Thoughts about the death of Pat Tillman

I want to write about things that I have been experiencing in my life. I find that Facebook is a bit of a time waster. I would prefer to write about things that matter to me. So I will start with a review of a book I recently read. It is "Books on the Ground by Dusk" by Mary Tillman, Pat's mother.

The very day that Pat Tillman died, as we were sitting around the breakfast table, I told my sons that there was really one athlete that I admired above all others at that time. It was Pat Tillman. Like so many others, I thought about the career he left behind to be an Army Ranger, the intensity with which he approached football and the quiet way he and his brother, Kevin, had gone about joining the Rangers. An hour later, when I arrived at work, I heard the news that Pat was killed in Afghanistan. I literally wept for a minute or two because I was sad to have him gone. I expected so much more from his life. I figured someday he would be a US Senator or something.

I followed the press stories closely. I tuned in the radio at work during his Memorial Service a week or so later. I was inspired by what I heard. There was one point in the service that was appalling to me. When his younger brother, Richard took the stand and with profane language said that Pat was not with God, but was just dead, my stomach turned. Richard sounded drunk to me and I was embarrassed for his family, the guests that had paid tribute to him the country at large. I wondered how Pat would have felt about tribute.

A few months later I learned that Pat was not killed in combat with a Taliban militia, but by his own men. Isn't the phrase"Friendly Fire" a weird way to say that you have killed one of your own?I was stunned and confused. I later remembered that there was a Congressional hearing and the behavior of the Military was sharply criticized for covering up the real nature of Pat's deathand grossly overstating the facts surrounding the injuries and subsequent rescue of Jessica Lynch. I have always wondered about the "rest of the story". When I saw this book in Barnes and Noble's I couldn't resist.

Mary Tillman is no ordinary mom. Her love for her sons, her pride and protective spirit are nearly universal maternal traits. But is it is the dogged determination and persistence to not allow the questionable circumstances of Pat's death go by without a thorough investigation that amazes me. This book is a page turner, even if many of her findings are related repeatedly in this book. I came away with such mixed feelings. I find the life of Pat to be as inspiring to me as before, maybe more so since I learned more about him. I was surprised that Mary does not fill the pages with all of his football accomplishments. I think the record speaks for itself in this regard.

What is so shocking to me is that those men who are responsible for his death and the subsequent cover up have largely still not been forced to account for their actions. I personally believe the conspiracy to cover up the real circumstances on that fateful day go all the way to the top: George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. It believe that the 'story" as a boast to the morale of the American people at a very low point in the war, outweighed the need for honesty in the minds of the PR department of the Pentagon.

What I can't say is whether Pat was actually assassinated by men in his group for some bizarre and unknown motive. If you know me at all, you know that I tend to have a reflexive disliking of grand conspiracy theories. But if anyone can read this book or examine the facts from some other point of view and share your thoughts or perspectives with me, I would be very grateful.

My next book is " Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt"

Stay tuned.