Pat Tillman's "Patriot" Missile Hits Home
By Jill Darling

 Army Rangers lurked along the Pakistani border. The elite unit darted in and out of caves, hunting hidden Taliban. An ambush ensued. One American killed. 

 Of the 17,500 Americans serving in Afghanistan, Pat Tillman is among the 110 who have died. Each death yields a heartfelt story. The former NFL football player's account is unique.

 At a time when most twenty-somethings are focused on launching lucrative careers, Tillman chose to do the opposite. He gave up a three-year $3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals in the wake of 9-11 to serve his country. The 27 year-old shunned publicity and refused preferential treatment, opting instead to camouflage his high profile in desert brown and exist like the other soldiers. 

 Former NFL teammate, Andre Wadsworth, remembers him as a man with heart and dedication. He said Tillman used to read history books about former wars and describes him as "intense and in-depth," a "dedicated person, loyal to his country." 

 Friends said the wake of 9-11 deeply affected him. Tillman had said in a previous interview that his great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor and other relatives served in the military, but he hadn't done anything. He wanted to do his part - for his country - for his family. 

 Seven weeks after his honeymoon with his wife, Marie, he and his younger brother Kevin, a minor league baseball player, joined the Army. The brothers served in Iraq where they were selected to become Army Rangers. Their unit was sent to Afghanistan. 

 Wadsworth said that, like himself, Tillman was "a strong man of faith" and mentioned how he "read the Bible through three times."

 In John 15:13 Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Tillman risked everything to fulfill a yearning in his heart and laid his life on the line. 

 His teammate, Pete Kendall, said that it was common to see ball players of World War II era leave their positions go to war, but that you don't see it in our modern day. He said Tillman was one of a kind.

 U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) sums up the nature of Tillman's service in the following statement: "…there is in Pat Tillman's example, in his unexpected choice of duty to his country over the riches and other comforts of celebrity, and in his humility, such an inspiration to all of us to reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait. 

 "When Pat made his choice to leave the NFL and became an Army Ranger, he declined requests for interviews because he viewed his decision as no more patriotic than that of his less fortunate, less renowned countrymen who loved our country enough to volunteer to defend her in a time of peril. It is that first lesson of patriotism that we should reaffirm in our own lives as we celebrate the courageous life and mourn the heroic death of this most honorable American." 

 Tillman's selfless act hits home like a "Patriot" missile.