Pat Tillman's death
Pat Tillman died a hero. He lived a heroic life, and he died a hero. Those facts do not change, whether he died by enemy gunfire or from "friendly fire". He was doing a noble thing in the service of his country and on behalf of the freedom of others, and that can't be diminished by the source of the bullets that took his life.
While our hearts go out to his grieving parents, and we can try to understand their anger and frustration over the Army changing it's position from the initial reports that Tillman died from enemy fire, it's unfortunate that his father goes over the top by referring to a "botched homicide investigation" and saying "...they realized their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket... they blew up their poster boy".
Friendly-fire incidents have been around since the beginning of war, which means: from time immemorial. I'm sure that in the dust and chaos of hand-to-hand battle between warring cavemen (especially when weilding spears and those big spiked-clubs in dimly lit caves) that somebody stabbed or clubbed his comrade. It's a tragic reality of war.
And we do expect our military to be honest with us. Especially with the family of fallen servicemen and women. It's a tribute to our open and free society that we can even have that expectation, especially in contrast to most of the enemies we've ever faced in this nation's conflicts. So many of our foes have been governments that relied on deceit and abuse of power in the hands of a select few, and without a free press to hold them accountable. And no constitutional representative democracy through which people could have any hope of recourse if they were betrayed.
But we must not allow the confusion (intentional or not) about the cause of Tillman's death to overshadow the sacrifice he made, nor to diminish the gratitude we feel for it.
And I pray that (absent bitterness and resentment) his parents will be able, with the healing salve of time, to celebrate his life and his commitment, and the last full measure of devotion that he gave to all of us.
Brad
While our hearts go out to his grieving parents, and we can try to understand their anger and frustration over the Army changing it's position from the initial reports that Tillman died from enemy fire, it's unfortunate that his father goes over the top by referring to a "botched homicide investigation" and saying "...they realized their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket... they blew up their poster boy".
Friendly-fire incidents have been around since the beginning of war, which means: from time immemorial. I'm sure that in the dust and chaos of hand-to-hand battle between warring cavemen (especially when weilding spears and those big spiked-clubs in dimly lit caves) that somebody stabbed or clubbed his comrade. It's a tragic reality of war.
And we do expect our military to be honest with us. Especially with the family of fallen servicemen and women. It's a tribute to our open and free society that we can even have that expectation, especially in contrast to most of the enemies we've ever faced in this nation's conflicts. So many of our foes have been governments that relied on deceit and abuse of power in the hands of a select few, and without a free press to hold them accountable. And no constitutional representative democracy through which people could have any hope of recourse if they were betrayed.
But we must not allow the confusion (intentional or not) about the cause of Tillman's death to overshadow the sacrifice he made, nor to diminish the gratitude we feel for it.
And I pray that (absent bitterness and resentment) his parents will be able, with the healing salve of time, to celebrate his life and his commitment, and the last full measure of devotion that he gave to all of us.
Brad
posted by Brad @ 4:15 PM
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