Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

Almost immediately upon his death, Rangers at FOB Salerno begin filling out paperwork to get Tillman a Silver Star, the third highest honor of valor in the U.S. military, before his memorial service. The award includes multitudinous writings and testimonies from fellow platoon members stating Tillman put himself between enemy fire and O’Neal. Nowhere does it mention friendly fire, and the recommendations by O’Neal and others are falsified. None of the men sign their supposed testimonies, yet the paperwork is submitted anyway.

Bush will eulogize Tillman at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, so McChrystal sends an urgent, private email warning the White House that Tillman was most likely killed by friendly fire and the president shouldn’t say anything that may be proved to be a lie later. A bloody battle was recently fought at Fallujah wherein the U.S. lost 27 men. Reports then came out of Abu Ghraib of torture, murder, sodomy, and the rape of a 16-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. troops. Bush’s approval ratings are at an all-time low, and the White House’s perception managers scramble for something to divert public attention from the worsening situation in the Middle East. Like with Lynch, the White House sees Tillman’s death as an opportunity to spin public perception of the war. They immediately disseminate the information and manipulate it for their gain, violating the Military Family Peace of Mind Act signed only months earlier.

The media swarms around the Tillman story, and McChrystal is promoted to Major General the day after Tillman receives the Silver Star. Many attend and speak at Tillman’s memorial service, including Steve White, the Navy SEAL Tillman and Kevin befriended in Iraq. For the first time, the Tillman family hears an account of his death, albeit a fabricated one. White says Tillman was shot by enemy fire while trying to reach high ground in order to gain a tactical advantage, effectively saving the lives of the troops on the ground beneath.

Scott finishes the investigation, determining gross negligence and failures in leadership to be the cause of the fratricide. Bailey and Nixon refuse to sign the report, citing Scott’s insufficient experience and call for a new report headed by Nixon’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich. His report ends with the same conclusion but is subsequently hushed.

When Kevin rejoins his platoon, the higher ups realize the truth of Tillman’s death will eventually reach Kevin’s ears. This is the only reason, according to Krakauer, they finally divulge the true story of Tillman’s death to his brother. Dannie Tillman receives a call from a reporter asking about her reaction to the news. She hasn’t been notified by the Army yet and the story has already been leaked. The next morning, the highest-ranking Ranger, Kensinger, issues an insincere and extremely brief statement to the press. He merely says Tillman was probably killed by friendly fire while engaged in combat with the enemy. This is the only public statement issued by the Pentagon or White House that acknowledges the truth of Tillman’s death.

The Tillman family is granted a meeting with Nixon and Bailey to ask questions about Tillman’s death. They are shocked that the machine gunners and commanders of the units receive only written reprimands, one for “failing to provide adequate command control of subordinate units” (364). The machine gunners responsible for Tillman and Farhad’s deaths are merely demoted from Rangers to regular Army. Bailey and Nixon are promoted.

Many of Tillman’s platoon object to the leniency of these punishments, but the gunners protest against their punishment. Alders, the SAW gunner who shot Tillman, writes a letter imploring the Rangers to let him back in, insisting he didn’t do anything wrong: “The thrust of Alders’s letter seemed to be that the primary victim of the tragedy was not Pat Tillman or Sayed Farad but Trevor Alders” (366).

Rather than succumb to despair in their grief, Marie and Dannie Tillman tirelessly campaign for their questions to be answered. As a result of their efforts, another investigation is commissioned. The resulting document is much more thorough than the initial inquiry but still leaves the Tillman family dissatisfied. Lieutenant Colonel Kauzlarich offensively states that the reason the Tillmans are upset is because they’re atheists.

The Department of Defense conducts its own inquiry into the situation, thoroughly interviewing Dr. Mallak, who performed the autopsy, and others from a more objective stance. Mallak asserts that foul play can’t be ruled out due to the close formation of bullet holes in Tillman’s forehead. An article runs with this idea and a conspiracy is formed, albeit rashly.

In the end, the Department of Defense’s inquiry is as flawed as the others, lacking the teeth to go all the way up the chain of command to Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush’s role in covering up Tillman’s true cause of death for political reasons. Lynch, Kevin, and others testify before Congress, but by the end of the hearing:

Lieutenant Colonel Bailey and Colonel Nixon received nothing more than mild ‘memoranda of concern,’ and Nixon’s memorandum of concern wasn’t even placed in his military record. The Army, moreover, took no action of any kind against McChrystal, despite his central role in the scandal (377).

The Army continues to blankly deny any cover up or intentional secrecy. A reporter asks Bush about the cover up and receives only vague assurances that the truth will be investigated. After the initial flurry of great interest in Tillman’s death, the White House increasingly dissociates itself from the investigation, “followed by a stunning lack of curiosity about emerging reports of fratricide and an incomprehensible carelessness and incompetence in handling this sensitive information” (382).

Three days after Tillman’s death, his platoon is debriefed and counseled by famous Army chaplain survivor of the 1993 Somalia firefight, Jeff Struecker, to help them deal with the incident’s trauma. One Ranger calls the Army’s treatment of Tillman’s story and his family unforgivable. If Dannie hadn’t tirelessly worked to get the truth of Tillman’s death, they never would have known. Marie deals with her grief differently than Dannie, yet always with great respect for her mother-in-law’s resolve. After living with Kevin in Seattle for a year, Marie moves alone to New York City to get some distance. She establishes the Pat Tillman Foundation, to help empower young people to challenge themselves within their communities. She strives to make Tillman proud and holds herself to a high standard, knowing the grief will never fully dissipate. 

It’s early January 2007. A U.S. military outpost 12 miles from FOB Tillman is repeatedly attacked by Taliban operating just across the border in Pakistan. Repeated attempts to communicate with the Pakistani military leaders are frustrated. Pakistan, a heavily funded U.S. ally, maintains they aren’t harboring or assisting the Taliban, contrary to U.S. intelligence.

As of the book’s writing, 2010, the aims for Tillman’s deployment have yet to be attained. The Taliban is stronger than ever, with unabashed support from the villages around Tillman Pass, the canyon where Tillman was killed, named so spontaneously by Rangers. The schools even teach the principles of jihad. Pakistan is both a supporter and victim of Haqqani’s forces and al-Qaeda. Suicide bombings and fatal violence has steadily risen since Tillman’s death, with no end in near sight.

In closing, Krakauer reflects upon the idea of “last men”—passive, emasculated men of the Western world—and Nietzsche’s concept of the “übermensch,” a transcendent figure who is virtuous, loyal, ambitious, disdainful of dogma, and intensely engaged in the real world. Ultimately, he draws stark parallels between the hyper-testosterone-driven alpha males of the Taliban alongside those same archetypes among men in the United States, ultimately comparing Tillman to Nietzsche’s übermensch. Where some may view Tillman’s “stubborn idealism—his insistence on trying to do the right thing,” as a tragic flaw, Krakauer deems it a tragic virtue (406).