Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

Posted on by

The bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven delivers a stunning, eloquent account of a remarkable young man s haunting journey.Like the men whose epic stories Jon Krakauer has told in his previous bestsellers, Pat Tillman was an irrepressible individualist and iconoclast In May 2002, Tillman walked away from his 3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army He was deeply troubled by 9 11, and he felt a strong moral obligation to join the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban Two years later, he died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan.Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman s wife, other family members, and the American public for five weeks following his death During this time, President Bush repeatedly invoked Tillman s name to promote his administration s foreign policy Long after Tillman s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had probably been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible.In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman s journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death Before he enlisted in the army, Tillman was familiar to sports aficionados as an undersized, overachieving Arizona Cardinals safety whose virtuosity in the defensive backfield was spellbinding With his shoulder length hair, outspoken views, and boundless intellectual curiosity, Tillman was considered a maverick America was fascinated when he traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL for boot camp and a buzz cut Sent first to Iraq a war he would openly declare was illegal as hell and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by complicated, emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, patriotism, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three year commitment But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers.Krakauer chronicles Tillman s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war From the inside cover of ISBN 0385522266 9780385522267 Read Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman – kino-fada.fr Pat Tillman was a top notch safety with the Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL He was an incredibly intense guy, always looking to challenge himself, to push himself past his limits But he also had a sensitive, emotional side and an intellectual curiosity, exceptional in his chosen profession He came from a close knit family that held the military in high regard and was touched deeply when the USA was attacked on and subsequently went to war following 9 11 Setting aside his lucrative football Pat Tillman was a top notch safety with the Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL He was an incredibly intense guy, always looking to challenge himself, to push himself past his limits But he also had a sensitive, emotional side and an intellectual curiosity, exceptional in his chosen profession He came from a close knit family that held the military in high regard and was touched deeply when the USA was attacked on and subsequently went to war following 9 11 Setting aside his lucrative football career, Tillman and his brother, Kevin, joined up, intent on going to Afghanistan to fight Pat Tillman image from Huffington PostKrakauer braids several strands ...I m active duty military and can partly partly understand why Pat Tillman turned down a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals, and, instead, enlisted in the Army as a grunt for 1200 per month I use money as the central metric of Tillman s decision because it s the one most non active duty military readers will misu...The back cover of my book reads, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion dollar NFL contract to join the army and became an icon of post 9 11 patriotism When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, he became a tool for White House propaganda Thus a legend was born Throughout the book, Krakauer makes multiple references to how Pat Tillman didn t grant interviews after enlisting, or how he didn t want, them to parade me through the streets to advance a political agenda I m not The back cover of my book reads, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion dollar NFL contract to join the army and became an icon of post 9 11 patriotism When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, he became a tool for White House propaganda Thus a legend was born Throughout the book, Krakauer makes multiple references to how Pat Tillman didn t grant interviews after enlisting, or how he didn t want, them to parade me through the streets to advance a political agenda I m not excusing the Bush administration s mishandling of the incident, but this book does just that It parades Tillman once again through the streets in order to advance a political agenda this time...Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle, would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal, so neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost nor would I urge you into the fighting where men win glory But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us in their thousands, no man can turn aside nor escape them, let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it to others Homer, The Iliad Richard Latti translation As I write this, in late January, another Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle, would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal, so neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost nor would I urge you into the fighting where men win glory But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us in their thousands, no man can turn aside nor escape them, let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it to others Homer, The Iliad Richard Latti translation As I write this, in late January, another football season is coming to an end In another week, the Super Bowl will be played Millions of people will tune in to watch this overblown, ceaselessly hyped pageant Some of these people will actually care about the outcome of the game most, however, will tune in for the commercials, even though they are, in fact, the same commercials we will strenuously attempt to avoid for the other 364 days of the year Dozens of talking heads will attempt t...This is another totally absorbing book by Jon Krakauer I read Missoula before and couldn t put it down and the same was the case with this one I didn t know much about Pat Tillman, but Krakauer made him seem a fleshed out, multi dimensional man and is story all thetragic for it Truly ...I wanted a biography of Pat Tillman, not a scathing critique of the Bush administration While the actions of George W Bush and his staff regarding the events surrounding Tillman s death are totally relevant to the story, here Krakauer abandons his usual objectivity and jumps head first into an attack on Bush that leaves t...When I first started the book, I asked myself if I liked the character of Pat Tillman I didn t understand why I was having such a problem with him But my problem wasn t with him, it was with Krakauer and his kiss assery, if I may The hero treatment was way too much for me Although, Tillman is a hero in many people s eyes and an overall good guy, it felt like he just couldn t be any guy He had to be unafraid to buck the herd , defend honor, with fists if necessary , Tillmanvirtually When I first started the book, I asked myself if I liked the character of Pat Tillman I didn t understand why I was having such a problem with him But my problem wasn t with him, it was with Krakauer and his kiss assery, if I may The hero treatment was way too much for me Although, Tillman is a hero in many people s eyes and an overall good guy, it felt like he just couldn t be any guy He had to be unafraid to buck the herd , defend honor, with fists if necessary , Tillmanvirtually indestructible , and was uncommonly resistant to the temptations of the baser human appetites Hell, he used ODYSSEY in the title I could go on forever There s even several paragraphs about how Tillman wanted to meet Noam Chomsky which seems useless until you reali...Pat Tillman, it appears, is everyone s political platform Krakauer decries the use of Tillman s life and death for political ends, then goes on to use Tillman to preach about the evils of the Bush administration By the end of the book, I wondered if this wasabout Pat Tillman s life or Krakauer s hatred of Bush.There s even a whole chapter about the Bush Gore election I m not sure why.Outside of the political screed, I was a little irritated by the obviousness of Krakauer s man crush on Pat Tillman, it appears, is everyone s political platform Krakauer decries the use of Tillman s life and death for political ends, then goes on to use Tillman to preach about the evils of the Bush administration By the end of the book, I wondered if this wasabout Pat Tillman s life or Krakauer s hatred of Bush.There s even a whole chapter about the Bush Gore election I m not sure why.Outside of the political screed, I was a little irritated by the obviousness of Krakauer s man crush on Tillman, especially the breezy treatment given to Tillman s brutal beating of a fellow teenager I don t know about you, but I would call an assault that results in its victim requiring 5 dental surgeries a felony an...This is at once a biography of Pat Tillman, a history of Afghanistan, the Taliban they originally formed to stop bandits from shaking down the populace at checkpoints and the cover up of Tillman s fratricide.Having read and been very impressed with Krakauer s Under the Banner of Heaven, I was expecting and got a complex story As a non football fan, I don t know the difference or if there is one between a sack and a tackle or a fullback, a free safety and a linebacker But who Tillman was This is at once a biography of Pat Tillman, a history of Afghanistan, the Taliban they orig...An excellent look at the life and sad, premature death of Pat Tillman, former NFL player who gave up a career playing football to enlist in the military His brother he was so close to also followed him into danger after feeling like they needed to be doingin the era of post 9 11 Knowing what happens to Tillman it s difficult to keep reading, but knowing the kind of writing that Krakauer is known for producing, one just keeps going, sure that the read will make it worth getting through in An excellent look at the life and sad, premature death of Pat Tillman, former NFL player who gave up a career playing football to enlist in the military His brother he was so close to also fo...

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
  • English
  • 12 February 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 383 pages
  • 0385522266
  • Jon Krakauer
  • Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman