Remember his name Part II

I needed a night of sleep to cool down. Normally I’m reasonably even tempered when it comes to bad news or various injustices. I guess that attitude is a means of survival. Who knows, I’m not a psychologist. But when it comes to lies, potential conspiracies and injustice by people we’re supposed to trust and believe in, well, that’s just too much to handle.

That’s why the death of Pat Tillman and the cover up and lies they gave is enough to drive one insane. It is such a travesty and miscarriage of justice that insanity is the only way to describe it. Heartbreaking, too. It's insane and heartbreaking.

As Gary Smith wrote in Sports Illustrated, “…that's a man who lived a life as pure and died a death as muddy as any man ever to walk this rock…”

The mystery of the cover up of Tillman’s death is trying to figure out what they were afraid of. What was it about Tillman that made them burn his clothing, his diary and then lie to his family and the public? Was it that he couldn’t be labeled, ghettoized or slipped into a neat marketing package? Was it because he was intelligent? Was he a threat?

What was it?

Tillman’s mother, Mary, appeared on ESPN radio with Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann yesterday where she spoke candidly about the the latest story about what occurred to her son and she is seeking a Congressional hearing. Listen here and here. Meanwhile, here is a Google news search of all of the latest published stories regarding the Tillman case.

Remember his name

In a shameless news dump late Friday evening with the aim at burying a story about a cover up, it was revealed that nine officers, including four generals, were responsible for mistakes in the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman and the way it was handled and disclosed. Tillman, as most know, left the Arizona Cardinals and a multi-million dollar contract to enlist in the U.S. Army shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.

As an Army Ranger, Tillman served in Iraq where he was part of the invasion in 2003. Later, Tillman was sent to Afghanistan where he was killed by friendly fire in April of 2004. His death became a national controversy after the Pentagon covered up the real circumstances of his death to, as critics allege, out of a desire to protect their image and tamp down Tillman's anti-war views and other ideologies.

So since the story was revealed so late on a Friday so that it would be hidden beneath the avalanche of coverage over Britney's bald head and the very latest up-to-date information regarding Anna Nicole Smith, we'll post a bunch of links to stories on Tillman, including his brother Kevin's essay written last November.

• An article about the struggle to define Tillman by both sides of the debate
  
• eight minute video highlighting Tillman's life
  
• Editorial: Facing Up to the Tragedy of War, New York Times, May 24, 2005
  
• Pat Tillman Foundation
  
• Tillman's sports page
  
• Cover up at the highest levels Huffington Post
  
• Links, Picture, and Biography
  
• True hero athlete — Day's theme: Challenge yourself. San Francisco Chronicle -- Gwen Knapp
• An Un-American Death. ESPN -- Mike Fish
  
• Remember His Name Sports Illustrated -- Gary Smith.
  
• The mysterious death of Pat Tillman