Pat Tillman Field

From the latest edition of Tuesday Morning Quarterback by Gregg Easterbrook:

The Cards' impressive new rolling-field stadium has opened, and initial reviews are very favorable. But why isn't this facility named Pat Tillman Field? You get the creepy feeling the NFL has backed off from Tillman's memory now that we know he was killed by friendly fire, rather than charging up a hill, and now that the Army, which lied about how Tillman died, seems to want to pretend Tillman never existed. But the sad circumstances of Tillman's death do not in any way detract from his patriotism. And remember Tillman died in Afghanistan, not Iraq. Whatever the morals of the Iraq war might be, our presence in Afghanistan is clearly justified as self-defense; on the day of his death Tillman was an honorable soldier fighting on the side of right. Come on Arizona, name the place Pat Tillman Field.

I'm 100 percent on board with naming the stadium after Tillman. What I'm not on board with, however, is the suggestion that had Tillman died in Iraq, and not Afghanistan, that he wouldn't be fit for such an honor.

I know that there's a wide spread of opinion in the world about our involvement in Iraq. But one thing ought to be clear: No matter what you think about the decision to invade, whatever moral culpability exists for that decision doesn't rest with our men and women in uniform. They simply salute, and follow the orders that they're given.

And there's every indication that's exactly what Pat Tillman did. After all, though Tillman died in Afghanistan, he initially deployed into Iraq. And we shouldn't forget that in the wake of his death, we learned that Tillman accepted that assignment even though he was critical of the decision to invade.

One last thought. As troubling as I find Easterbrook's suggestion about service in Iraq, I reserve much more anger for those who lied to us about Tillman's death. That action is one I will never understand, and never forgive.

Eric 12:35 PM

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Posted by: at August 29, 2006 03:41 PM

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