Still a Hero

Pat Tillman, the defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals who died in Afgahnistan, was killed by his own Ranger colleagues. The U.S. Army confirmed that his death was a result of friendly fire. This possibility has been known for sometime but it was just recently confirmed by the military and the Washington Post put out a two piece article (Part One - Part Two) on how it happened (subscription is required to view the article).

While the death of Pat Tillman is tragic the spin of the Washington Post's article is even more so. They elevate Tillman to martyr status for the sake of their cause - defamation of the U.S. military and denigration of the war effort in both Iraq and Afgahnistan.

Does the death of Pat Tillman because of friendly fire take away his hero status? The Washington Post argued that his life of courage and service stood in stark contrast with both those in the army who accidentally killed him and also with those who abused the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. While to some degree that may be true the real reason why Tillman is and will remain a hero is beacuse he gave up a life of luxury and money for a life of service and self-sacrifice. Regardless of how he died he still gave his life to a cause he believed in. For in his own words, "I play football. It just seems so unimportant compared to everything that has taken place."

Pat Tillman's death will never take away from his life. For that reason he is still a hero.