Pat Tillman: In Memoriam

To write this post, I first wanted to refresh the Pat Tillman story in mind. I went back and reread the December 2004 piece (here and here) in the Washington Post.

After getting halfway through the article I had to stop. As tears streamed down my face, I fell in love with Pat Tillman all over again. His passion not only to be the best, but to also find the best answer (often by questioning mainstream thought) will live on long after his death. Pat had the courage to do what he thought in his heart to be right. He turned down a $3.6 million contract and joined the Army after September 11th. He picked the Army's most elite and challenging branch, and excelled as a ranger. There is no doubt in my mind that if he wanted, he could have left the Army and gone back to the rock star life he had been promised prior to joining, but he didn't, he soldiered on. He ended up in a war zone and watched his friend die in a firefight, yet he never asked to leave. He stuck it out, and though the end result was tragic, his legacy of bravery will live on.

Since his family learned of his death, there have been many contradicting stories as to what really happened. The Army tried to cover up its mistake, giving a man who was already a hero a falsified death that was parallel to his life: fearless, brave and righteous. The deceit was exposed by those who were righteous and brave in their own right, not settling for the mainstream media push and finding the true story. To honor his memory, I would urge everyone not to settle by accepting things at face value. Question the answers and when things don't add up keep pressing them, just like Pat Tillman.