From - http://www.armyranger.com/mod.php?mod=userpage&page_id=121
An American Warrior
by LTC(Ret.)J.D. Lock
Since the birth of this great nation, there have been only two wars in the past 192 years that were the result of enemy attacks launched directly against the United States. The first occurred on 7 December 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In response to that ‘Day of Infamy,‘ professional athletes voluntarily enlisted or were drafted by the thousands. Within the professional baseball ranks alone, 5,400 of 5,800 players served in uniform. The second attack occurred on 11 September 2001 with another surprise attack by international terrorists against the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. In response to that 21st Century ‘Day of Infamy,‘ only one professional athlete voluntarily enlisted to serve in uniform. Not only did Pat Tillman volunteer to serve his nation in uniform, he chose to serve it by enlisting in one of the world‘s most elite combat units, the 75th Ranger Regiment, thus virtually guaranteeing that he would close with and engage America‘s enemies in ground combat.
Sir Winston Churchill once noted that "Courage is the first of the human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all of the others." In World War II, the ‘Greatest Generation‘ was the face of courage. In this Global War on Terror, the face of courage is the face of Pat Tillman, and the tens of thousands of others like him who have volunteered to serve and to fight America‘s enemies. From a greatest generation of professional athletes that served in their nation‘s defense, we have devolved to an uninspired generation of professional athletes that were represented by their only ‘greatest‘ member, Pat Tillman, a virtual ‘Lone Ranger.‘ Sadly, it took this man‘s death to realize that.
Will Pat Tillman‘s death...his ‘last full measure of devotion‘ for the Stars and Stripes he so dearly loved...have a lasting impact? Only time will tell. But it should serve as a wakeup call and a point to ponder for all Americans of service age, especially for our hyped national ‘heroes,‘ the professional...and excessively pampered...athlete. For those game ‘warriors‘ who so easily talk of titanic struggle, battle and war on the fields of friendly strife, it is best to recall William Shakespeare‘s King Henry V, Act 4, Scene III:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne‘er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin‘s day.
America‘s professional athletes, "...gentlemen in England now a-bed," hold your manhoods cheap for Pat Tillman shed his blood for you and fought your Saint Crispin‘s day.
All deaths are tragic, but some seem more tragic than others. An American Warrior, Ranger Pat Tillman, Killed in Action on the Field of Battle, 22 April 2004. When one dies so tragically young, there is no finer epitaph...and my heart swells with pride knowing that this nation still produces such fine young men...even if they are fewer in number than generations before...who are willing to place themselves in harms way while the rest of us sleep safely in our beds each night. Pat Tillman, I am humbled by your character, selfless service and personal sacrifice. While others of your profession talk the walk, you not only walked it, you ran. I pray that, if only for a moment, your manly peers "shall think themselves accursed they were not [there]" when your blood ran red as you lay dying in a foreign land on their behalf.
And I do have a very Liberal-based mindset, but I‘ve seen just as many conservative dumdums in University as I have on the Liberal side.
