Contributors

Monday, August 13, 2007

They Don't Want Heroes

I spend a fair amount of time posting on fellow blogger Kevin's site, The Smallest Minority. Kevin raison d'etre mainly is gun rights but he does post on a wide variety of subjects. Naturally, when the subject of Iraq or terrorism comes up, I chime in.

He recently put up a post titled "It's Good To Know Our Hollywood's Back." He had just gone to see The Bourne Ultimatum and was outraged at the political bent of some of the films that were previewed befoe the film. Essentially, to him, Hollywood is filled with "America Haters" bent on destroying our country through their traitorous stories. Any film that depicts America in a negative light is another example of "civil suicide." In his piece, Kevin lamented the good ol' days of the films Sands of Iwo Jima and Strategic Air Command when men were men, loved their country, and never, ever questioned authority.

Aside from the usual frustrations I have with this line of thought, something in his words resonated with me. I wrote some of my usual responses to the "America Hater" rhetoric, trying vainly to grasp whatever it was that was nagging at me...gnawing at me like a festering wound. And then two words floated into my mind...

Pat Tillman.

Pat Tillman was Sgt. John M. Stryker and Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland all rolled into one. He walked away from millions of dollars in the NFL to join the armed forces and defend his country after the 9-11 attacks. Thing is though...ahem....small problem....Pat was a "liberal" who didn't go to church, read Noam Chomsky, and had hippie degenerates for parents. His entire life was spent on a journey or a quest, if you will, to become a man of knowledge (see Carlos Castenada). He would not be confined to the stifling, narrow mindedness of bigoted religions and political intolerance. He was a free thinker.

But he still went to fight because he believed, as did I and most Americans, in the war in Afghanistan. He believed our country was wrongfully attacked and that Al Qaeda was very dangerous to our safety as a nation. As time went on in Afghanistan, he began to notice that things weren't quite right. Why can't we finish the job here, he wondered? Why is our attention on Iraq? Why is Pakistan, our supposed ally, allowing bin Laden and Co. to flourish there?

Pat began to voice his concerns to his fellow troops. Even his commanding officer. He was quoted several times as saying that Iraq was a "fucking illegal war" and a distraction from the fight against the people who actually attacked us. He was, in the mind of some conservatives, an America Hater. As a result, on April 22, 2004, he was fragged.

In case you don't remember, I wrote about Pat last April on this blog. I speculated on the unanswered questions surrounding his death on the fateful day in April of 2004. First they said it was enemy fire, then friendly fire and now? Here is what has come out in the last two weeks.

1. On July 27 of this year, documents were released from the Army that plainly state that the doctors that performed the autopsy suspected that Tillman was deliberately murdered. These doctors told the investigators that Pat's wounds suggested murder and urged them to launch a criminal investigation. Supposedly, the Pentagon did launch an investigation but "quickly" found nothing.

2. It has been revealed that there were never-before-mentioned US snipers in the second group that encountered Pat's squad.

3. There has never been evidence of enemy fire found on the scene, and no members of Tillman's group had been hit by enemy fire.

4. The three-star general responsible for withholding details of Tillman's death from his parents for a number of months, told investigators "he had a bad memory, and couldn't recall details of his actions" on more than 70 occasions.

5. Army attorneys congratulated each other in emails for impeding criminal investigation as they concluded Tillman's death was the result of friendly fire, and that only administrative, or non-criminal, punishment was indicated.

Bottom line, on April 22, 2004 he was deliberately murdered by his fellow troops for being a "traitor." The commanders in charge of these men knew it was coming and let it happen. Or they simply turned a blind eye to what they knew happened because they didn't care. To put it simply, these men are actively engaged in furthering a warped sense of patriotism wrapped in a sea of lies. Pat was killed because, like any hero, he questioned the world in which he lived.

Our current leaders aren't interested in people like Pat Tillman defending our country anymore. They don't want heroes. They are interested in brainless golems or snivelling sycophants who say "Yes" no matter how damaging the results could be to our country. As I told Kevin in the comments section of that post, Sgt Stryker and Dutch Holland have gone the way of the dodo, to be sure, but it wasn't Hollywood that killed them. It was us.

We have allowed the people that are currently running our executive branch to tell the story, to frame the picture, and guide our feelings. It's easier that way. We have too much going on in our lives, right? Jobs, the cabin, and laying on our ass all day accomplishing nothing takes up a lot of time. Isn't it easier not to think, just download, and do as we're told.?

Sorry, Pat, but America isn't about heroes anymore.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep. That's pretty much it. I have said from day one that Pat was fragged. What a great country we live in....

Anonymous said...

Wait. Is all of this really true? I don't mean to sound like an idiot but I have been out of the loop for awhile....

Mark Ward said...

Jeff, do your own research. Start with a google search on Tillman and check out the Defense Department is saying as well. You should be able to figure it out from all of that.

Stay away from TV reports on Tillman...too oversimplified...

Anonymous said...

Well, clearly we’re not going to make headway on this type of thing, so I won’t even throw out cursory comments & taunts.

However, being a Robert Ludlum fan, I must comment on the movie… Namely that the movie should have a different title & main character name altogether because that is the only thing the movie has to do with the books. One need only look at the blurb that goes with the movie poster to see what your friend is referencing.

”…He must travel from Moscow, Paris and London to Tangier and New York City as he continues his quest to find the real Jason Bourne--all the while trying to outmaneuver the scores of cops, federal officers and Interpol agents with him in their crosshairs.”

It is indeed a backward/cynical society where the “cops, feds & Interpol” being the bad guys is considered the norm.

Mark Ward said...

Hey, Pam Landy was a good guy!

Anonymous said...

