Surely this has to be taken out of context.

GJ Chris.

Consider that everyone who dies in service for their country gave up something better to do so. What really made Pat Tillman different from any of these fine men and women? They were future doctors, farmers, computer engineers, pilots, mechanics and fathers and mothers. Is a successful football career that much more significant?

They are all heroes.

True, but Pat is an exception whose service and sacrifice needs to be illuminated. He would certainly not want to be singled out, but it's natural for the common layperson such as ourselves to do so. You don't see too many Hollywood types sacrificing their movie careers to serve in Iraq/Afghan.

honestly, whose death does? it's their life that counts.

It is SO easy to just carry on a discourse of quotes without context, but reality IS complex. He said, he said, rah-rah-rah... Gut-feel reactions are just that, something that doesn't really spring from the brain.

I do not think that is true at all. Some people look to the service as a way to elevate themselves out of a life of hardship, let alone get anywhere near to the type of life that Pat had.




In this case, it's not about the potential contribution to society, it's about the intestinal fortitude that it takes to walk away from a life of exceptional privilege to that of a grunt.

I REALLY have to explain this?



No argument there

So Mike Monsoor's death was meaningless? There is no value in the actions that sacrifice one life to save others?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Monsoor

This is turning into one of those threads that makes me hate the current events forum...

EDIT: And it's not even in the current events forum

How is this relevant? Are you saying no one here thought out there argument?

You know, regardless of what Tillman's thoughts were on the war itself, the guy obviously thought it was important, otherwise he'd never have done what he did.

And there is a point in saying his death didn't mean much. When we go, we're not much more than a small pebble being tossed into a lake. We make ripples for a little while, but they eventually fade.

My Dad was Navy and I grew up a Navy brat. I went to a few funerals as a kid and memories faded fast. I know that when I'm gone, the people who counted in my life will be the ones that miss me. Everyone else in the world is going to be largely unconcerned about my passing.

But too many focus on the death and not the exemplary life that was lived. Tillman's life was an inspiration, his death a tragedy. The life he lived is what people should be thinking about. "Could I have done what he did? Could I have made the same decision?"

Well, could you? Could you have given up millions of dollars for a life of service? When I think of Tillman's sacrifice, those are the things on my mind. And those decisions he made while was alive are what fill me with awe.

pfunk

Tillman's death was pretty much by meaningless by definition - it was an accident (perhaps murder) that shouldn't have happened. That doesn't mean that his life was meaningless.