Hero, lover of life
by Pat Flannery of the Arizona Republic
May 4, 2004
SAN JOSE - It was only fitting that Cpl. Pat Tillman's hometown would give him a final send-off beneath a small stand of redwoods with a lone cedar standing tall in their midst.
The former college and pro football player loved trees, and standing apart from the rest of the crowd was what the slain Army Ranger was all about.
He was nothing if not an iconoclast, his friends and family explained repeatedly during a poignant, often-funny public memorial service at the downtown Municipal Rose Garden.
Police estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people attended the event on one of San Jose's hotter afternoons in recent memory, with the sun beating down on the sweet-smelling gardens in one of the city's oldest historic neighborhoods.
The memorial, scheduled to run 90 minutes, lasted nearly twice that long as more than 20 family members, friends and colleagues took turns recounting their favorite "Tilly" stories and tried to make sense of the sports icon's death nearly two weeks ago. Tillman walked away from a lucrative career with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks on America.
"I miss my son," Patrick Tillman Sr., a San Jose lawyer, told the hushed crowd near the end of the ceremony.
"It's only been a week, and it ain't gonna get any better."
The elder Tillman said he was flattered by the turnout, and he thanked many in San Jose as well as in "the Tempe/Phoenix area," which he said "was . . . always so gracious to Pat and (his wife) Marie and (his brother) Kevin."
The ceremony ended shortly thereafter when a pair of Army Rangers handed Tillman's mother, father and widow American flags, and a band of pipers played a funeral dirge.
Tillman, 27, was killed April 22 in a firefight near the village of Sperah in southeastern Afghanistan.
Chief Petty Officer Stephen White, a Navy SEAL previously stationed with Tillman in Iraq, spoke glowingly of their wartime travails and their fun-loving bull sessions. But his tone grew more somber as he recounted his very first combat mission, which included members of Tillman's unit:
"We took a whole lot of fire coming in, and we took some casualties right off the bat."
A light-machine-gunner in Tillman's platoon was a casualty. Tillman took his place.
'Thirsty to be the best'
"He was thirsty to be the best," White said with his voice cracking. "There was nothing better than having a bunch of squared-away Rangers on your side."
White said Tillman died trying to save fellow members of the 75th Ranger Regiment caught in a crush of enemy fire. Tillman ordered members of his platoon "to seize the tactical high ground from the enemy." It took the heat off the other platoon.
"He directly saved their lives with those moves," White said.
"Pat sacrificed his life so that others could live."
Tillman's younger brother, Rich, created a sensation by toasting his older brother with a pint of Guinness stout, Tillman's favorite beer, and spicing up his brief comments with several obscenities of the kind Tillman himself was known to let fly with abandon.
The locker-room language prompted some live television broadcasts to cut away from the memorial.
With ESPN talk-show host Jim Rome acting as master of ceremonies, the event was filmed by ESPN, which made its images available to television stations nationwide. Photographers and other television cameras were barred as were photographs of the family coming or going.
Many of those in attendance came directly from work. Military uniforms were peppered throughout the audience.
"Pat was willing to give everything up to go out and take care of business," said Army Capt. Kevin Casas, 29, of San Jose, who recently returned from Iraq.
Another spectator, Dan Cardona, 51, of San Jose, said he attended because "it's the right thing to do."
'A fire in him'
"I have nothing but respect for those guys," he said. "He had a fire in him, and he'll never be forgotten."
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent condolences via his wife, Maria Shriver, lauding Tillman and other young Americans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Schwarzenegger was unable to attend because he was in Germany visiting soldiers.
Others who spoke included former college and professional football teammates, Tillman's longtime friends from grade school in San Jose, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who urged America to find lessons from Tillman's life and death.
All fallen lauded
McCain eloquently noted the sacrifices made not just by the Tillman family but also by the many families whose sons and daughters are returning from the Middle East in coffins.
"Their loss should grieve us just as much," McCain said.
He beseeched Americans to "be worthy of the sacrifices made on our behalf."
Among those taking that advice to heart was Zack Walz, a San Jose native who competed against Tillman in high school and later was his teammate and roommate with the Cardinals. Walz recalled asking for a set of his buddy's military dog tags when the pair got together earlier this year. The tags arrived a few days later by mail.
"For as long as gravity pulls, they will hang down close to my heart," a visibly moved Walz said as he held the tags aloft for all to see.
Tillman killed in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (CNN)
Ex-NFL star Tillman makes ‘ultimate sacrifice’
WASHINGTON (AP and Reuters)
Tribute to Pat Tillman
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