After Pat’s Birthday

Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin were both professional athletes who gave up sports and joined the Army after September 11th. Pat was, of course, killed by friendly fire, a fact the government covered up.

Here’s a piece Kevin wrote in honor of what would have been Pat’s 30th birthday. If you click through to the link, you can see a photo of the two of them together in Saudia Arabia.

After Pat’s Birthday
Posted on Oct 19, 2006
By Kevin Tillman

Editor’s note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.


It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military. 

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

Comments

[Tom E.]

Thought you might enjoy this. Picked it up at Alterman's site:

New Element on Periodic Table

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium." Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass". When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

[Ed]

Tillman is right on the money. And the day following his brother's birthday will be an interesting day indeed. My fear is that with the new electronic polling machines, that are as fool proof as Rumsfeld is honest, will somehow be manipulated to the GOP's advantage.

As a chemist, I found myself laughing silly at the above comment by Tom E. Absolutely brilliant!

[KC]

A dear friend was just killed yesterday by an IED. I've been really angry with the current administration because of this and other things. These soldiers really are tired. They don't know their families because they're on their 3rd or 4th tours. However, many of these soldiers believe in what they are doing. My friend, truly believed he was helping the Iraqis and I believe him. My own husband is there and he feels the same way.

What we need to do is hold the leadership accountable. How to do that? I don't know. Love your posts even if I don't always agree with them.

Glad to see you all are together again. We have 3 more weeks.

[scott]

A dear friend was just killed yesterday by an IED.

Ah, jeez, KC...I am so, so, so sorry to hear that.

I've been really angry with the current administration because of this and other things. These soldiers really are tired. They don't know their families because they're on their 3rd or 4th tours. However, many of these soldiers believe in what they are doing. My friend, truly believed he was helping the Iraqis and I believe him. My own husband is there and he feels the same way.

I’m sure your friend did and I’m sure your husband does. That’s one of the tragedies--the brave men and women over there fighting for what they believe in, betrayed again and again and again by the handful of powerful men at the very top who are either criminal negligent or incompetent to a degree rarely before seen in human history. Or both. And the men in charge of the corporations benefiting most from this war making obscene profits and not delivering the goods promised to our men and women in uniform. And when they get caught? They still get paid. Every penny they’re due and billions more they’re not.

That’s not right.

Meanwhile, more and more military families are going on food stamps, while Halliburton gets paid millions of dollars for services they didn’t provide.

What we need to do is hold the leadership accountable. How to do that? I don't know.

Fortunately, that’s one of the very few I do know the answer to. And it’s easy.

On Tuesday November 7, you and every other American adult have the chance to make your voice heard. If you like the way the war is going, vote Republican. If you don’t like the way the war is going--even if you believe or believed in the war--vote Democrat. It’s that simple.

We’ve had one-party rule for past six years. The White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and even the majority of governorships have all been controlled by the Republican party. If you don’t like the way the country’s been run for the past six years, if you don't like the direction it's going in, vote to change it.

You've got the power. You're the boss, and they're your employees. Don't like the job they've been doing? Fire 'em. But if you give 'em another contract, that's the same thing as telling them you like what they've been doing, that you approve of the job they've been doing, that you think they should do more of the same.

Love your posts even if I don't always agree with them.

Well, heck, even Top Management doesn’t agree with me all the time. :)

Glad to see you all are together again. We have 3 more weeks.

I'll bet that seems like a mighty long time. There’s a good reason for that: it is. As you know, I can feel your pain…to some extent. The one thing that kept me from feeling (too) sorry for myself over the past three months was the omnipresent knowledge that my separation from my fambly had me in San Diego and them in Virginia, when I could have been in Iraq or Afghanistan. Hang in there. I'll be thinking ‘bout youse guys.

[DT]

>We’ve had one-party rule for past six years.

And don't forget about that Supreme Court, there, Plucky. Yet somehow, while being in charge of every branch of government known to man - not to mention a few that aren't - they still want us to believe it's the fault of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi? Or, if they're not even that smart, the fault of Michael Moore and Barbra Streisand? In the immortal words of Butch Cassidy, "What they're sellin', I ain't buyin'."

Vote on November 7th, peoples. And don't be scared off by electronic voting. No machine can ever make a worse mistake than the humans who run this joint already have.

I had the opportunity to serve as a judge yesterday on "The Great High School Debate," a program we have in CT in which very bright and impressive high school students square off against each other in an NCAA-tournament-like bracket of debates. Then people like me and others a whole lot smarter get to decide who wins each individual debate, until we finally whittle it down at the end of the day to two finalists. They then square off in a month or so in the Connecticut State Senate Chamber, mano et mano. It's pretty cool, and these kids are so far beyond where I was when I was their age that I should write my parents a check this very instant for the entire 4-year tuition at my parochial high school.

Anyway this year's debate topic was, "Shall there be a mandatory military draft." And I sat there with two other judges through Round 1 and listened to some very well-reasoned arguments (and in this particular case, the "pro" side won hands down).And

I began thinking of the amazing leaders who have led our country off to war. Wilson, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower. And the pain it cause them so often, and how none of these men was ever the same again after it. And the legacies and heroes that arose from those unspeakable young military folk. And the unspeakable young military folk who are serving right now and doing their damndest to serve with honor.

And then I began to think of this same country of ours and the cowards, cheats, and liars leading it now. And how my own son would be "eligible" for a draft in just 11 years - quite a long time, no doubt. And then I remembered that 11 years ago was just 1995. A time that ain't far away at all. And then I thought of him being sent off to battle against his will by the same types of cowards, cheats, and liars who are running this great country of ours right now. And it made my want to cry, sitting right there judging these terrific kids. And then it made me want to put my fist through a wall.

The very ideals that have made this country the model for the rest of the world for 219 years are being plucked away and squashed on the ground like candy buttons. If we don't stop them now...well, 11 years is coming up next.

A man sang, "If I had one wish in this God forsaken world, kids, let your mistakes be your own. Yeah, your sins be your own." Amen to that.

Jesus said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Amen again.

We got to hang in there, baby. You can't right all the world's wrongs with an election, but you can start to make things a little better. So don't worry about invisible monsters lurking inside electronic machines or anywhere else. There are too many real ones to worry about.

And they have to go.

[shannon]

Thank you for posting the Kevin Tillman piece. I never would have known about it otherwise. I've emailed it to a number of my friends.