My latest read – Where Men Win Glory – The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

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I have a cousin on his third tour of Afghanistan and an old friend from school serving in Iraq’s Green Zone.  This book is an honest look at a military tragedy and hits home for all who have loved ones serving our country overseas. 

Jon Krakauer has written a sobering, powerful book Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. This is about the life of a gifted patriot.  I finished this book on Veterans Day.

Krakauer’s focus is on the friendly fire killing and dishonor by the Cheney Bush Administration and Military towards Pat’s virtue, wife, mother and family.  As Krakauer points out the military conducted SEVEN investigations into his killing.

The opening chapter quickly introduces Tillman’s death then moves to his early childhood and life playing high school football. From there Krakauer traces his steps at Arizona State University where Pat was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and and Academic All-American.  He was drafted by the Phoenix Cardinals and turned down a $9 million dollar offer from the St. Louis Rams to stay in Phoenix.

Tillman proved time after time that he was able to overcome challenges placed before him and his measurement was not physical, but rather his heart and soul.  That is how Tillman was raised.  This even fell to brother Kevin Tillman.  Kevin and Pat both left professional sports careers (Kevin was playing pro baseball in the minor leagues) to join the Rangers shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

The White House’s interest in Pat

The Cheney Bush Administration and Military were very interested in Pat’s highly publicized enlistment, leaving a lucrative contract and lifestyle as an NFL player.  Secretary of Defense Donald Rusmfeld even wrote a personal letter to Tillman.  “According to Rumsfeld’s senior military assistant at the time, Lt. Gen. Bantz Craddock, this was the only time he could remember Rumsfeld ever writing a personal note commending the enlistment of an individual soldier.“  They desperately wanted Tillman for their poster boy but he would not allow himself to be played by them.

Pat entered the military with purpose and proven dedication to achieve at the highest levels of collegiate and professional sports.  What he found in the Army was less than inspiring.  From Pat’s journal:

“They’re resentful, ungrateful, lazy, weak and unvirtuous. … One thing I find myself despising is the sight of all these guns in the hands of children. … Of course, we all understand the necessity of defense but that does not excuse the fact that a young man I would not trust with my canteen is walking about armed.”

The region of Afghanistan where Tillman met his death was a known hostile region with difficult terrain for fighting.  A British officer wrote about how difficult the terrain was for soldiers and how the high ground in the region was used to defeat British forces in the late 1940s.  This area was the location of where the Mujahideen fought the Soviets in the 1980s.  History’s lessons are there for the taking.

Pat Tillman meets Jessica Lynch

Pat held no reservations about speaking his mind and due to his criticism of the war and it’s execution for the media, became known as a critic of the war while serving.  In contrast the Cheney Bush Administration was simply making up stories to sell the war and create heroes to help keep ratings and support for the war as high as possible.  Tillman was apart of the Ranger group that rescued Jessica Lynch.  Tillman noted in his journal that the government’s statement of her “rescue” was completely fake.  Tillman wrote about the incident in his journal on March 30, 2003 — the day before Lynch’s mission.  From Pat’s journal:

“This mission will be a POW rescue, a woman named Jessica Lynch. I do believe this to be a big public relations stunt. Do not mistake me, I wish everyone in trouble to be rescued but sending this many folks in for a single low-ranking soldier screams of media blitz in any case, I’m glad to be able to do my part and I hope we bring her home safe.”

Following Pat’s death and the news of falsified statements regarding Jessica Lynch, The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held hearings entitled “Misleading Information from the Battlefield”

Kevin’s testimony was powerful and highly critical PDF Link.  Krakauer has even tracked the member of the Bush communications office who wrote her “hero” story and Krakauer pokes holes through his entire statement regarding Lynch.

Dishonoring the Tillman Family

First and foremost Pat’s brother Kevin was a member of the same Ranger team as Pat.  Within mintues of Pat’s death, team’s commanding officer took Kevin’s rifle and ordered him to stay away from Pat’s body.   Kevin was told Pat was shot by Taliban fighters even though his commanding officer immedately knew Pat was killed by friendly fire.  Krakauer even replay’s the medical examiner’s inital report that Tillman was murdered.  The two examiners refused to sign his death certificate.  The military broke policies and procedures repeatedly.

It is well known today that Pat’s company commander ordered a Ranger to burn Pat’s uniform and body armor.  Another ranger was ordered to burn Pat’s private property including his latest writing journal even as Kevin was asking that it be found and returned to the family.  Sadly Pat was shot multiple times in the forehead by a fellow Ranger.  Krakauer even described how the military had to return to the location of Pat’s death to retrieve large parts of his brain.  Regrettably that was also “lost” and never returned to his bodybag.

The commanding officer ordered all of his fellow Rangers to lie to Kevin regarding Pat’s death (regarding friendly fire) and ordered them to lie to the family during his funeral and public tribute.  The family was not told of his death by friendly fire for five weeks.

The military issued a total of SEVEN investigations into his death.  They broke protocol by appointing a low ranking officer to complete the report.  That report which stated friendly fire was the cause of death was officially ‘lost’ and a second was requested.  The second report stated his death the way the White House communications office and Military wanted his story to be told.  Though all SEVEN investigations the military rebuffed requests from the Tillman family for information regarding his death.  Many have written about seeking the truth of his death.  CBS 60 minutes interview regarding the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s killing:

Krakauer has drawn from Tillman’s family, fellow Rangers, military testimony and a Congressional investigation to write this book.  Regrettably it becomes apparent the Cheney Bush Administration and Military had the audacity to attempt to disgrace him in death.  Lt. Col Ralph Kauzlarich who wrote the second report stated in an ESPN interview Tillman was ‘worm dirt’ due to his atheist beliefs:

One of the most remarkable developments to arise since his death is a foreign report suggesting Pat was assassinated. Again Pat was critical of the war calling it “illegal” and Krakauer described how Pat intended to meet with Noam Chomsky following his deployment.  Krakauer and the Military’s multiple reports state Pat was shot three times in the forehead from a SAW M16 that was in a moving vehicle.  Three bullets in tight formation from a moving vehicle sounds absurd to believe. No wonder the two doctors responsible for his autopsy report refused to sign it suggesting Tillman was murdered.  The war on terror does not want dissenters.

Some have the blindness to write Krakauer places the Cheney Bush Administration and Military in a bad light during a time of war.  Clearly Cheney Bush Administration and Military have dishonored Pat Tillman’s virtue, memory, his wife and family and ultimately our country.  The lives of our men and women in uniform come before anyone’s politics or religion.

Pa-tri-ot

–noun
1. a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.
2. a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, esp. of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.

Tags: Jon Krakauer, Where Men win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, friendly fire, fratricide, Tillman, dishonor, Ranger, terrorism, war on terror, 9/11, Bush Cheney, Jessica Lynch, Afghanistan, reading, trends