WHERE MEN WIN GLORY
The story of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Pat tillman grew up in Fremont california. Pat and his three brothers where not like other kids at that time everyday they would go exploring wheather it be by bike or on foot and at the end of the day they discussed current events with their parents. As Pat grew older he found out his skill on the football field being an eceptional footbal player led to Pats success in college football after signing with the University of Arizona. He stuggled to get playing time and finded his new position diffucult but like everything that happened in Pats life he did not stop he pushed through and finally recieved his well deserved time on the field. After his carrier at D-1 college football Pat trained nonstop to become an NFL footbal player friends say that when Pat set a goal for himself he would do all that he could to get there and then do better the next time. This determination he showed got him a spot on the Arizona Cardnials. Once agian Pat had to fight for a spot on the field and he got it there he stayed for the remaing three seasons of his carrier. On September 11th, 2001 Pat was training for what would be his last season in the NFL. The events that happened that morning changed the way Pat would look at himself. Through out his life he saw he neeed to do something exceptional with his life , do something that made a differance and he decided to do this by joining the Army. On May 31st 2002 Pat and his brother Kevin Tillman joined the Army after completeing basic training they went on to join the Army Rangers. After completing this Pat and Kevin where deployed to Iraq after returning to the states Pat was disapointed in the war so far he saw very little combat and was eager to get back to regular civilian life and the NFL. Then in April 2004 Pat was deployed to afganistan partoling the Pakistani boarder this is Where Pat Tilman was killed and a coverup of his death formulated. The character named Pat Tillman was a complex man adventures philosophical and changed the words impossiable to possiable. Reciving the news that he was not baseball material he traded in his mit and bat for helmet and shoulder pads and when his country needed him he traded in his helmet for a combat helmet and his shoulder pads for a gun. This over whelming amount of love for a cause and determanation to make a differance.
Theme
The theme of the book I beleive is a mix between a man who did everything possiable and gave 110% and asked for nothing in return. The other side I believe that the author wanted to show was the governments corruption of truth , manipuation of a story and of the American people , and how far the government would go to cover up a story and change it to gain support of the "never ending war" in the middle east.
Setting
The setting of this book jumps around the globe from Fremont California where Pat spent his childhood exploring nature and pushing himself to be exceptional , to Iraq where Pat worried about his wife and where he wanted to experience combat from the front lines. From University of Arizona where Pat excelled on the football field and in education , to Fort Lewis where Pat said he trained the hardest he ever had in his life to become an Army ranger. Then to the mountains of Afganistan where Pat met his fate and ended up in one of the biggest military coverups.
Review
Over all I enjoyed the book it opened my eyes to what the governments does without the publics knowledge with such skill and with the tax payers money. With reading the back of the book you would exspect it to be about the war in the middle east and how he died I knew who Pat Tillman was and what he did but i had know idea about the government coverup and the book went into such great detail about that and his football carrier. In my opinion there was to much detail that it board me and in the begining was a struggle but once you got to when he joined the Army it picked up so i would recomend this book to anyone that would be interested.