QandO

April 23, 2004

How do you define "hero"?
Posted by McQ

How do you define "hero"?

Former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed Thursday while serving as an Army Rangers soldier on a mission in southeastern Afghanistan, Pentagon officials have told CNN. He was 27.

....

Tillman was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, a light infantry unit out of Fort Benning, Ga. The White House put out a statement of sympathy that praised Tillman as "an inspiration both on an off the football field."

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"Pat knew his purpose in life," McGinnis said. "He proudly walked away from a career in football to a greater calling."

Several of Tillman's friends have said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks influenced his decision to enlist.

"Patriotism is not a song in the street and a wreath on a column and a flag flying from a window.... It is a thing very holy and and can be very terrible, like life itself. It is a burden to be borne, a thing to labor for and perhaps suffer for and even to die for; a thing which gives no happiness and no pleasantness - but a hard life and an unknown grave, and the respect and bowed head of those that follow." - John Masefield

"In sports we have a tendency to overuse terms like courage and bravery and heroes," said Cardinals vice president Michael Bidwill, son of the team's owner Bill Bidwill, "and then someone like Pat Tillman comes along and reminds us what those terms really mean."

Rest in peace, Pat Tillman.

Rangers Lead The Way

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