Tillman. "Pat's best service to his country was to remind us all what courage really looks like," Arizona Senator John McCain told the crowd, "and that the purpose of all good courage is love."

[jasonglh]

One of the best snippets I ever read about Ranger Tillman:

As Steve White, Navy SEAL and family friend stated, "1976-2004, that one little dash in there represents a lifetime. How do we spend our dash?"

[jatx]

John McCain eulogized Pat Tillman here . A couple of parts are especially meaningful to me:

"Love and honor oblige us. We are obliged to value our blessings, and to pay our debts to those who sacrificed to secure them for us. They are blood debts we owe to the policemen and firemen who raced into the burning towers that others fled; to the men and women who left for dangerous, distant lands to take the war to our enemies and away from us, and to those who fought in all the wars of our history."

and

"Our country's security doesn't depend on the heroism of every citizen. Nor does our individual happiness depend upon proving ourselves heroic. But we have to be worthy of the sacrifices made on our behalf. We have to love our freedom, not just for the ease or material benefits it provides, not just for the autonomy it guarantees us, but for the goodness it makes possible. We have to love it so much we won't let it be constrained by fear or selfishness. We have to love it as much, even if not as heroically, as Pat Tillman loved it."

[Gypsy]

Good article. To all the Heroes, sung or "unsung"....I humbly thank you.

[Archangel]

Originally Posted by jatx

John McCain eulogized Pat Tillman here . A couple of parts are especially meaningful to me:

"Love and honor oblige us. We are obliged to value our blessings, and to pay our debts to those who sacrificed to secure them for us. They are blood debts we owe to the policemen and firemen who raced into the burning towers that others fled; to the men and women who left for dangerous, distant lands to take the war to our enemies and away from us, and to those who fought in all the wars of our history."

and

"Our country's security doesn't depend on the heroism of every citizen. Nor does our individual happiness depend upon proving ourselves heroic. But we have to be worthy of the sacrifices made on our behalf. We have to love our freedom, not just for the ease or material benefits it provides, not just for the autonomy it guarantees us, but for the goodness it makes possible. We have to love it so much we won't let it be constrained by fear or selfishness. We have to love it as much, even if not as heroically, as Pat Tillman loved it."

Wow, what an awesome eulogy.

Archangel, jasonglh, and jatx, thanks for the topic and quotes you posted here.

FrontSight

[Smokin Joe]

Check out this site. They have some great Pat Tillman video's and Flash.

http://www.chrisvalentines.com/projects/ptpage.html

[DunbarFC]

I was at Pat Tillman Day at the Arizona Cardinals first home game this year

In an attempt to escape the sun I went down below the bleachers and there on golf carts was Pat's family waiting to go out on the field at half time for the days ceremonies.

His dad looked up at me and saw the "40" pin I'd put on my Patriots hat and he gave me a smile and nudged someone in their entourage to point it out. I said something like " thanks Mr Tillman you have a great day " and then they were off and on to the field

If in the midst of having to go through losing Pat again, he could take the time to be gracious enough to be friendly to a stranger, it's easy to see how a dad like that turned out a son like Pat

And that pin is still on my hat

RIP

[12B4S]

April 16th a run for Pat Tilman took place down here at ASU, Pat's Run. Check out the following URL for pics. Particularly pic #10.

http://www.pattillmanfoundation.net/

[Gypsy]

Picture #12 is pretty cool too.

[dennisw]

I live in a small town in So. Cal. Actually, there are no small towns in So. Cal. it just feels like it. Norco has been described as a piece of Texas dropped into So. Cal. Why? We're a football town. High School football. We take it real serious.

One of our quarterbacks received a scholarship to ASU, so I begin to watch ASU football games to see how he was doing. As I watched, I became fascinated and later a fan of an undersized linebacker named Pat Tillman. It seemed his capacity for life was enormous and it was easy to live vicariously.

Later, I was blown away by his decision to join the Army. He was old school. I have military friends who bitch about Pat receiving so much attention. Why Him? But I don't believe they have taken the time to research the man.

They don't realize that before Pat was deployed to Afghanistan, he and his brother visited the Arizona Cardinal locker room after their game against the Seatle Seahawks. After their visit they slipped out the back, as they did not believe they should receive more attention then their fellow soldiers.

How many of us would actually turn our back on millions? I mean really give it up. I use to have a partner who said you can't tell the color of a man's ass until you put a buck on the table. I'm not sure I know what that means, but I do know that most folks who have a million dollars waved in front of their face will take the money and never look back. No, The attention given Pat doesn't diminished the memory of others, it just celebrates the company they keep.

An article in the local paper about Pat was the impetous for my youngest to join the military. Leadership motivates, management regulates. Pat was a leader.

I was saddened with Pat's death. I had the opportunity to catch the last 2 hours of his memorial service on ESPN 2. Probably the most amazing two hours of television I have ever witnessed. I emailed ESPN to see if I could get a copy of the whole program, but they don't provide copies of their broadcasts. At least they showed it.

Pat was a free spirit, which sometimes scares us. However, he is what is right about who we are. The naysayers and shallow Americans will say he wasted his life. But we few, we happy few, we know, as a human, he aspired to stand next to our saviour in giving his life for his fellow man. His life wasn't wasted. We are all elevated by his example, and the example of all our brave troops and veterans.

As Miguel Cervantes said, Freedom and honor are the two most coveted gifts the Earth holds in its bosom and a man ought to die for either.

RIP Pat.

[Smokin Joe]

Being that we have multiple threads on Ranger Pat Tillman. I figured this was as good a place as any to post it.

http://www.harkinstheatres.com/movie...?movieId=91635

It is a documentary on Ranger Pat Tillman, although I fear based on the trailer that the documentary will not focus on his life and how he lived it. But how it ended, the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, and the fall out there after.

I personally think we should let Ranger Tillman rest in piece....