Pat and Kevin were recipients of the 11th annual Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2003 ESPYs. Their younger brother, Richard, accepted the award while the brothers were away.
In 2001, Pat Tillman turned down a $9 million, five-year offer from the St. Louis Rams to remain with the Cardinals for less money.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Pat graduated summa cum laude with a 3.84 GPA from Arizona State, with a degree in marketing. While a student, he used to meditate atop a 200-foot light tower above the university's stadium.
"If you don't know Pat, then you would think he's crazy," Phil Snow, who coached Tillman as Arizona State's defensive coordinator, said at the time of Pat's enrollment in the Army. "The planes flew so close to him that he could damn near reach out and touch them. He's just fearless."
Tillman's decision to join the Army's elite infantry unit did not come as a surprise to friends, as he was always setting challenges for himself.
Bored before the 2000 season, Tillman ran a marathon. After setting a franchise record with 224 tackles in 2000, he prepared for the following season's training camp by competing in a 70.2-mile triathlon.
"You don't find guys that have that combination of being as bright and as tough as him," Snow said.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Kevin Holtsberry
I am not sure whether to be in awe of his bravery and dedication or deeply saddened that he is no longer with us. Probably both.
2 - Craig Lyndall
I think it is a sad story today, but it really turns into an uplifting and inspirational story. He did this in the wake of September 11th while most of us were talking, he was acting.
3 - TDavid
Heard about this first on the Jim Rome show and blogged it myself. Sad news :(
4 - Mac Diva
That's getting a lot of coverage here. The local news played a tape of Tillman saying how wonderful American society treats people. My immediate thought was 'Speak for yourself, buddy.' If someone has to die in an unjustified war, I believe it is only fair that it be someone like Tillman instead of the typical poor or working-class kid forced into the military because he did not have other options. Why should the people who get the worst treatment in society usually be the ones to die in its wars? If a Right Wing jock wants to go to Iraq and kill mainly innocent people, that's bad enough. But, I would much rather he go than a youth with no real interest in protecting the interests of Bush, Cheney and Halliburton. Here's hoping more fellows like Tillman sign up.
5 - Craig Lyndall
I don't even know what to say to that comment. It left me shivering though.
6 - RJ Elliott
Mac Diva, it should be noted, is likely going to vote. For Kerry, one assumes.
Just thought I'd throw that out there...
7 - RJ Elliott
The "loyal opposition" is largely a misnomer, by the way. If you want to see how these people really think, go to the Discussion Boards here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Note the ad running on this site for Air America Radio. This is their base of listener support.
Shiver some more...
8 - Mac Diva
Craig, you post nonsense like the above and expect people to just go along with it? No way. There's no avoiding the facts, i.e.:
*There is a paucity of evidence to prove Iraq has anything to do with 9/11. Instead, the evidence supports the view that Bush Jr. intended to invade Iraq from the get go as a continuation of Bush, Sr.'s policies and for the oil.
*There is plenty of evidence to establish that Bush, Cheney and their cronies will benefit from the invasion of Iraq, and related actions.
So, Tillman went off to kill people to forward the interests of Bush, Cheney and their cronies. His actions may have no impact on terrorism. Apparently, his jock's GPA is not evidence of good reasoning skills.
I do find the part of the entry when his coach says Tillman sought out danger while in college telling. It suggests someone who wants to die.
I cringe for Arthur Ashe. Right Wingers have hijacked his name and are using it to imply he would approve of the invasion of Iraq, which I doubt he would have.
9 - HW Saxton Jr.
I hate to interrupt your ranting McD but
he was killed in Afghanistan not Iraq.
As for his "Jocks" GPA: He carried A's
all his time at ASU. Not that it makes a
small bit of difference to you whether
you know what you're talking about or no
when you go on the offensive.
10 - Craig Lyndall
Also, he made his decision after 9/11. Unless he was some sort of soothsayer he didn't know anything about Iraq at the time. Your asterisk points are just political garbage that you felt like spewing on this man's grave.
We don't always agree, but I take great offense at you calling what I wrote nonsense.
