Posted on 09/22/2009 6:30:16 PM PDT by h-roark
I believe the book just came out this month and I wanted to see if anyone on here had picked it up to read it- hopefully I posted this question in the correct forum.
Curious in particular to see if it really covered Tillman's life or was an anti-war piece. I enjoyed "Into Thin Air" but I am concerned when people with little or no military experience/exposure write about the military.
Thoughts? Reviews?
bump for responses
I continue to enjoy Krakauer’s Into Thin Air.
I read his newest book’s summary, and felt like it was anti-military and anti-USA....skipped the download to Kindle or audiobooks.
His previous book about the idiot dying of starvation in Alaska was a loser.
We always have Into Thin Air.
What is the name of the book?
I guess it cannot be all that anti-war as the ny times or the wash post would have reviewed it by now and gave it a 4 star rating unlike ML’s book...........
I haven’t read the book yet, but I was able to go to a Krakauer book event last week in Boulder. Krakauer (lives there) had some stunning video clips of the troops on patrol in Afghanistan, along with stills which were displayed as he read the passages about Pat Tillman’s last patrol.
Watching the video of the terrain - canyons with inch clearances on the HumVee - either side, 200 foot high walls, you would think that ambush warnings would be going off in each soldier’s head constantly.
Krakauer did not present a lot of hope for a positive ending to the Afghanistan campaign. This isn’t a happy ending book.
Why did Tillman’s wife give all of the letters to Krakauer? Apparently, Into Thin Air and some other writings were in Tillman’s rucksack.
More answers to your question, yes, Krakauer was fairly anti war - but he saw the problems if we left Afghanistan also.. he said that there would be beheadings of women and other horrors.
The whole country is tribal, and has hatreds from hundreds of years. After listening to the talk, I kept thinking of this excerpt from Kipling-
When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.
I believe that’s one (of a few, apparently) that makes that case that Tillman was fragged.
Galt 2010- thanks- that would have been an interesting talk-he (Krakauer) used to live in the Seattle area so he must have moved- like the Kipling reference- bty like your call sign there- how I wish
Fragged or killed by friendly fire?
Fragged.
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