The writing of Jon Krakauer, whose work illuminates the motives—and fate—of those who live on the ragged edge of humanity, has long been among my favorite. As a writer of non-fiction, I hold him in esteem with the most eloquent and compelling writers of contemporary fiction. It is this principle reason, not the subject, that led me to first open his most recent work, Where Men When Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. But is the subject, not the writing, that haunts me now that it is finished.
Like most every other person in this country, I heard a great deal about Pat Tillman, the undersized, star defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals who turned down a career in the NFL to enlist in the army after 9/11. I knew that he had died in Afghanistan. I knew that he detested celebrity and did not want his career in the Army documented. I knew that he was an atheist, a point noted with sadness, disappointment, and even disdain in some Christian cultures after his death.
But there were things that I didn’t know. For instance, prior to 9/11 and his last season in the NFL, Tillman, who was making league minimum playing for the pitiful Cardinals, was offered $9 million to go play for the St. Louis Rams. He turned it down, saying that he owed his career to the good faith of the Cardinal’s franchise and the people of Arizona. It was the later, multi-million dollar contract extension by the Cardinals he turned down to become an Army Ranger most of us know about. I was unaware of Tillman the philosophy-loving intellectual, or the fiercely loyal friend, or the man who genuinely regarded doing the right thing to be the most important thing and actually did it—a belief that led him to enlist, despite his disapproval of the war. And finally, prior to reading Krakauer’s book, I also did not know that Tillman was killed by friendly fire, nor that the details of his death were covered up by the Pentagon.
After his death, Tillman was paraded through the news as a hero. While his actions were certainly heroic, the reality in which he died, and my unawareness of it, is just the first glimpse of one of the most nauseating, infuriating accounts of cover-up and propaganda I have ever encountered. Not only was the truth hidden from the Tillman family, Rangers present at the incident were ordered by superiors to lie, orders that can be traced—and documented—all the way to White House. The various accounts, testimonies, letters, and emails found by Krakauer and the Tillman family bear witness to the length people are willing to go to cover their own butts. It’s a conspiracy more fascinating than fiction.
Krakauer is a remarkable writer, and Where Men Win Glory is a remarkable book. The combination of biography, Southern Asian history, descriptions of battle, and investigative journalism is second to none.
But more than that, I am humbled by Pat Tillman, the man. On the surface, he is the very ideal of the sort of hero boys dream of becoming. Below the surface, it is Tillman’s reality, his humility, reckless temper, unbridled passion, and desire to respect and understand others that makes him endearing to readers. It is the Pat I did not hear about on TV that made this book worth reading—and the reality of his death all the more disturbing to read.
I highly recommend it.
[...] Where Men Win Glory – Jon Krakauer: I reviewed this on the blog a few weeks back, but I’ll recap by saying that there’s no writer of [...]