Did any soldier die today that wasn't famous?

[MikeG]

What, are jocks somehow more important?

[phoebe]

1. look if it gets the "freepers" attention to what is really going on

then Bush doesn't stand a chance. And yes, one died in Baghdad a matter of hours ago.

[Freeforever]

2. He gave up $3 million

This is a guy who turned down a $3 million salary to become an Army Ranger. It's nice to know there are people like him in this world. His death deserves media coverage.

[MikeG]

4. Every soldier who dies turns down something more valuable.

All their tomorrows.

[shanti]

20. thank you

sadly, you are right:-(

[jtb33]

5. Actually

He only gave up $1.2 million per year. The contract was a $3.6 million contract over 3 years.

[RummyTheDummy]

11. Actually, you're wrong

You left out his signing bonus which was supposed to be more than one million dollars. As if the amount of money should really matter.

[Sequoia]

7. Yes, a hero.

More of a hero than say Little Johnny who dies and is shipped under the cover of darkness and no flags at half mast for him, just a whole lot of friends and family who'll miss him. It's always the sports jocks who get the attention. Death has no meaning unless is a football jock.

[RummyTheDummy]

13. Really?

Is that how it is, funny I've paid attention to all of the people who have died.

Go to the "Faces of the Fallen" section on Michael Moore's site and pay some attention yourself.

[Kool Kitty]

3. Funny how that works, huh?

Dammit. You'd think this young man was the only one that died there. It was "breaking news" on CNN before I went out this afternoon. How much do you want to bet that we see the return of his remains live on TV? I don't think the amount of pay he gave up to serve is relavent. The others that have lost their lives are just as important.

[prodigal_green]

6. I get where you're coming from, but

I think that having one person that everybody "knows" brings the war home for a lot of people for whom the bodycount has just been a statistic.

I'm not a football fan, so I've never heard of the guy, but from what I read, he at least put his money where his mouth is(was). That's a hell of a lot more than anybody in the malAdmin has done, or 99% of the folks over in freeperville.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. He died fighting for his tax cut!

Something no Repig in Washington's kids will ever do!

[girl gone mad]

14. Yep.

The freepers are just talk, this guy took action. All of those freepers who fantasize about growing a pair and volunteering for service now might be forced to confront the other side of that fantasy - their false sense of invincibility.

[crimson333]

28. I would say more than most people

on any message board.

how many times have you seen on this board the willingness to send an applicaction to sign up? well he did and did it with out fan fare.The media talked not him. I am sure he hated all this coverage if he could see it.

Just as there are many soldiers that sign up for a better life, there are just as many that serve as a calling like Mr. Tillman and my 3 relatives who have reenlisted in the last year. If I didn't have Multiplie Sclerosis I would joined 17 years ago

[Freeforever]

8. Give Him His Respect

Why is the anti-war crowd offended that this guy is getting so much covereage? Because he's no more important than the 700 other dead soldiers? If anything this will wake up the country who only sees dead Americans as numbers and statistics. While nothing good comes from a man's death, at least this event will hit some people in the head who don't realize how tragic war is.

[lapfog_1]

19. Not only that

but he died in a war that I support, the one we SHOULD be fighting,
and we should have won by now.

The true crime is that this war is being lost by neglect and apathy.
Bush has a lot to answer for, but losing Afghanistan by creating a
PNAC driven war in Iraq is, in my opinion, his biggest crime.

[No2W2004]

10. The sad thing is

if you've read anything about him, Tillman would be pissed off that his death is getting more notice than others are.

[MikeG]

12. I'm as big a football fan as anyone, but this worship of fame... (n/t)

[RummyTheDummy]

15. First off.....

The Squeelers blow. Second, he gets the attention because of the unusual nature of how he got the military. Dare I say, it was a little different path than most.

[MikeG]

17. When your team wins a Super Bowl that the refs don't give them,

You can talk about the Steelers - the greatest team ever.

[NNN0LHI]

16. Actually yes. But he is not getting much media attention

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=498627§ion=news

Bomb kills U.S. soldier near Baghdad

Fri 23 April, 2004 22:14

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb has killed a U.S. soldier north of Baghdad, the U.S. military says.

