One Soldier's Sacrifice
When Pat Tillman turned his back on a big-bucks pro football career to join the Army two years ago, his action made for a heartwarming American story. But last week that tale turned tragic. Tillman, 27, part of the 75th Ranger light infantry regiment, was killed in southeastern Afghanistan when his vehicle patrol came under fire in an ambush 25 miles south of Gardez. His unit was part of Operation Mountain Storm, an offensive against remnants of both al Qaeda and the Taliban. The former gridiron star had also served a tour in Iraq.
The events of 9/11 drove Tillman to join the war on terrorism. "He felt that our country was under attack and that he needed to do something, not just talk about it," his college football coach, Bruce Snyder, told U.S. News . The public was stunned in May 2002 when Tillman walked away from a proposed three-year, $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals, but those who knew the unconventional San Jose native best weren't surprised. "He did things his way. He had higher standards than most people," said his agent, Frank Bauer.
Indeed, Tillman made a career of defying expectations. At 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, he was an undersized linebacker at Arizona State but a ferocious hitter who became his conference's defensive player of the year in 1997. The 226th pick of the '98 pro football draft, he was Arizona's starting safety five months later.
But there was more to Pat Tillman than football. He graduated from ASU in 3 1/2 years with a marketing degree. He enlisted in the military-along with younger brother Kevin, a minor-league baseball player-just after returning from his honeymoon and shunned publicity about his decision. Arizona Sen. John McCain said late last week that Tillman is an "inspiration to all of us to reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait." -Gordon Witkin and Mark Mazzetti
This story appears in the May 3, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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