| Gladiator |
Pat Tillman walked away from the NFL leaving a multi million contract behind to serve his country as an elite ranger after the events of 9/11. Pat Tillman died today in Afghanistan, he was 27 years old.
RIP :(
Thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family.
PS: Pat's brother Kevin also left a professional Baseball career to serve, he survived the attack. |
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| keremoner |
quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator
Pat Tillman walked away from the NFL leaving a multi million contract behind to serve his country as an elite ranger after the events of 9/11. Pat Tillman died today in Afghanistan, he was 27 years old.
RIP :(
Thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family.
PS: Pat's brother Kevin also left a professional Baseball career to serve, he survived the attack.
He was a truly honorable person who gave up millions to protect our freedoms. May he rest in peace. Sadly, if you look at yahoo message boards, it is full of liberals calling him names for 'dying for GWB's war'. Sometimes people make me sick. I hope that our libs here have a little more class than the ones on yahoo message boards!! |
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| A2MDXer |
quote:
Originally posted by keremoner
He was a truly honorable person who gave up millions to protect our freedoms. May he rest in peace. Sadly, if you look at yahoo message boards, it is full of liberals calling him names for 'dying for GWB's war'. Sometimes people make me sick. I hope that our libs here have a little more class than the ones on yahoo message boards!!
Can't speak for Yahoo message boards (b/c I don't read them) but are they really calling Tillman names or are they calling GWB names? Obviously there is a big difference. If it's the former, then shame on them. :mad: Anyone criticizing a soldier for service is wrong.
If it's the latter, then I see nothing disrespectful there (at least with regard to Tillman's family). I think we all agree it's a tragedy (and not just his death but all of the soldiers who have died). |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by keremoner
He was a truly honorable person who gave up millions to protect our freedoms. May he rest in peace. Sadly, if you look at yahoo message boards, it is full of liberals calling him names for 'dying for GWB's war'. Sometimes people make me sick. I hope that our libs here have a little more class than the ones on yahoo message boards!!
What you both said!!! |
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| keremoner |
quote:
Originally posted by A2MDXer
Can't speak for Yahoo message boards (b/c I don't read them) but are they really calling Tillman names or are they calling GWB names? Obviously there is a big difference. If it's the former, then shame on them. :mad: Anyone criticizing a soldier for service is wrong.
If it's the latter, then I see nothing disrespectful there (at least with regard to Tillman's family). I think we all agree it's a tragedy (and not just his death but all of the soldiers who have died).
GWB is fair game but they are calling him names also. |
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| xfactor |
quote:
Originally posted by keremoner
GWB is fair game but they are calling him names also.
That crosses the line in my book. Anyone who acts on his convictions such as he did deserves a lot of respect. |
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| neide |
I do respect anyone who fights for this country, regardless if I support the war or not. Supporting the troops and supporting the war ARE NOT the same thing. (People all the time try to say they are the same thing, I'd be happy to take on that debate with anyone.)
BTW, many people (myself included) support the war in Afghan, but not the war in Iraq. I don't know how surveys fall on the difference between the two, but I'd wager a bet that many more people do support the Afghan war then the Iraq war.
Since I'm in AZ, the local media has been blasted with stories about Tilman today. All well and good, but lets not forget he is but of of many who have died. He may be more famous, but that doesn't mean he's more valuable or more brave. |
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| keremoner |
It is not how Pat Tillman died that makes him about as great of an American hero as we can possibly know.
It is how he lived.
It is not what he gave up, but how and why he gave it up. It's the fact that all those sports phrases that we casually throw around – like sacrifice and commitment and courage – actually meant something to him.
It is how an NFL player, living the American dream, chose not what his country could do for him, but what he could do for his country.
So not long after Sept. 11, 2001, he walked away from football, away from the money and glory of the NFL and, along with his minor league baseball-playing brother, took his considerable physical gifts to the Army Rangers.
Duty. Honor. Country.
Tillman, 27, was killed in action Thursday in Afghanistan, where coalition forces continue to search for Osama bin Laden.
Tillman is just one of hundreds of brave soldiers from around the globe who have given their lives trying to help make ours safer since Sept. 11. Sadly, there will be more.
Maybe most telling about Tillman is that he, it would seem, would be embarrassed about articles like this, ones that focus on his passing rather than that of Army Spc. Christopher Gelineau, 23, of Portland, Maine, who was killed in an explosion outside Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday.
Or Marvin Camposiles, 25, of Austell, Ga., Jonathan Hartman, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla., Michael McGlothin, 21, of Milwaukee, Wis., or Robert Henderson II, 33, of Alvaton, Ky. – among six Army personnel and four Marines killed Saturday in Iraq.
No, Tillman isn't a hero for dying, but for living. For putting his morals where his mouth was and not just enlisting, but doing it in the most humble and honorable way.
