Welcome to The BMC Vault, yet another tag recently created that will hopefully provide future excuses to post. Since so many online publications decide to be dicks and not leave some of their really great older stuff available for the sake of our posterity, I'm trying to lend a helping hand in the name of humanity. Requests for future installments can be sent here.
The former NFL star's April 2004 death in Afghanistan was immediately spun into a classically romanticized American narrative about a man passing up a huge professional football contract to fight for his country, only to die a heroic death defending fellow Army Rangers against a Taliban ambush. This all came during those still-awkward post-9/11 years (Ted Rall, you may recall, caught some grief for a cartoon about this very subject), but details came out slowly and the story changed to a death from "friendly fire." And then ... well, you had to wonder where the propaganda ended and the truth began. Or maybe a better example would be the more than two years between the initial Sports Illustrated cover dedicated to Tillman and this one published on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The story inside that latter issue paints a pretty good picture of how hard the truth has been to get to in the sad saga.
So upon first hearing about the film, I immediately recalled a column penned by former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch that struck me as being particularly ballsy for taking what would certainly be a stance that was outside the mainstream at the time. Contrary to the jingoistic wave that many sportswriters can be so easily tempted to ride in either laughably or mystifyingly piss-poor fashion when attempting to incorporate current events outside the sporting realm, Couch instead saw through the standard line about a guy leaving big bucks on the table to join the military and expressed an opinion that was in stark contrast to what many columnists—sports or otherwise—were phoning in at that time.
It was also astonishing for me to look back at this piece from more than six years ago and remember when the number "800 or so" deaths sounded outrageous:
Tillman's death tragic -- and so are all the others
Chicago Sun-Times
April 29, 2004 Thursday
BYLINE: Greg Couch
They brought Pat Tillman's body back from Afghanistan this week, and we got another chance to thank him and honor him. But I hope we're clear exactly what we are honoring him for.
Here is what a newly wedded wife of a lost serviceman had to say: "We're supposed to have a life together. I'm 19. I'm not supposed to be a widow."
No, Tillman's new wife didn't say that. It was in the paper last week from Keri Frank, wife of Marine Lance Cpl. Phil Frank of Elk Grove Village. He died in Iraq.
Tillman leaves behind a wife. Frank leaves behind a wife. So do many others.
They are all together. But Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals safety who left the NFL to fight for his country, was praised by the president. He is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated.
He deserves the honor, as the others do. But the real message of Tillman is being blurred, and maybe even lost. Somehow, we are confusing and twisting things in our love for celebrities and maybe even our guilt over someone else's courage and ultimate patriotism. So we are taking Tillman's death and wrapping it up neatly into a box that fits our usual thinking.
His death was not a heroic moment but a tragic one, as are the deaths of the other 800 or so Americans who have died in our current wars.
What bothers me is the talk about how much Tillman gave up. He was offered $3.6 million to play football for three years and chose to fight for his country instead. He joined the elite Army Rangers, commandos who strike behind enemy lines. It was a grand act of patriotism, yes.
But the $3.6 million had nothing to do with that. Tillman is dead now, and so are lots of others. He didn't give up any more than they did. He gave up his life. They gave up their lives. The ultimate sacrifice cannot be improved upon.
Keri Frank knows that. And so does Susan Amos. One week before Frank's news was in the paper, there was the story of Pfc. John D. Amos II, a recent graduate of Valparaiso (Ind.) High School, who also died in Iraq. He was killed in an apparent suicide attack when an explosive hit his vehicle in Kirkuk.
Susan Amos is his mother.
"I did not want him to go over there with him being so young and being in the Army," she told the Times of Munster, Ind. "For me, he was always my little boy."
We know athletes and movie stars get more money and attention than they probably should, and we can live with that. But I fear we are taking it another step with Tillman, deciding it means his life was worth more.
We are all equal in death.
This is a dicey area, I know. Because we mourn in our own ways. And these athletes play in our family rooms. Maybe we cheer or mourn for them so much because they are symbolic in some way.
But to me, it sounds like we are mourning Tillman's death more than those of everyone else, weighing it heavier. He is on the cover of magazines, while others are lucky to get a mention in the local papers.
Two and a half weeks before Amos was in the papers, we read about Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre, who had sent a letter to his parents near Kankakee. Beaupre, a pilot, had brought up the possibility of his death, and 10 days later his helicopter crashed in Kuwait. He was 30.
"Realize that I died doing something that I truly love," he wrote, "and for a purpose greater than myself."
Those words comforted his father, Mark Beaupre. But still, he said, "You have no idea the pain of losing a child. I've lost my mom and my dad, [but this] is a whole different ballgame. It's just something you don't outlive."
It's hard to believe Tillman would have appreciated this, anyway. Remember, when he left the NFL for the Army, he turned down all interview requests. They wanted him on TV, they wanted to give him awards for courage. He said no.
