Sometimes you just don't know whether to laugh or cry. Do you remember Pat Tillman? He's the NFL cornerback that walked away from a multi-million dollar contract after 9/11 to join the US Army. A very noble and patriotic act. He died fighting the Al Qaeda/Taliban remnants in Afghanistan in April of this year.
Turns out he died from friendly fire while trying to tell other soldiers not to shoot him (not, as his silver star notes, while leading the fight against the enemy), and that the US Army knew this when the awarded him the medal and shaded the facts in order to manage the public relations issues.
None of this makes Tillman's death any less noble or tragic. Well, actually, perhaps it makes it more tragic.
Posted by baltar at December 6, 2004 09:14 AM | TrackBack | Posted to PoliticsI remember Pat Tillman. And I remember linking to two moving pieces written after his death:
http://www.bloodlesscoup.com/blog/000129.html
Posted by: Armand at December 6, 2004 09:19 AM | PERMALINKYeah, and those are still good links. I don't mean to demean Tillman's memory or actions, just pointing out that (1) dying by friendly fire makes it all the more tragic, (2) it looks like the friendly fire was preventable, making this even more tragic, and (3) the Pentagon seems to be trying to keep all this quiet, presumably to avoid any tarnishing of their hero (or themselves), which adds even further to the tragedy.
Posted by: baltar at December 6, 2004 10:22 AM | PERMALINK