Pat Tillman killed in Afghanistan

MSNBC ^ | 04/23/2004

[jtminton]

Ex NFL Cardinal Pat Tillman has been killed in Afghanistan. Details unknown.

[The Right Stuff]

prayers and condolences to you, Aggie. Send our regards to this fine young man's family.

[The Right Stuff]

Euro, that is unbelievable! It reminds me of the banner, "We'll support our troops when they shoot their officers" at ANSWER rallies. That banner has awakened a lot of Americans to the Left, you should likewise publicize that poster to the same effect!

[The Right Stuff]

Don't stop, go confront them! It is our secret weapon, and new to our age.

[Euro-American Scum]

And the sick irony is, Pat Tillman, and all the other hundreds of our brave men and women who have died since 9/11/2001, have died keeping that sign-carrying idiot safe from terrorism. Gratitude, thy name is liberal...not.

After the brief shouting match, I cried tears of rage the rest of the way home. I was shaking, I was so furious. We lose men the caliber of Pat Tillman, and the likes of this scum spit on his grave. Something is very wrong somewhere.

[Euro-American Scum]

I wish you'd had a camera with you to document the hate on that side.

You know, you bring up an excellent point. I never go anywhere without my CCW weapon (usually). I really ought to carry a video camera in the car as well.

[Euro-American Scum]

It reminds me of the banner, "We'll support our troops when they shoot their officers" at ANSWER rallies. That banner has awakened a lot of Americans to the Left, you should likewise publicize that poster to the same effect!

As I mentioned in a recent reply to another poster, I really need to have a video camera in the car at all times. Never thought of it, until now.

[freedomson]

Ouch, you got the mark of the beast.

[Euro-American Scum]

Wow! Do you put this stuff together off the top of your head, or does it require hours of effort? I suspect the former. Few among us have your gift of words, or the ability to reason so clearly.

A couple of points, since what you’ve posted makes so much sense.

We have abandoned our children to the public education system, which is now pretty exclusively defined as a system whose purpose it is to teach America’s children what to think. Teaching them how to think is no longer fashionable. And the what that is being taught them has less and less to do with a familiarity with their roots and a reverence for their heritage/ancestry that I mentioned above.

To the day my grandparents died, they had one foot in Europe. They easily slid back and forth between English and Polish, German and Russian – the languages of their native lands. They never were fully at ease with the concept of America. They were always half-expecting some Cossack on horseback to burst through the doors in the middle of the night, murder their children in their beds, steal everything they owned and burn their home to the ground.

What made my parents – their children – Americans was the public school system. It was in school that they learned about America. It was in school that they were required to learn about the Constitution, and memorize the Bill of Rights. It was in school that they learned to talk like Americans, think like Americans, be Americans.

And it was the children of these immigrant parents, whose American character was forged in the public schools, who crossed beaches from Guadalcanal to Normandy and destroyed the enemy wherever they encountered it. Such triumph, paid for in blood, could not have been accomplished without a solid appreciation of what America is all about. And they got that in the public schools.

I am reminded by a quote that addresses the phenomenon of the erosion of which you speak, although not its cause:

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up from among us, it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we must live through all time or die by suicide.” -- Abraham Lincoln

And if we die by suicide, the initial poison will come with the loss of the sure foundation our children used to get in the public schools.

One of my favorite figures in American history is Joshua Chamberlain

As is mine. What fortunate happenstance of history placed Chamberlain in precisely the right place at exactly the right time at the crucial point in the history of the country, when failure meant the end of the campaign and possibly the end of the war. No other officer save Chamberlain would have acted with such audacity in such dire circumstances. And that aggressiveness of spirit was exactly what was required to carry the day on Little Round Top. Anyone who wants proof positive that God’s hand has been on the pulse of the nation need only to look to that and many other such crucial examples. It remains to be seen if that blessing is still with us.

When you are at Normandy in June, please thank them all for me.

It will be my privilege. And you have no idea the enormity of this excursion. It is by no means a simple commemoration. It’s a pilgrimage twenty years in the making.

[Euro-American Scum]

Ouch, you got the mark of the beast.

What can I say. It's been that kind of week (sigh!).

[STARWISE]

Audie Murphy as well:

From Amazon review of To Hell and Back:

"Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in World War II, enjoyed a Hollywood acting career after the fight. In this 1955 autobiographical film, however, he plays himself re-creating his own actions and movements in key battles. As strange as this project might have seemed to him at the time, the results are pretty impressive. The film, despite a flat script, is really a pretty good war drama about Murphy and his buddies making their way from North Africa to Berlin..."

