Saturday, April 24, 2004

Pat Tillman never sought in life the celebrity that his death as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan has inspired.
He never thought of himself as special. And that made him even more so. ...

Tillman felt strongly about the flag, about how lucky he was to be part of this country, and how others before him had fought to preserve America. ...

And today, as so many of his admiring fans in the Valley, throughout Arizona and across the nation are devastated by the news of his death in combat, Pat Tillman would want us to remember that his sacrifice is no different than those made by other soldiers, from Arizona and elsewhere, who decided to fight for the cause of their country and are paying enormous personal costs. Even sacrificing their lives. And whose names we barely know, if at all.


On July 12, 2002, Peggy Noonan wrote this on Tillman's decision to serve:

But it was clear to those who knew Mr. Tillman that after September 11 something changed. The attack on America had prompted a rethinking. Len Pasquarelli of ESPN reported last May that the "free-spirited but consummately disciplined" starting strong safety told friends and relatives that, in Mr. Pasquarelli's words, "his conscience would not allow him to tackle opposition fullbacks where there is still a bigger enemy that needs to be stopped in its tracks." Mr. Tillman's agent and friend Frank Bauer: "This is something he feels he has to do. For him, it's a mindset, a duty."