Jim (jazzmanjim) wrote, @ 2004-04-23 17:18:00

Pat Tillman - Football Player, Army Ranger, Hero
I don't like to toss the word "hero" around. I think it's used far too often in circumstances where it's just not warranted and doing so cheapens the word. It's a term that gets decidedly less special and significant when used capriciously.

In the case of Pat Tillman, though, I use it readily.

For those of you who have yet to hear the story, here it is. Pat Tillman was a defensive back with the Arizona Cardinals. He was by every description a smart, tough player and a leader - the kind of player that every team covets. IN 2000 he set a record for tackles with the Cardinals with over 200 (NFL teams play a 16-game schedule. That's a lot of tackles). In 2002 his contract expired and the team offered him a brand new contract that would have paid him 3.6 million dollars a year.

He declined the contract.

September 11 affected him a great deal and he had decided that when his contract had lapsed (no begging out early for him. He fulfilled his obligation.) he would join the Armed Forces . He did so shortly threafter, joining his brother as a US Army Ranger - no easy duty either. By all accounts he was a diligent and honorable soldier and served well.

It was reported today that he was killed in combat in Afghanistan. I haven't seen any details of the action in which he was killed but I do not doubt, form other reports I read, that he fought in a way that gave great credit to the Rangers and his country.

I do not wish to denigrate anyone who has left family and friends to serve the people of the United States in the military. It does, I believe, take an extra measure of conviction to lay aside more money than most of us will see in several years doing a job he loved very much to not only serve in the military but do so as a Ranger - one of the most intellectually and physically rigorous positions in any military branch.

I hope that his sacrifice will bring more attention to those of us who put their lives at risk to serve us. I hope that we all will find a way to support them in ways that involve more than just words and symbols.

There are lots of organizations out there who are trying to serve or soldiers and they need help. One of the more interesting I've found is the Spirit of America. They take direct donations and turn them into all sorts of supplies ot help our troops gain and keep the support of the Iraqis. Right now their current project is to equip several television stations in Iraq to counter the constant barrage of BS being shoveled into the country by al-Jazeera. It's worth a couple of bucks.