Interesting accusation. I'd be curious to hear from those who have actually been involved in the war(s) to hear how feasible, or perhaps even how common, such an event might be. Certainly I'm skeptical, but I have no basis for forming a definitive opinion.

I can say that it seems dubious to me that career men would put their jobs, freedom, and even their very lives in jeopardy just to silence a person whose voice wasn't even really being heard anyway...at least not back here in the US. Was it really that important for them to eliminate him? Perhaps so. Then the people that perpetrated this crime and attempted to cover it up deserve the worst punishment we can dream up. If this turns out to be just another "pod missile fired from Flight 175" kind of theory, then the same goes for those who perpetuate this stuff. (present company included)

Mark Ward said...

Well, PL so far we have the testimony of Spc. Bryan O'Neal, the last soldier to see Pat Tillman alive. He testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he was warned by superiors not to divulge information that a fellow soldier killed Tillman, especially to the Tillman family. So there would be someone involved.

Another update,

The Associated Press obtained military records through the Freedom of Information Act, revealing that "Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime". Based on the characteristics of the entrance wounds, the doctors who performed the autopsy on Tillman said it appeared as though he was shot by an M16 from approximately 10 yards away. An Army criminal investigation was later opened and concluded that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire, however, the investigation was hampered by the failure to retain much of the physical evidence, such as bullet fragments, after previous investigations.

Anonymous said...

Well I happen to agree with the thought process even if I can’t pin down the source of it all and I see what that guy Kevin sees. White businessmen do seem to be the biggest villans in movies nowadays. Another thing to keep in mind is that 70% of Hollywoods revenues nowadays come from overseas. My best guess is that political correctness has done the job of America Bashing quite well. How many movies have shown muslims in a bad light since 2001? Very, very few if any at all is the answer. I think the TV show 24 is about the only thing that does that (coincidentally it is pretty popular from what I read). Funny how a Koran in a toilet is now considered a hate crime while a Bible in a toilet is considerd "Art".

I’ve also noticed that our media rarely ever shows heroes from the battlefield. If we do hear about a soldier it is when they do something wrong or when they are killed. Why does the media withhold stories of heroism? My guess is that because those stories must not sell as well because if it bleeds it leads on the nightly news. I think the title here could be "We don’t need heroes".

Anonymous said...

Just another example of how corrupt Bush and pals are in their dealings. You're right, mc, they don't want to hear what's right or what's best for our nation. They want people to tow the line no matter what.

Hey, I just saw Karl Rove is resigning. Yipee!

Anonymous said...

Spc. Oneal's testimony does nothing to prove the theory that he was murdered. It proves simply that he was ordered to not divulge details. One can logically conclude that his superiors therefore had some reason for giving him that order. You have inferred the balance of the theory, including the reasons for giving the order, from corroborating information. Perhaps correctly so, but not necessarily definitively so.

For all we know, Spc. Oneal, who by some accounts was cowering like a baby in the dirt (much like I would be doing in the same situation) during the incident, accidentally fired off some rounds from close range that killed Tillman. For all we know, the incident was then ordered to be covered up because the Rangers didn't want it known that one of their own would behave in such a cowardly and irresponsible manner. All of the pieces fit that scenario as well, and it's not much less far-fetched than the idea that many people would risk a great deal in a clumsy, ill-fated attempt to silence one guy whose opinions weren't all that vocal or consequential anyway .

But like I said before, maybe situations like you describe are quite common in the military. I have no way to know. And, with no disrespect intended, your scouring of the internet isn't going to do much to prove it. It will actually mean something to me if/when somebody who has been there can speak to that point.

Anonymous said...

I saw the new Bourne movie and while I have no problem with "unrealistic" stuff like bad cops and bureaucrats, I was impressed with the fight scenes, the fisticuffs that Bourne kept getting into. For once it wasn't a matter of a group of guys attacking the protagonist one by one. Lame. This Bourne movie did a good job of making it look like they were all attacking him all at once. Good job, Paul Greengrass (and whoever edited)!

Signed,

Binkley C. Shirts

johnwaxey said...

I can see PL's point on this. It seems that most agree that he was killed by his own comrades, the question is whether there was intent or not. Very difficult to prove one way or the other and certainly, the evidence that is available to the public is limited, although the forensics is certainly suggestive. It is my opinion that he was probably killed for his position either as an athlete or as an objector to the war, but it is only my opinion. I am not a soldier and have never been in combat, but I do know that when you program another human being to violate one of the universal taboos of our society (murdering another human), anything goes.

As far as Hollywood and war movies go, it is ALL bullshit from word one. Enjoyable bullshit, but bullshit all the same. There is no difference between the FICTION that was Hamburger Hill, Sands of Iwo Jima, or Run Silent Run Deep, or Das Boot, Private Ryan, or the Band of Brothers. These are all movies/mini-series that try to invoke one emotion or another and should not be taken as symptomatic of anything societal other than what the movie studio, director and writer wanted to sell. If you want to know how America or the world feels about the U.S. of A. check any of the recent polls that are out there. Read opinion pieces or for Christ's sake, look outside of your own backyard. If you are hell-bent on reading into movies, try this on for size, the one thing that all of those movies portray is that war is hell, people, good people die in them, and as a consequence, war should be justified and be the very last option to pursue. Iraq does not meet that criterion.

If the issue here is America hating in general, look no further R.M. Nixon. Between his impeachment and LBJ’s getting us involved in Viet Nam, it is fairly easy to see how America-hating came into existence. Oh...watch out, a Republican AND a Democrat undermining American trust...what a coincidence. Maybe its politicians in general that is the problem with this country. For every presidency since then there has been scandal after scandal. Why should any of us trust our representation in Washington? Answer that question and you will have actually succeeded in accomplishing something for today.