Pat Tillman - KIA Afghanistan

Cafe Society
1

I really do not know where this belongs but since Pat Tillman was a former NFL star, I put it here. Mods, feel free to move to where you think appropriate.

CNN (tv) just announced former Arizona Cardinal star Pat Tillman has been killed in action in Afghanistan. Pat Tillman walked away from millions of dollars and an NFL career to join the Army after 9/11. I believe he went into the Rangers and completed Ranger school before deployment to Afghanistan. Today he was killed in action.

No link as of yet.

MeanJoe

2

Breaking News: MSNBC

Conflicting info with CNN’s televised report - this link says he was killed in Iraq, CNN reported Afghanistan.

MeanJoe

3

I respected the hell out of Tillman’s decision to give up an NFL contract to serve and defend his country. Now he’s sacrificed even more. RIP, Ranger Tillman.

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I couldn’t have said this any better.

5

I’ll second that. Well said.

MeanJoe

6

Just some snippets to show what a class act Pat Tillman was and to honor, in a feeble way, his sacrifice.

From this article

And when Pat and his brother were honored with an Espy award

Pat Tillman was an amazing man, who had more courage, more honor, and more class than almost any man alive.

Rest In Peace.

7

Unlike most college football stars Tillman graduated, with a degree in maketing and a 3.8 GPA.

The “best and the brightest” certainly applied to him.

Haj

8

Yep, me too.

9

Bonds, Elway, Gretzky, Montana, Jordon, Bird, Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar…feh…

Tillman stands out amongst these names as the true hero.

U.S. Ranger Tillman, your ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten.

10

I didn’t even know who he was until today. Wow. What a remarkable fellow. A true class act. Rest In Peace.

11

Despite having a college degree, he decided against going to OCS. Apparantly he wanted to be front line infantry soldier. The fact that he chose to enlist instead of going for an officer’s commission gains even more respect from me.

Tillman was at Ft. Benning Infantry Training Brigade in May of 2002. He arrived a couple weeks after I did, so he was placed in a different battalion, but his presence was well known throughout the brigade. Even though I never met him, he had my ultimate respect from the first time I heard of his decision.

Specialist Patrick Daniel Tillman, 2 Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. You will be missed.

Sua Sponte, indeed!

12

Agree all. Two things IMHO that also make him special [since we are singing his praises]

When he enlisted turned down a $3.6 million NFL contract for $18,000 a year to become a Ranger with no guarantee he would make it by the Army.

Before all that He turned down $9 million over 5 years from the Rams to stay with the always sorry semi-pro (sarcasm) Cardinals for less money.

"They believed in me by selecting me in the draft," was how Tillman described his reasoning for not taking the money and running off to the arches of St. Louis.

Special guy. The NFL, the Rangers, the U.S. and Kevin Tillman lost someone atypical not just among pro athletes today but (sadly) in society as well

13

Great man, I second everything everyone has said. VERY sad. Moves me to tears. We do live in the best place on earth–and all too few do more than take it all for granted. I was impressed when I heard of his enlistment and this news has had me crying off and on all day.

Truly, rest in peace. He was a class act. Many have lived longer with less effect.