When he and his brother arrived at Georgia's Fort Benning to begin their training in July 2002 he "came in like everyone else, on a bus from a processing station," the base's public information officer said then. Tillman promptly turned down hundreds of requests for interviews and went about anonymously being a soldier.
No press. No fanfare. No "look at me" publicity stunts.
His move shocked professional sports, populated by so many of our most able-bodied Americans. Tillman was the only one to enlist from the NFL, which is fine – there is no shame in not enlisting.
But it is difficult to cheer ever again for a knucklehead like Simeon Rice who went on Jim Rome's radio show and said about Tillman, "He really wasn't that good, not really. He was good enough to play in Arizona, [but] that's just like the XFL."
After Rome stopped him, Rice finally relented. Sort of.
"I think it's very admirable, actually," Rice said. "You've got to give kudos to a guy like that because he did it for his own reasons. Maybe it's the Rambo movies, maybe it's Sylvester Stallone, Rocky, whatever compels him."
Or maybe it was just serving his country. Maybe it was being a part of a cause greater than his own self-interest. Maybe it was trying to help in a seemingly helpless situation.
In actuality, what Tillman did was no different than what thousands of other American men and women have done. The country needs them and they answer the call. He may have been the only one staring at a $3.6 million contract, but that's money.
This, obviously, is something more valuable than that.
Tillman probably would cringe at the outpouring of attention and affection that his death will bring. He didn't get into this for that. But if his death can remind Americans about the sacrifices of our soldiers, rich and poor, famous and faceless, then maybe something positive can come of it.
Our volunteer military has performed brilliantly overseas. They've served with great skill and made great sacrifices.
Not just the NFL millionaire. All of them.
It seems that is all Pat Tillman wanted to be. One part of the Army. Part of the Army of one.
"The quintessential definition of a patriot" is how John McCain, the Arizona senator and former prisoner of war in Vietnam described him.
And he was.
An American hero not for where and when he died, but how and why he lived. |
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| hhwc |
quote:
Originally posted by keremoner
It is not how Pat Tillman died that makes him about as great of an American hero as we can possibly know.
It is how he lived.
It is not what he gave up, but how and why he gave it up. It's the fact that all those sports phrases that we casually throw around – like sacrifice and commitment and courage – actually meant something to him.
It is how an NFL player, living the American dream, chose not what his country could do for him, but what he could do for his country.
So not long after Sept. 11, 2001, he walked away from football, away from the money and glory of the NFL and, along with his minor league baseball-playing brother, took his considerable physical gifts to the Army Rangers.
Duty. Honor. Country.
Tillman, 27, was killed in action Thursday in Afghanistan, where coalition forces continue to search for Osama bin Laden.
Tillman is just one of hundreds of brave soldiers from around the globe who have given their lives trying to help make ours safer since Sept. 11. Sadly, there will be more.
Maybe most telling about Tillman is that he, it would seem, would be embarrassed about articles like this, ones that focus on his passing rather than that of Army Spc. Christopher Gelineau, 23, of Portland, Maine, who was killed in an explosion outside Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday.
Or Marvin Camposiles, 25, of Austell, Ga., Jonathan Hartman, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla., Michael McGlothin, 21, of Milwaukee, Wis., or Robert Henderson II, 33, of Alvaton, Ky. – among six Army personnel and four Marines killed Saturday in Iraq.
No, Tillman isn't a hero for dying, but for living. For putting his morals where his mouth was and not just enlisting, but doing it in the most humble and honorable way.
When he and his brother arrived at Georgia's Fort Benning to begin their training in July 2002 he "came in like everyone else, on a bus from a processing station," the base's public information officer said then. Tillman promptly turned down hundreds of requests for interviews and went about anonymously being a soldier.
No press. No fanfare. No "look at me" publicity stunts.
His move shocked professional sports, populated by so many of our most able-bodied Americans. Tillman was the only one to enlist from the NFL, which is fine – there is no shame in not enlisting.
But it is difficult to cheer ever again for a knucklehead like Simeon Rice who went on Jim Rome's radio show and said about Tillman, "He really wasn't that good, not really. He was good enough to play in Arizona, [but] that's just like the XFL."
After Rome stopped him, Rice finally relented. Sort of.
"I think it's very admirable, actually," Rice said. "You've got to give kudos to a guy like that because he did it for his own reasons. Maybe it's the Rambo movies, maybe it's Sylvester Stallone, Rocky, whatever compels him."
Or maybe it was just serving his country. Maybe it was being a part of a cause greater than his own self-interest. Maybe it was trying to help in a seemingly helpless situation.
In actuality, what Tillman did was no different than what thousands of other American men and women have done. The country needs them and they answer the call. He may have been the only one staring at a $3.6 million contract, but that's money.
This, obviously, is something more valuable than that.
