Life Is No Life to Him That Dares Not Die

washingtonpost.com ^ | 4-24-04 | Sally Jenkins

[treeclimber]

Pat Tillman would probably want to be commemorated by nothing more than the simple hush we devote to other lost infantrymen we didn't know. He no doubt would have preferred that we dwell instead on the photographs of those caskets draped in flags coming home from Iraq. He would surely disapprove of so much attention diverted to a single serviceman, simply because he played football. In the two years since he abandoned his NFL career and enlisted to become an Army Ranger, he steadfastly declined interviews and refused to use his military experience for renown or profit.

[treeclimber]

This man truly sacrificed for his country.

[Drango]

Meanwhile, some maggot in the US, sacrifices a few hits on his bong...to march out, into the street and burn our flag.

[watsonfellow]

I am supportive of the war to a certain extent, but when I read about P. Tillman and others, I fight against a feeling that says "what a tremendous waste". That is, here is a person who was sublimely noble and good and to have him die at such a young age...this is such a loss, no more a loss than the hundreds of others who have died. It is hard not to become a pacifist when you read about these beautiful men and women who have fallen for our country. Pacifism is not a cogent or practical ideology, but in these times it is again, hard not to see all these dead, brave soldiers and think, if only man could sit still and not wage war against his brothers or sisters, then these lives would still be with us. I write this as no attack against the war, as I support it, but still, I think sometimes those on this site see War as glorious. War is nothing but evil, a nesc. evil to be sure, but something that no Christian should ever, every feel fully comfortable with.

[battlegearboat]

It's called "Jihad" and it won't end till you and your kind are dead.

You go ahead and have a sit-down with your Islamic brothers and sisters...and Richard Gere.

Let us know if you are able to broker a peace, you mutton head.

[treeclimber]

Battlegearboat, I had no idea you were so eloquent!

[DCPatriot]

Meanwhile, some maggot in the US, sacrifices a few hits on his bong...to march out, into the street and burn our flag.

And Pat Tillman died to make sure that maggot will still have the right to do so.....

[kittymyrib]

There is something worse than dying in war. It is living without freedom. Some would choose the security of living in a cage as a well-kept animal. Others choose the risk of death to live as free men. Only when you are not afraid to die can you truly live.

[Drango]

but something that no Christian should ever, every feel fully comfortable with.

Indeed.

Mr. Tillman who was a millionaire because of his athletic ability, was willing to pay the ultimate price. I doubt he felt his death was of any more or less significant than the brave men and women who went before him or will come after him. That humility, the unwillingness to let the press glorify him, has the paradoxical effect of making him more noble.

[battlegearboat]

Eloquent, no.

Pithy, yes.

Timber!

[section9]

It is the Christian ideal to follow the footsteps of the Prince of Peace. It is manifestly not the Christian ideal to allow evil to triumph as good men do nothing.

Your sentiments are understandable, but, in the end, wrong. There will always be evil men in the world. Bin Laden is just this generation's manifestation of evil; his followers, like so many Brownshirts, bringing death in their wake.

It is men like Pat Tillman who will send them to Hell.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[watsonfellow]

You show your ignorance and your lack of class.
I do support this war but what I wrote was that the deaths in this war are tragic because war is tragic, not glorious. It is a nesc. evil and I think and believe that this war is justified, but that does not mean that we can sit and blindly think that this war is a "good" thing or a "noble" thing, no war is. You Sir (or Madam) give conservatives a bad name and as such I very much hope you re-think your political ideology, philosophy, as you seem, very much so to me, to be more of a radical, not a conservative.

[Cicero]

There is plenty of pain and tragedy in this world, but if you believe in the message and grace of Christ there is no final tragedy. Dante's poem is rightly called the Divine Comedy. It begins in Hell and it travels through Purgatory, but it ends with the beatific vision in Heaven.

In the end, nothing is lost or wasted.

[Cicero]

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Job 19:25-27

[battlegearboat]

In the midst of a very chaotic 1968, this 18-year-old male enlisted in the U. S. Navy and eventually ended up in combat on the rivers of South Vietnam.

Members of my family have fought honorably in our country's wars going back to the Civil War.

I fought to keep the shackles off your limbs and let your tongue wag freely even though I may disagree with what you have to say.

Perhaps my decision to fight for my country has turned me into this ignoramous who lacks class, much unlike you, mutton head.

[battlegearboat]

I took the time to read "watsonfellow's" home page.

I'm very impressed!

How can I hope to compete with such an intellect?

Oh, woe is me!

[Killborn]

God bless his soul. His life is an inspirational parable to all. He and others like him embodies the best America has to offer.

[treeclimber]

You paraphrase Churchhill here. He said, "People who are willing to give up freedom for the sake of short term security, deserve neither freedom nor security."

Well done!

[CyberAnt]

America is free today because of the "Greatest Generation" - the best and brightest of the WWII generation who gave their lives - when I see Japan serving in Iraq along side us, I'm convinced they did not die in vain.

[satchmodog9]

Thanks to all who have ever served. God bless all who have died .