Where Men Win Glory

The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

2009 by Jon Krakauer

reviewed 2017 by Ed Chasteen

Pat Tillman was playing safety for the NFL Arizona Cardinals after having been a college football star at Arizona State and graduating with honors. He was set to sign a multi-million dollar contract when 9-11 happened. All of his life Pat had wanted to do the right thing. But only after spirited conversations and much reading, weighing all options and all points of view.

So Pat Tillman joined the army. As a college grad, he could have signed on to be an officer. He chose to be an enlisted man. He gave up millions and his personal freedom to become an army private and take orders. Pat believed he must personally do his part to defeat the enemy.

On a mountain in Afghanistan less than two years later, Pat Tillman was shot three times in the head and killed. Against his stated objections, Pat’s fame as a NFL star had been used by the government to whip up public support for the war on terror. His death from enemy fire, even more so. He was awarded two posthumous medals and eulogized by an officer at his funeral telivised to the nation.

Pat’s brother, Kevin, had volunteered with Pat to join the army and was a member of the same unit when Pat was killed, though not at the place where Pat’s death ocurred. The fact that Pat was killed by friendly fire was withheld from Kevin, from Pat’s family and from the nation. His heroic death at the hands of the enemy was heralded by the highest levels of government.

It was all a lie. Pat had joined the army to do his duty for his country. His enlistment and his death were used against his stated objections to fan a false narrative. Pat Tillman was betrayed by his superior officers and killed by his fellow soldiers.

This true story is told in excruciating detail in Jon Krakauer’s Where Men Win Glory. But glory is hard to find in the truth of what happened in the 14 minutes leading to the death of Pat Tillman. The insistence of Pat’s heartbroken mother to find and reveal the truth is as close to glory as anyone comes in this tale made sad for a nation and a family.

The tragic death of a good man used against his will to mislead a nation wins no glory.