Tillman probably would cringe at the outpouring of attention and affection that his death will bring. He didn't get into this for that. But if his death can remind Americans about the sacrifices of our soldiers, rich and poor, famous and faceless, then maybe something positive can come of it.
Our volunteer military has performed brilliantly overseas. They've served with great skill and made great sacrifices.
Not just the NFL millionaire. All of them.
It seems that is all Pat Tillman wanted to be. One part of the Army. Part of the Army of one.
"The quintessential definition of a patriot" is how John McCain, the Arizona senator and former prisoner of war in Vietnam described him.
And he was.
An American hero not for where and when he died, but how and why he lived.
Pat answered the call along with many others. I for one am grateful there are still people like Pat willing to sacrifice all for their country.
My prayers to this family. |
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| laborlitigator |
Why does this always have to be a political debate about Bush?!
Let's pay our respect to Mr. Tillman who demonstrated his love for his country.
Thank you Pat!
:18: |
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| Gladiator |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
Why does this always have to be a political debate about Bush?!
Let's pay our respect to Mr. Tillman who demonstrated his love for his country.
Thank you Pat!
:18:
Out of respect for Pat Tillman please do not use this thread for a political debate but only to post your thoughts on the life of the Tillman brothers.
Thank you |
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| keremoner |
Pat Tillman never wanted to be a big story nor an American hero. He just wanted to do his duty, as proudly and anonymously as the soldiers who stood by his side.
There were no news conferences, no interviews, no parades, no self-congratulations. A year ago, Tillman left his new wife, Marie, his $3.6 million NFL contract and disappeared into the desert night.
He fought with the Army Rangers in Eastern Afghanistan, chasing al-Qaida and Taliban into the dark corners and dangerous shadows. In the end, he turned out to be one more soldier returning home to the sad, sad sound of Taps.
With his ultimate sacrifice, Tillman serves as a reminder that there are so many more coming home just like him: Draped under an American flag, tears flowing over the casket.
He never explained one of the most surprising stories in sports, an Arizona Cardinal leaving the glamour, the money, the good life for an enlistment wage of $18,000 and the risk of that firefight on Thursday that cost him his life.
September 11, 2001 didn't inspire Tillman to wear a flag on his football helmet or sing the "Star Spangled Banner" a little louder on Sundays. It inspired an epiphany that most Americans would've never stopped long enough to consider -- never mind act upon.
Without ever meeting him, without ever hearing him completely detail his motives, it seems that what Pat Tillman would've wanted today was for everyone to remember those Americans and allies dying every day in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ultimate sacrifice wasn't walking away from football and a fortune, because clearly his principles and priorities transcended the values of the culture. To Tillman, it seemed, the ultimate sacrifice belonged to the fathers and mothers who left families back in the States, whose deaths merit a story in the hometown paper and a red, white and blue wreath in the cemetery.
Tillman is a face for today, and maybe America needed that, because everyone had started to grow numb to the mounting losses overseas, that lost sense of the tragedy that unfolded every day there. The big, fancy battles that finished with the fall of Baghdad no longer fill television screens, and maybe Americans who became lost again in the every day minutia needed a kick in the stomach.
Today's loss turned out to be Pat Tillman. Maybe he never believed that this could be the result of his brave choice to enlist, but more than a year later, there is clearly a bright lining to his dark loss: The way that no one else could have -- for better or worse, for whatever it says of our society -- one familiar face made millions of Americans stop and consider the sacrifices of those serving with him.
Selflessness is thrown around too carelessly in sports -- ballplayers made out to be heroes when they're willing to switch positions. Pat Tillman, though, has transcended even the highest standards of selflessness and sacrifice, and his life and death will take on what they deserve: mythical proportions.
There will be no footage, no tape, no real records of him describing the details of his decision, of talking on and on about the choice he made. And maybe, he understood: Such navel-gazing was completely unnecessary.
In a climate where everyone talks so much about so little, Pat Tillman believed that sometimes a man needed to make a stand in his life. His spoke for himself, yes, but in the end, his death spoke too -- for the sacrifice of every soldier without a voice.
An American hero died in Afghanistan on Thursday, but what Pat Tillman was able to remind everyone back home was that, tragically, this isn't so unusual. They are dying every day. |
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| ndahbar |
quote:
Originally posted by scoobs
Killed by friendly fire. What a waste.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ol=968705899037
OMG yah someone @ work was telling me that.
Sheesh. But do you hear about it on the news? Of course not! Oh! The horror! Middle-America will wince in disgust and shame at the dishonoring of such a beautiful story to support the INCREDIBLY IRRESPONSIBLE AND POORLY MANAGED Bush admin foreign policy!
Shame of all shames!
In all seriousness, it's almost laughable how controlled the media is. :rolleyes: |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator
Out of respect for Pat Tillman please do not use this thread for a political debate but only to post your thoughts on the life of the Tillman brothers.
Thank you
AMEN! |
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