Friday, April 23, 2004
Death and Patriotism
Pat Tillman died today. You probably don't know him. I don't know him, but I knew of him. He was a professional football player making millions a year who decided to quit joining the army in May of 2002.
He was killed in Afghanistan.
His story is no more remarkable than many others who serve in our country, but for his money. This is a man who could have easily continued playing football and given his patriotism some nice lip service after games; "That interception was for our boys over there."
He was a millionaire. He could have done just about anything he wanted, but after 9/11 his feelings of Patriotism for his wounded country were so stirred that he did the best thing he could think of... help his country fight back.
In the end Tillman becomes yet another statistic, another death among the hundreds in this war, but his story serves as a good lesson that sometimes gets lost in the politics. Right or wrong, the soldiers serving abroad do so because they believe in their country. They take up arms and stand in harms way because the majority of us don't have the guts to do so. I know I don't.
Regardless of how you feel about Iraq or the administration's handling of the war on terror, these men and women deserve to be held in the highest esteem and above that, honored.
He was killed in Afghanistan.
His story is no more remarkable than many others who serve in our country, but for his money. This is a man who could have easily continued playing football and given his patriotism some nice lip service after games; "That interception was for our boys over there."
He was a millionaire. He could have done just about anything he wanted, but after 9/11 his feelings of Patriotism for his wounded country were so stirred that he did the best thing he could think of... help his country fight back.
In the end Tillman becomes yet another statistic, another death among the hundreds in this war, but his story serves as a good lesson that sometimes gets lost in the politics. Right or wrong, the soldiers serving abroad do so because they believe in their country. They take up arms and stand in harms way because the majority of us don't have the guts to do so. I know I don't.
Regardless of how you feel about Iraq or the administration's handling of the war on terror, these men and women deserve to be held in the highest esteem and above that, honored.