It said in a statement on Friday that the 1st Infantry Division soldier was killed when the explosive device hit a U.S. convoy near the town of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad.

more

[matcom]

18. A-FUCKING-MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so sick of hearing about Tillman.

"He gave up a multi-million dollar contract......"

then he was STUPID as far as I am concerned.

ANY death in Bush's fucked up war is HORRIBLE but know what? Johnny from Topeka didn't HAVE that choice to 'give up a ...... ANYTHING'!

fucking dumbass media :grr:

[MikeG]

21. matcom - do you still have the godlike powers of 2 days ago?

Because I hear the freepers are still walking funny.

[Uzybone]

22. At least they are talking about a dead solider

DUers will whine about anything. Is it preferrable if the whores (basically) ignore his death as they have done for almost all the others????

[Piperay]

23. So...maybe it will be of help because

it puts a personal face on loss in war, a real honest to God identifiable face on it. People can't seem to "get it" unless it is personalized.

[Adams Wulff]

24. Pardon Me, While i get my ass kicked off this site, but...

WHAT THE FUCK?

Pat Tillman was a regular person just like you and me, who made something of himself. When he reached the pinnacle of his chosen career, he decided to answer to a call, a call his brother heard years before.

For an entire football season, we heard the name, and we knew of his decision. None of us ever dreamed that such a high profile recruit would ever see hazardous duty.

I am a sports fan. I live in a household of 3 adults, and 2 children, of which, only myself, and one of the children are sports fans. When word of Mr. Tillman's death was received, the entire house was silent. We all knew this was a big deal. Kind of like you didn't have to be a NASCAR fan to know that Dale Earnhardt was #3, when that car went into the wall.

"Somehow jocks are more important?" No. My little brother died in 1987, while he was in the Air Force. Did you send flowers? Really, because I never got them. Did you mourn in any way? Did you give a shit at all? Just curious. You sit there and wonder if jocks are more important, but I wonder if you aren't just grandstanding to make this life seem less than all of the others.
No one knew my brother. He wasn't breaking news. on the other hand, he wasn't starting for the Arizona Cardinals, either.
I didn't know Pat Tillman personally. I lived vicariously through him, and the decisions he made. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. There are people out there who can do things I have never had the opportunity to do, despite my desire. Pat Tillman did not deserve to die in Iraq. Nor did 700+ other fine men and women, who died in national anonymity. But maybe Pat Tillman's death will galvanize this nation to see what is really being sacrificed here, the youth, the promise, the future of this country, simply for the sake of a few measly scumbags who want to make money.

Until we get thes assholes out of office, none of whom have any idea of the true cost of war, we will be stuck with an unpublisized body count, and the idea that this unjust war is blood free, and good for "homeland security" etcetera.

Bullshit.

[wtmusic]

26. If it takes a famous person's death to 'galvanize the nation'

the nation is in a moral coma.

[Adams Wulff]

27. Point Taken

The nation has been in a government induced coma since 1991.
That's when the Pentagon decided that the cost of war was too high to be presented to the American people.
You are only seeing the images, and hearing the stories, at the chagrin of the powers that be.

[tedzbear]

25. It's OK to offend HIS family by putting him all over the front page...

...but god forbid we show the coffins.

Rove must feel the death of a sports figure in Afghanistan is a positive for Bush, but the coffins aren't.

[VolcanoJen]

29. If Pat Tillman had his choice, this fanfare would not have happened.

Look, I'm as cynical as the rest of us here at DU, but Pat Tillman is the real deal, and criticizing him and the coverage of his sad passing comes off as cynical and defeatist to me.

Goddammit, for the first time since September 11, there's a little hope in my heart. Pat Tillman is a true patriot, in every sense of the word. He is not unlike any of our courageous, selfless men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq today, and that was the precise point of his service. Pat Tillman refused interviews that called attention to his sense of sacrifice and duty. He didn't want us to view him as better, or somehow more important, more worthy, than his fellow soldiers.

I refuse to accept this self-defeating, cynical view of Pat Tillman and the coverage surrounding his death. He is a true American patriot, and someone we should look up to, admire, and aspire to be like.

Don't hold the media's treatment of his death above the message of the way he lived his life. If I were a school kid, I'd hang a picture of Pat Tillman in my locker. He represents all that I love about my country, and my politics and cynicism will not interfere with his message of devotion, sacrifice, and equality.