11 - Sandra Smallson
I am in awe of his bravery and of his staunch belief in his Country. How many would leave a 2million a year lifestyle to fight for their country? Not many. I don't care if he was blessed with wealth etc. I don't know anything about him to know if he was rightwing or racist or whatever. However, the fella left a great life to put his life at risk for his country due : 9/11.
May his soul rest in peace. I certainly would never consider such a thing with the life I have now let alone a 2million a yr lifestyle. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Especially his mother(if alive)& his kids, if he had any.
12 - SFC Ski
HOW DARE YOU! MAc Diva, you really have upset me by writing "If someone has to die in an unjustified war, I believe it is only fair that it be someone like Tillman instead of the typical poor or working-class kid forced into the military because he did not have other options." By focusing on economic necessity, which you constantly harp on when military service is brought up, you seem to think it is the primary, or only reason a person would "Choose" to serve, as opposed to being a homeless below poverty line wage slave. In doing so, you patronize my fellow servicemen and me, and you cheapen our servie, and devalue our choice to be in uniform.
13 - Craig Lyndall
To think that a guy like Tillman was off-base joining the military after 9/11 seems ludicrous. He was really just trying to further the Bush agenda? I don't think so. I find that comment not only wrong, but offensive. I feel like what Tillman did was patriotic and selfless no matter in which way people at the top ended up pushing him.
He joined because we were terrorized and he wanted to do his part to fight for our freedoms. That is nothing but patriotic and noble. I fail to see what the Bush agenda has to do with it, as he wasn't in those meetings with Bush.
14 - Eric Olsen
It is absurd to quibble over WHERE he was fighting when he was killed. He joined the military after 9/11 because he felt his country needed him. The perceived motivation behind any given conflict has exactly zero to do with the people fighting it - they just do what they're told and go where they're told to go.
The point is he was killed fighting for his country in a role for which he volunteered, giving up far more than most in order to serve. He is a hero - as are all who defend our country regardless of socioeconomic background. Some things are infinitely more important than class.
15 - Shark
Tillman had more integrity in his little pinky than MacDemon can even imagine existing in her entire, eternally victimized universe.
feh.
True colors.
16 - Dan
Craig, you sound as if you are still trying to reason with the braying pig known as macdiva. Why bother. Her main bone of contention is that Tillman is a white guy who upheld the proud traditions of selflessness, honor, valor, and decency. All the things she has no concept of. Since she's never understood the payoff of having integrity, she's not shy about dis-respecting those who do. Ignorance and shamelessness go hand in hand.
There are way too many macdiva's and far too few Pat Tillmans, and that's sad.
17 - Sandra Smallson
Dan: Tillman is a white guy who upheld the proud traditions of selflessness, honor, valor, and decency.
Sandra: I have a problem with that comment. Do you mean traditions in general or are you trying to tell us that all these virtues are a "white man tradition"? If it's the former and you are just describing Tillman's qualities for his act of courage, then excuse me for reading your post out of context. I hope it's not the latter. If it's the latter, WHAT in God's name are you smoking?! STOP inhaling this instant!
18 - Home-Boie
I thank dat macdiva be a shark love'n ho. No what i sayin?
19 - Unstable Oswaldo
macdiva wrote:
"Craig, you post nonsense like the above and expect people to just go along with it? No way. There's no avoiding the facts, i.e.:"
You meant e.g. (for example), not i.e. (in other words). You're a half-educated product of the grievance mentality.
20 - Mac Diva
You're getting it, Sandra Smalllson. This collection of ignorant beyond the norm commenters* are heaping praise on Pat Tillman because he is one of them. Question: Where is the entry Craig will write about the people who make up the majority in infantry units -- Hispanics and African-Americans? Answer: It does not exist. That is because for people like those here only someone they identify with counts. The overwhelming majority of people who die in Iraq (and Afghanistan, since it is an extension of the same war) will be poor or working-class whites, blacks or browns. There will no be no caterwauling over their demise. We're 'supposed to' die so middle and upper-class white men, who do everything they can to avoid military service, can have their 'fun' wars.
