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Woody1968

Agent Provocateur
  • ...That Pat Tillman, former NFL player who left the league to serve in the military was killed in Afghanistan...I believe Tillman played for ASU when we met them in the Rose Bowl in 1997...
     
    I admire anyone willing to make that sacrifice. Those who are doing it because they feel it's the right thing to do (as opposed to those who are doing it for the paycheck/college scholarship, etc.) are even more admirable. My prayers go out to the Tillman's... he died a hero.
     
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    thats really sad news, this guy did what most wouldnt even think of, give up his career and millions of dollars to fight for his country, I know he was no better than some of the other soldiers who have died over there (I can relate I was a soldier), but the decision he made after 9-11 is something that is pretty rare in the world, we lost a good american, best wishes go out to his family.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4815441/


    :scum4:
     
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    I hate the word hero. It's tossed around today at all the wrong times, at all the wrong people. It's used as this big broad sweeping thing. Sure sure, they'll tell you that "all the troops are heroes", but really the ones they mean it about are the darlings. Jessica Lynch is a darling, but somehow Shoshana Johnson is less of one, and more lost in the "Saving Pvt. Lynch" feeding frenzy were thoughts about the men and women down in the trenches taking live fire while looking out for one another, and following orders handed down from their superiors. But I digress.

    Sure, it's a nice thing to toss the word around. It's an easy way to honor the people who suit up in a pair of cammies, lace up boots, strap on a pack, pick up a rifle, and head out to pursue America's interests and goals. But I still hate it. Despite that, I find it entirely acceptable to use about a man who walked away from the N freaking FL, the salary that went along with that, the prestige, the lifestyle, all of it, and decided not only to enlist, but to make a point to sign with an elite fighting unit. Here's a guy who clearly felt like he could stand in there with other men and women and make a difference, and didn't care that not only was there no guarantee that he'd ever be able to return to his NFL career and lifestyle, but that it was pretty unlikely he would. Obviously I don't know the circumstances in which he was killed. I don't know what he did or didn't do during his time as a Ranger. I do know, as everyone does at this point that he was in the line of fire in Afghanistan. So sure, here's a case where I won't clench my jaw when the word hero gets tossed around. But the problem there is that if he's a hero, then the guy next to him in the trench doing the same exact thing in the same exact place has to be a hero too. Because you can't be more than the guys in your squad. One squad can't be more than another, so you've got the platoon. Company from the platoon, battalion from the company, across the services from there. Is Jessica less a hero because her brush with death came because someone made a wrong turn? Is Pat more of one because he's dead, or because he walked away from a $3.6 million contract? I mean, I don't know. In the end I guess it's more about how you define the word, than it is about how the media tells you to.

    I've got buddies over there. They're flying a CH-53 as a Marine Captain, intercepting communications as agents for one company or another, interrogating persons of interest as linguists -- hell, those are just the ones I've had direct or indirect contact with. They don't think they're heroes, lol, the thought is absurd to them. I seriously doubt Pat Tillman did either. Yet sitting here, back in the almost entirely safe and secure limits of the continental United States, it's easy to think each and every single one of them is.

    Simeon Rice? lol. Whether or not we feel it reasonable to apply the term 'hero' to Pat Tillman, I think one concrete truth is that Simeon Rice is not one. He didn't understand or appreciate what Pat was doing then, he probably still doesn't now.
     
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    I remember when he first made the decision to do this and how it was such a big deal becuase today you rarely see such a selfless act by an indivdual- giving up millions in the pros to go fight for a cause he beleives in. Our thoughts have to go out to his friends and family and all the other soldiers who have fallen and are fighting around the world.
     
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    Each night before going to sleep I go into my kids bedrooms to check on them. The smile and warm thoughts I have when seeing them safe and sleeping is a simple highlight of each day. I thank all of our past and present military personel for their sacrifice for helping keep our country and my family safe.
     
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    Well said Clarity - I just heard about Tillman and toggled over to this site to start a thread if one wasn't already going. The title was going to be 'A Real Football Hero'.

    We worship drug users, wife beaters, rapists and assorted egotistical millionaires. But how many kids have posters of Rangers hanging in their bedrooms?

    And if I am surfing the tube tomorrow I will probably skip right through the news broadcasts about a couple more Americans killed in the Middle East, but settle for a while to watch the next selection in the NFL draft.
     
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    I mourn the loss of all of our servicemen and women, but Pat was truly special. I along with many others joined the military for college money so that I wouldnt be paying student loans the rest of my life. He didnt need any of that he had the world in the palm of his hand. He was a proffessional athlete with fame and fortune. He joined because he was truly moved by the events of 911 and wanted to serve our country. He's a hero in the truest sense of the word and a role model for everyone. If we only had more Pat Tillman's this country would be a better place to live. RIP.
     
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    I admire anyone willing to make that sacrifice. Those who are doing it because they feel it's the right thing to do (as opposed to those who are doing it for the paycheck/college scholarship, etc.) are even more admirable. My prayers go out to the Tillman's... he died a hero.

    Clarity,

    One is made a hero when he is elevated to the position by someone looking up to him as a hero. Pat is a hero to me and therefore he is a hero. Is Bob Smith in the trench next to him a hero? Not to me, but I'm sure he is to someone. Why is Pat a hero to me? I never met the guy (although I suppose I cheered against him at the Rose Bowl) but I know his story and what he sacrificed for no other reason than because someone had to do it. Many in our military are doing the same thing (albeit without giving up millions of dollars and the chance to play in the NFL) but they are making personal sacrifices of different kinds simply to make the world a better place. Others are there because they have to be or because they said they would to get a scholarship, etc. I'm no less glad they are there and I do admire them, but they are not heros to me.

    In summary, Pat is a hero to me because I have seen him walk away from dream simply to do the right thing. He was brave, and has demonstrated a morality and ethic that I admire and strive for. I said "He died a hero". Implying not that he became a hero by dying, but that he was already one at the time of his death. It is a way of saying his life was not given in vain, for his sacrifice will push others to do the right thing. He truely did fulfill his dream of "making the world a better place through his actions" even if it's just from me and my family emulating his example of courage.
     
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    Simeon Rice had better sit his bling-bling punk ass down and thank guys like Tillman for making possible the freedom needed to even have the opportunity to play a fucking game and get paid more money for it than 99.9% of real working Americans.
     
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