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.