He didn't want special attention because he thought he was doing no more than so many others. To me, that's what stands out most about him, that he didn't want to stand out when he could have. That's part of what his message should be. So now, the president needs to honor individually all the others who have died in these wars, too.
Remember that Tillman did what was right for him. Thank him for fighting for us, and also thank Frank, Amos and Beaupre. Thank Pfc. Shawn Edwards of Bensenville. And all the others.
If Tillman is going to stand out against his wishes, it needs to be as a symbol, not a superhero. He stands for equality, and a young man's commitment to the flag and belief in a cause.
He is a symbol of war. And war is death. It's young, patriotic men and women whose futures are gone, who aren't coming home. It's crying mothers and spouses and fatherless babies. The losses are tragic and equal. And every last one of them has a face and a name.
A column like this, of course, was bound to get reaction. Here's what the newspaper ran a sampling of the following day:
In his column Thursday, Greg Couch wrote that the response to the death of Pat Tillman has obscured the message of the former NFL safety and overshadowed other casualties of war.
I applaud Greg Couch for his column. It seems somewhat superficial for the mass media to put a $3.6 million price tag on his life while indirectly placing a lesser value on the lives of other slain soldiers. Pat Tillman did a heroic act by serving his country, and his unwillingness to bring fame to himself for it was refreshing. His death is no more tragic than someone who died that left a career in sales behind.
Death is bad, regardless of the person's W-2 or fame.
Matt
You are missing the point. I don't think anyone has suggested that Tillman's death represents a greater sacrifice than the death of any other soldier. The praise was because he gave up a pro football career when he enlisted. It's different than giving up some low-paid job, which is unfortunately more often the case in our volunteer military.
Jeff
Your column on Mr. Tillman was gutsy but so accurate. As I scanned the front-page story of his death -- pictured in full NFL regalia -- I wondered about others who gave their lives and why he was receiving so much attention.
Celebrity status, I suppose.
Your words brought that point into clear view. You didn't belittle anyone along the way but painfully pointed out the obvious that others are dying every day and leaving something else or someone else behind, too. Touchy subject when it's easy to hero worship. You handled it with grace.
Brad
Your commentary was an outstanding tribute to these young men who made the ultimate sacrifice. I could not agree with you more on how our society seems to place a higher value on notoriety. I am from Northwest Indiana, and the area has lost several brave young men. We read these stories, express regret and our lives return to normal the following day.
However, these families are changed forever. We owe it to these brave souls to keep them and their families in our prayers daily.
Kurt
Pat Tillman was, for sports fans, the boy next door. The kid we knew enough of to know he was a good kid, from a good family. He was a guy who had other opportunities but chose to serve. And so we grieve him differently. But you're right, his death was no more or less a sacrifice than that of any other member of the armed services who has died. I just hoped it might have more impact on those of us who continue, by action or inaction, to support the status quo. Sadly, my hope was apparently misplaced.
Deborah
I understand your sentiments. However, I respectfully disagree with you in one respect. I do think many Americans connect with Pat because he was an athlete. As an athlete, he is more than a name; it is a connection for many Americans who don't know anyone who has paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Sadly, it brings it home more than others because it is more personal for many. This is partly because athletes embody the vitality of American life -- strength, vigor, enthusiasm, youth. Does it make his death more meaningful than the other brave men and women who have died? No. It's just that his is a story and a life we know more about than the others because his story was told to us.
Scott
In a way, all the attention given to the death of Pat Tillman is making us deal with the fact that our soldiers are dying in this war. I do see some good in all of this, not overly glorifying Tillman, but rather forcing people to acknowledge that others are losing their lives. Sometimes things don't really hit home until they are close to you, and his death is bringing this reality to a lot more people. Since his motives were selfless, it is making us all realize that all of our soldiers are selfless individuals who believe in our country above all else.
Rick
Amen on today's column. At first report of Tillman's death, my reaction was, Wow, someone finally put something ahead of sports, and money.' But the more I hear and read, the sicker it makes me. Simply because of his ability to play football and [the fact] he turned down millions, he is suddenly more important than everyone else who died. Ironic, considering Tillman never wanted to be known as a hero, or even give interviews regarding his choices.
Larry
I agree that Tillman losing his life is no more a tragedy than any of the other soldiers who have lost their lives. It's all horrible, no matter if the person is famous or not. However, people admire him because he walked away from a life that 99.9 percent of us would not have walked away from to go overseas and fight. I would guess that most of our great soldiers, given the choice to come home and play professional football for $3.6 million or stay overseas and fight, would choose to come home. That's not a knock on them; it's what most people would do.
Philip
It is sad to see that most of the media will spin this away from what it truly is: another dead soldier. Let us hope there are more rational people like yourself who see it at face value.
Eric
No comments:
Post a Comment