I guess Rangers bleed just like the rest of us.
04/25/2004 03:00 p.m.
Either yesterday or Friday, I don't remember which, I saw on the news about an Army Ranger who was killed on Thursday in Afghanistan.

This, in itself, is not unique. If you shoot a Ranger enough times, he will die just as dead as I will. What's unique is that this Ranger in particular had been, in 2002, at least, a professional football player with a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

Now there's quite a hullaballoo about Patrick Tillman... What an outstanding patriot he was, what a great friend and family member, what a rare breed to walk away from such a lucrative career in order to suck dirt and get shot at in Afghanistan, what a special guy to give all that up.

But you know what I say? So fucking what. Everyone gives up something when they join the Army. Their freedom to say what they want, be who they want, look like they want, be intimate with who they want. Their familiar life, their familiar house, car, dog, wife, kids.

And, sometimes, their pulse.

Of course, the really special thing is, not everyone else has a multimillion-dollar football career to fall back on when they leave the service. Not everyone else has enough money from a previous job to go more than paycheck to paycheck each month. And, for damned sure, not everyone gets praised on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and whatever other TV news network you can think of when they bite it.

I've got friends from Basic Training that are over in Iraq, and I don't know whether they still have all of their parts. Hell, I will be leaving Korea in 5 months, and might end up over there myself. But if my buddies and I were KIA, would it even be a blip on the radar? No. What about us guys who aren't anyone, who joined up just because it was the right thing to do? Patrick Tillman should not have been the exception, he should have been the rule.

And so, RIP to Pat Tillman. But remember, it's not the ones you hear about that are always the real heroes, but mostly the ones you don't. All give some, some gave all--

And most didn't get paid 3.6 mil to toss a ball around, but gave it anyhow.

Out.
I am currently Bothered
I am listening to Story of the Year - And the Hero Will Drown