Speaking of fun, that is often the motivation for the relatively few middle-class white men who volunteer for the American military. Studies show that they join (usually for only one term) for the fun and adventure they expect to experience. Working-class people join because they are desperate for jobs. At the very least, someone like Tillman was likely chasing 'fun.'
It may be worst than that. There is a condition in which people, usually men, pursue 'heroism' at any cost. They put themselves or others in danger so they claim to be heroes afterward. There is a catch, though. The 'hero' will have been the person who set the fire or wrecked the car in the first place. Then, he 'saves' himself or others. There isn't sufficient evidence that Tillman had this condition, but enough to make someone aware of it wonder. A young man who has chased danger in the past. Who joins the military soon after marrying. Who may have put himself in a vulnerable position. Could be.
Last year, there was a lot of praise heaped on a young, middle-class white man who amputated a limb after getting himself trapped on a hiking trip he was totally unprepared for. He too was declared a hero. It was not his first encounter with such a situation. Well, there is a condition in which people are obsessed with getting rid of a limb or two. They put themselves in situations where amputations occur or obtain injuiries doctors will amputate as a result of. The condition It is called apotemnophilia. The fellow's story read like a textbook case. I blogged that so people could learned about the condition. Now, there is a little less in ignorance on that topic in the world. The complexities don't stop there. People also need to educate themselves about why folks put themsevles into other kinds of danger. 'Accidental' death is sometimes suicide. 'Heroism' is often phony.
It is kind of amusing that we are covering the same territority so soon after the previous 'Myth of the Heroic White Soldier, ' i.e., that of Jessica Lynch, fell apart. Shows how much some folks value their myths, I suspect.
*Eric and Sandra are are likely the only ones of the commenters so far to have read any research in their lives. People who are the least knowledgeable are the most given to the empty-headed bromides that litter these comments in my experience.
21 - Unstable Oswaldo
We're all stupid, but Mac Diva can't use Latin abbreviations correctly (she chose professional grievance over education) and can't cite data to support her racist claims. But she can throw out dubious insults with the most pathological of them. There are several reasons BlogCritics remains a second tier site, and Mac Diva is one of them.
22 - RJ Elliott
MAC:
Tillman died in Afghanistan, not Iraq. And he got his degree in (I think) marketing. It wasn't some bogus jock degree.
Your "facts" are wrong. You defile the great man's good name. You sicken me.
23 - RJ Elliott
"Last year, there was a lot of praise heaped on a young, middle-class white man who amputated a limb after getting himself trapped on a hiking trip he was totally unprepared for. He too was declared a hero. It was not his first encounter with such a situation. Well, there is a condition in which people are obsessed with getting rid of a limb or two. They put themselves in situations where amputations occur or obtain injuiries doctors will amputate as a result of. The condition It is called apotemnophilia. The fellow's story read like a textbook case. I blogged that so people could learned about the condition. Now, there is a little less in ignorance on that topic in the world."
Less ignorance in the world? Did you commit suicide after this comment?
24 - Joe
I'd be interested in "the entry Craig will write about the people who make up the majority in infantry units -- Hispanics and African-Americans" because that would be a pretty interesting piece of fiction. I note this a article:
Take, for example, the 101st Airborne Division, which has deployed to the Kuwaiti desert for an expected helicopter-borne invasion of Iraq. African-Americans constitute only 23 percent of the 101st Division even though the Army as a whole is 29 percent black.
It's the military's most elite units that remain the most homogeneous. Few minorities serve as combat pilots or in Special Operations such as the Navy's SEALs or the Army Special Forces. African-Americans still make up a smaller share of the military's officer corps - 8 percent overall.
Additionally, this breakdown of Army demographics clarifies that the statistics of the CSM article were inacurately represented and the 29% number probably represents the author's aggregation of the numbers for blacks and hispanics or a selective reading of the numbers.
25 - Joe
Sorry, the article cited above is here.
Courtesy of MD who cited it previously, but apparently failed to comprehend its meaning.