Pat Tillman Killed in Afghanistan

[ggw]

Pat Tillman, Who Left NFL for Army, Killed in Action
 
 April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Pat Tillman, the former National Football League safety who left the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was killed in action in Afghanistan, the NFL said.
 
 Tillman, 27, told the Cardinals after returning from his honeymoon in May 2002 that he was joining the Army with his brother in the hopes of becoming a Ranger. Kevin Tillman gave up a minor league baseball career in the Cleveland Indians organization.
 
 ``I am heartbroken today by the news of Pat Tillman's death,'' Arizona Senator John McCain, a Republican, said in a statement. ``The tragic loss of this extraordinary young man will seem a heavy blow to our nation's morale, as it is surely a grievous injury to his loved ones.''
 
 The brothers completed basic and advanced infantry training in October 2002 and graduated from the Ranger Indoctrination Program in December 2002. They joined the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Benning, Georgia, and served in the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
 
 U.S. Central Command declined immediate comment and didn't immediately return a telephone message from Bloomberg News seeking comment.
 
 The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Tillman, who was a seventh-round draft pick from Arizona State in 1998, played in every game during his first three NFL seasons. He made 153 tackles in his last season, the third-highest total in the league.
 
 The Cardinals offered him a $3.6 million multiyear contract before he left the NFL. In 2000, he turned down a five-year, $9 million contract offer from the St. Louis Rams to stay in Arizona.
 
 The Rangers are a unit in the Army's special operations division, trained to attack in large groups and leave immediately after their mission is completed. About two-thirds of soldiers who enter the training program drop out.
 
 http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=as.0I.V33J78&refer=top_world_news

[keithstg]

This is a shame. Hopefully each sport playing today will take some time out to remember him, and all the others who have been killed.

[grotty]

I remember being really surprised but impressed when I heard about Tillman leaving the NFL...Today, I was really saddened to hear this news.
 
 3 things about him & that article stand out:
 
 #1 - the obvious pt that he turned down a prestigious NFL career to join the military
 
 #2 - at one time he turned down much bigger $$ to stay with the team he felt loyal to
 
 #3 - he declined to do any interviews about his decisions.
 
 There were obviously very strong convictions & ideals driving his thinking. You rarely see people think and act that way in normal daily life, let alone a professional athlete.
 
 It is heartbreaking to see him & his family now punished in this way for trying to do all the right things.
 
 I can't help but think of that fuckface Bush - delivering the worst press conference I have ever seen a President make a few weeks ago - now sitting safely in an office somewhere while others that are MUCH more heroic are dying daily because of his whimsical decision making. He thinks, talks & acts like it's one big Risk game.
      :mad:     In a righteous world, it would have happened to him      :mad:

[Guiny]

This is very sad news, he sacrifised alot for his country and it will not be forgotten. I dont know why Bush is being blamed for this, its not like he died in Iraq. Any President would have sent troops to Afghanistan after what happened on 9/11. Yes, if it were Iraq then there's reason to be pissed. But he died in a 9/11 related incident.

[markie]

Grotty,
 
 I think along with the 3 things you noticed that stood out, I think there is a fourth.
 
 You cannot fight a war in foreign land in the hopes of making things safe at home.
 
 
 I think the guy was a nut for going but I am hugely impressed that he did.

[grotty]

I take back everything bad I said about Bush.  :roll:  
 He was "moved":
 
   <img src="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/23/bush.caskets/story.mortuary.photo.af.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 President Bush has seen the photographs of caskets of slain U.S. military personnel returning from Iraq and was "moved" by them, according to a White House spokesman  
 
 I would be enraged if I heard that & my brother, sister, son, daughter, mom, dad, friend, grandpa, etc. were in that box.

[G.Love]

I respect P. Tillman for his conviction.  He was a braver person than Bush will ever be.  It's a damn shame.

[Sir HC]

Originally posted by grotty:
  I take back everything bad I said about Bush.   :roll:  
 He was "moved":
 
    <img src="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/23/bush.caskets/story.mortuary.photo.af.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 President Bush has seen the photographs of caskets of slain U.S. military personnel returning from Iraq and was "moved" by them, according to a White House spokesman  
 
 I would be enraged if I heard that & my brother, sister, son, daughter, mom, dad, friend, grandpa, etc. were in that box.

As if they could say anything else.  What shocked me is that it sounds like this is the first time that he has seen or was aware of such things going on.

[J'Mal]

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/apr/HQ_n04059_columbia_dover.txt

[mankie]

Originally posted by Rob_Gee_a.k.a _Guiny:
  This is very sad news, he sacrifised alot for his country and it will not be forgotten. I dont know why Bush is being blamed for this, its not like he died in Iraq. Any President would have sent troops to Afghanistan after what happened on 9/11. Yes, if it were Iraq then there's reason to be pissed. But he died in a 9/11 related incident.

But all the other souls who've perished will be forgotten. I suppose a professional runny-catchy players life has more value than pvt Joe Smoe!
 
 If Bush hadn't stolen money appropriated for Afghanistan and redirected it to his fave war in Iraq...maybe Afghanistan would've been free by now and Tillman could've died in Iraq instead...so you could've been pissed off about it.
 
 I wonder who will play Tillman in the made for TV movie?

Originally posted by Bollocks:
  I wonder who will play Tillman in the made for TV movie?

Owen Wilson?
 

Originally posted by Groundkeeper's Willy:
  I respect P. Tillman for his conviction.  He was a braver person than Bush will ever be.  

<img src="http://hortus-mechanicus.net/b3ta/vote.jpg" alt=" - " />

[flawd101]

i they talked about him during the nfl draft this weekend.  how every player can hopefully be as good as a man as he is.
 
 he didnt do interviews because he didn't want to stand out or recieve special treatment.

[Guiny]

Originally posted by Bollocks:
 I wonder who will play Tillman in the made for TV movie? [/QB]

Hopefully not you.   :p  
 
 And believe me, he would be very upset if he knew the publicity he was getting right now.

[mankie]

I wonder if the Bush dictatorship will let us see Tillmans flag-draped coffin?