Posted on 04/23/2004 7:10:38 AM PDT by jtminton
Edited on 04/23/2004 7:24:22 AM PDT by Lead Moderator. [history]
Ex NFL Cardinal Pat Tillman has been killed in Afghanistan. Details unknown.
I heard him and I still have goose bumps. He explained what goes throught the minds of people like Tillman and the thousands and thousands of others who have offered their lives to protect our freedom. They are all heros in my mind, but the way Ranger Tillman walked away from fame and fortune as a pro athelete to pursue a career as a front line soldier in one of the most elite units to ever wear a uniform makes him extra extra special. I have a feelig that when the details of his death emerge, "hero" will be an understatement.
BTW, although I have often been a critic of Rush, he was at his absolute finest today. Kudos.
Most people in Arizona now have nothing but vile things to say about the Bidwells. Nice people, terrible businessmen.
It must be because I respected him so much, due to his honor and value system.
Godspeed Pat, I wish that I had known you better.
Carolyn
"I am heartbroken today by the news of Pat Tillman's death. The tragic loss of this extraordinary young man will seem a heavy blow to our nation's morale, as it is surely a grievous injury to his loved ones.
"Many American families have suffered the same terrible sacrifice that Pat's family must now bear, and the patriotism that their loved ones' exemplified is as fine and compelling as Pat's. But there is in Pat Tillman's example, in his unexpected choice of duty to his country over the riches and other comforts of celebrity, and in his humility, such an inspiration to all of us to reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait.
"When Pat made his choice to leave the NFL and became an Army Ranger, he declined requests for interviews because he viewed his decision as no more patriotic than that of his less fortunate, less renowned countrymen who loved our country enough to volunteer to defend her in a time of peril. It is that first lesson of patriotism that we should reaffirm in our own lives as we celebrate the courageous life and mourn the heroic death of this most honorable American."
He will become the face of ALL of them.
No one here is diminishing the sacrifice of any other American in this war. Nor is anyone here holding Pat Tillman on a pedestal that he doesn't share with the other fallen. It is you who doesn't get it. The rest of us understand what is going on here.
I was there at ASU in 96', and its probably more beautiful now than it was then. Couldn't get over how BIG the campus was. And the place was CLEAN! People were friendly too.
May God bless this fallen hero.
Good god..I wonder if he was there in 96. I could have actually shook hands with this guy and not even known who he was. Too bad we can't look into people's futures when we shake their hands..
There is no doubt that Pat Tillman sacrificed an enormous financial figure, and growing celebrity, in order to serve his country and the cause of human liberty. As opposed to so many sports ‘heroes,’ whose credentials for heroism consist of an accurate eye, quick reflexes, unusual strength, abnormal speed or endurance, etc. (all of which are generally handsomely remunerated in dollar figures and public adulation), this patriot walked away from all of that in order to defend liberty … and he gave up his life in the process. I have heard several times on my car radio today that joining the Army was something he had thought about for a long time … he felt he had lived a very comfortable life and in some way he needed to offer something beyond his sports abilities in return.
Gratitude and appreciation (to God and fellow man) is in short supply these days. In my opinion, not because of his prowess in sports, but because he placed his partially God-given gifts in their proper perspective, and sought to give as well as take, Tillman is indeed a true American hero. There aren’t enough such thankful givers these days.
At the same time, so many people are discussing the fact that he walked away from a lucrative $3+ million contract in order to serve his country. While that certainly is an unparalleled monetary sacrifice that not many of us would be willing to make, I can’t help but reflect on the fact that more than seven hundred American military men and women have met their death on Iraqi soil since March 2003, and more than a thousand have fallen in Afghanistan since October 2001. All of them were someone’s son or daughter. Most of them were sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. They all leave behind grieving parents, spouses, siblings, and often fatherless/motherless children. Tillman himself leaves behind a young wife of less than two years. Any talk of ‘financial sacrifice’ is dwarfed by the human sacrifice that has been offered by more than seventeen hundred courageous, dedicated Americans, each of whose loss has left a deep, painful, permanent void in the lives of dozens of loved ones, and an indescribable reverence for their selfless valor in the hearts of their countrymen.
In eternal terms, Tillman’s sacrifice was no more, or no less, than that of his seventeen hundred comrades who believed that the defense of liberty (of both their countrymen, and a struggling people half a world away) was worth the ultimate sacrifice – in many ways a uniquely American mindset.
In part, one of the ways we can repay their sacrifice is to not allow those who have no comprehension of sacrifice for liberty/country to dissuade us from staying the course that seventeen hundred of our own were following when they fell.
God bless them all, and strengthen and comfort those they leave behind.
~ joanie
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