I’m not sure I get your point, Wee Bairn, but maybe I lucked out and did. You’re pitting Kevin Tillman because, instead of mourning, he’s doing something you see as pointless – trying to find out the truth. If Kevin accomplishes his goal, his brother won’t spring back to life, yeah? So his goal is pointless, and he should just be sad.
Couple of things I see wrong with that logic:
(1) Bringing Pat back to life isn’t the only possible result. It’s possible that, if Kevin’s crusade is particularly successful, the Army will institute better procedures to prevent future incidents of friendly fire. That seems pretty worthwhile to me, even if it’s maybe a long shot. Also, the 20-year-old who stupidly did it will either be rightfully exculpated if it was unfortunate but understandable, or will be held responsible and booted out of the military if he truly was at fault.
(2) I use “fuck” 100 times a day, too, but I have a hard time believing that the titular profanity is totally without vitriol. You do indeed seem pretty riled up. If Kevin Tillman wants to grieve by speaking in front of Congress, crying his eyes out for the rest of his life, or carving model airplanes out of potatoes, what the hell difference does it make to you?
(3) Re: the big dick/being called a hero is a good thing line of reasoning. I won’t speak for all, but I definitely consider Pat Tillman admirable and perhaps heroic. Here was a man who, I imagine, dreamed of making the NFL for probably somewhere around two decades of his life. It was his DREAM, almost certainly the biggest dream in his life and almost equally certainly the motivation for 90% of his actions. And he frickin’ made it. He had his dream, his life’s goal. And then he went and gave it up for something as selfless as serving his country. THAT IS WHAT MAKES HIM HEROIC. He gave up his dream for his country when he clearly did not have to. Again, that’s what made him a hero, worthy of admiration and emulation. Write it down; it’ll be important below.
When the jingoists saw that he had died, they held media orgies of mourning, saying, “Oh, how sad that he died!” This is true. “How noble and heroic!” THIS is bullshit, and the part that pisses me off and, I believe, Kevin Tillman and his mother. Pat dying in Afghanistan wasn’t heroic. Lots of people die in war. It happens and it’s sad. But it’s not heroic. It was the first bit – the giving up his dream and selflessly serving his country – that was heroic. Not getting shot; that’s just dumb misfortune. By mixing the two, as the media and the politicians did, you diminish the first, truly heroic aspect. In my opinion, when he decided to join the Army in the first place, THAT was the time for, “Holy shit, look at this hero.” And in fairness, I think there was some of that, at least on ESPN. When he died, the response should have been, “Holy shit, this hero has died,” NOT, “Holy shit, what a heroic death.” A subtle distinction, but meaningful to me.
Saying, “Eh, he’s a hero either way,” would be like saying, “Dude, Martin Luther King, Jr. was the shit because he was such a good speaker.” It’s true, MLK Jr. was the shit, and it’s true that he was such a good speaker. But don’t you see how it sucks to ignore his efforts towards racial equality? Yes, he’s the shit either way, but I’d rather he be the shit for the right reason.
To summarize, Pat’s life was heroic, not his death. And, if I were his brother, making sure everyone knew that would stir me to action. Hell, I’m not even a Cardinals fan, and I’m stirred to chip in my $0.02 on some pointless post on a message board that will likely be disregarded by some Ross Perot-esque analogy. “It’s like Groucho Marx with a parachute in the freezer…” Um… you fill in the rest; I haven’t your ability.
