It is one thing to turn your back on millions of dollars to become a Ranger and put yourself in Harm's Way in response to an attack on your country. But it is quite something different... even something so much more... to go back and do it AGAIN when you've already DONE YOUR TIME.
This, perhaps, is the greatest expression of love for Country of modern times. And we should all miss him terribly.
Tillman had been urged to seek discharge to return to game
4/16/2005, 1:02 p.m. PT
The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — Four months before he was killed in Afghanistan, Pat Tillman was told that he could opt out of extending his military service because National Football League clubs were clamoring for him.
Tillman, who was based at Fort Lewis, Wash., with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, chose to stay in the Army. And on April 22, 2004, he was shot by a fellow U.S. soldier who mistakenly fired on a friendly Afghan soldier in Tillman's unit. Other U.S. soldiers then fired in the same direction.
Tillman had an exceptional college football career and was a starter for the Arizona Cardinals. But he didn't capture national attention until he walked away from a $1.2 million-a-year contract to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In December 2003, when Tillman was back home from his initial tour overseas, in Iraq, his agent had begun fielding calls from teams suddenly interested in acquiring his client for the 2004 season.
"And they all said the same thing: 'Frank, this kid can get out of it. He's already served in a war. Just file his discharge papers,'" the agent, Frank Bauer, told The Arizona Republic.
He urged Tillman to consider seeking a discharge.
"He said 'No, I'm going to stay. I owe them three years. I'll do one more tour,'" Bauer said. "And that's the last I ever heard from Pat."
Tillman's decision "may be remarkable to everybody else," said brother-in-law Alex Garwood, director of the Pat Tillman Foundation. "But not if you knew Pat."
The Defense Department has completed an investigation into Tillman's death that was aimed at concerns raised about whether the Army held back information, but its findings won't be made public, Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said this past week.
Tillman's family got a briefing on the inquiry recently, said Lt. Col. Hans Bush, chief of public affairs for the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
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