[STARWISE]

I've been crying for the last 2 days ... this is such a poignant, heartbreaking turn of events. This man will be looked upon as the legend he was .. maybe this is why he was called and called home. His courage and nobility can only make an impact if we NEVER forget his great act of selflessness, and the self-sacrifice of all our brave military and their families. R.I.P., Ranger Tillman ..we will remember you .. in your name, much good will come. Godspeed.

May 24, 2002
By Mel Reisner
ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX – There won't be any fancy logos on Pat Tillman's new helmet.

The Arizona Cardinals safety made a stunning revelation Thursday – he is putting his four-year NFL career on hold to join the Army, a move spurred by the military's age limit on candidates for the elite Rangers program.

The 25-year-old defensive back has an unlisted number, and could not be reached for comment. But he broke the news to the Cardinals the day before and convinced them he was serious.

Pat Tillman carries his belongings to his Northern Arizona dorm for training camp in 2001.

"It's very personal, and I honor that," coach Dave McGinnis said. "I honor the integrity of that. It was not a snap decision he woke up and made yesterday. This has been an ongoing process, and he feels very strongly about it."

Tillman also spoke with owner Bill Bidwill and defensive coordinator Larry Marmie in separate interviews.

McGinnis kept most of his discussion with the two-year starter to himself, but said Tillman wanted to go through boot camp with his younger brother, Kevin, an infielder who spent last year with the Cleveland Indians' organization.

Tillman might be the first NFL regular to leave for military service since World War II. Pittsburgh running back Rocky Bleier was wounded in Vietnam before he went on to star for the Steelers, but few have chosen the reverse route.

Tillman married his high school sweetheart two weeks ago, and agent Frank Bauer said when the couple left on a honeymoon for Bora Bora, he expected some kind of decision on the Cardinals' multiyear offer to retain their free agent – but not that decision.

"He called me as soon as he got back from Bora Bora and said, 'Frank, I'm going in the military. I want to get into special forces.'" Bauer said. "In 21 years as an agent, I've seen a lot of guys do some things, so I said, 'Pat, do it afterward. When you're 50 years old and you have a lot of money in the bank, you'll realize it was a good move.'

"He said, 'Frank, I don't have time for that. There are age restrictions on what I want to do.'"

The oldest a man can join the Army Rangers is 28.

Bauer called Tillman a deep and clear thinker who has never valued material things.

Last year, Tillman turned down a $9 million, five-year offer sheet from the St. Louis Rams out of loyalty to the Cardinals, and by joining the Army, he will pass on millions more from the team.

"He doesn't have a cellphone," Bauer said. "He's the type of guy that, when I met him, he was riding a bike. He's an amazing kid. He would never moan and groan over what some other player was making."

He said newlywed Marie Tillman supports her husband's decision to leave one rugged profession for a more dangerous one.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Tillman has always been distinguished by his intelligence and appetite for rugged play. As an undersized linebacker at Arizona State, he was the Pac-10's defensive player of the year in 1997.

He set a franchise record with 224 tackles in 2000 and warmed up for last year's training camp by competing in a 70.2-mile triathlon in June.

Tillman carried a 3.84 grade point average through college and graduated with high honors in 3½ academic years with a degree in marketing.

"The guy has got something to him, and that's why I wanted him on the team all these years," McGinnis said.

[BigSkyFreeper]

You seem to have misunderstood. There are no sports heroes. Pat Tillman was a hero who had played sports. His heroism had nothing to do with his athletic career. Nothing any sports star does is heroic. Playing fields, tournaments, games offer nothing that requires heroism.

I'll go along with that.

[gr8fulson]

"a man & his moment must meet"

pat clearly was called. he heard the call & was brave enough to answer it. may we all hear & answer without fear as he did. thank you pat & God bless you.

[WestCoastGal]

Did you by chance bookmark the website for the guest book to sign for Pat Tillman?

I figured if anyone had it you would. I am so sad over his death, he put a face and name on all of those who have died fighting for us.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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NEVER FORGET


PAT TILLMAN Tributes Guest Book

http://www.goodbyes.org/tillman/guestbook_sign.htm



NEVER FORGET

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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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NEVER FORGET


PAT TILLMAN = A Hero for the Ages

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3168

http://www.TheWheelhouse.com/cgi/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000054


NEVER FORGET

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[WestCoastGal]

Thank you so much, you are the greatest!!

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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What makes an American Hero..?

http://www.ModernDayHeroes.com

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[threat matrix]

He's home now. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1124328/posts

[WestCoastGal]

Thank you I just found that one. I am going to read it ASAP.