http://www.tillmanstory.com/
Saw this with a couple of buddies last night. Was sad to see that there was only 5 people in the theater.
For those living under a rock, Pat Tillman was a professional football player who gave up a multi-million dollar contract in the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army with his brother back in 2002. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 and the entire political machine used his death as propaganda to support our efforts in the Middle East. The controversy over this is the fact that they lied about how Tillman died, not just truth stretching but all out fabrication.
The documentary is well done and you get a good sense of what Tillman was like in his private life. You get some background as to why he made his decision to enlist and they chronicle much of the hoopla revolving around his NFL contract and the money he gave up to do so. There are some cool personal footage of Tillman from his Ranger training as well as some interesting interviews he conducted while playing for the AZ Cardinals.
The family is interviewed extensively. His mother and father played a huge roll in bringing this story public and pushing the Govt for answers regarding their son's death. Sadly there is no interview with Pat's brother Kevin who he served with and was present the day Pat died.
This film stirred up a few different emotions for me. I of course felt duped when this story played out in real time years ago but even more so last night sitting in that theater. As many questions this film answered, it left me leaving with more unanswered. The accounts of what happened that day from fellow soldiers are difficult to hear and after hearing them you can't help but wonder how this could have happened. I was always under the impression that the friendly fire incident that took Pat's life was a case of mistaken identity (this is maintained throughout the interviews). I thought each team was firing on each other from hundreds of yards and that seems to not be the case. Pat was apparently killed from less then 50 yards and this was after he popped smoke. I found myself wanting to rewind this section of the film to make sure I was comprehending this right. It was disturbing and explains the exhaustive effort on the part of Pat's family to push for answers. The congressional hearing at the end regarding the P4 cover up memo will make your stomach turn.
If you have time, and this is playing at a theater near you, I would recommend you see it. Take a few friends with you because you will want someone to discuss this with. I will be looking for this when it is released on DVD, there are many parts I want to review again. I walked out of the theater wondering just how much of an accident this was.
Saw this with a couple of buddies last night. Was sad to see that there was only 5 people in the theater.
For those living under a rock, Pat Tillman was a professional football player who gave up a multi-million dollar contract in the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army with his brother back in 2002. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 and the entire political machine used his death as propaganda to support our efforts in the Middle East. The controversy over this is the fact that they lied about how Tillman died, not just truth stretching but all out fabrication.
The documentary is well done and you get a good sense of what Tillman was like in his private life. You get some background as to why he made his decision to enlist and they chronicle much of the hoopla revolving around his NFL contract and the money he gave up to do so. There are some cool personal footage of Tillman from his Ranger training as well as some interesting interviews he conducted while playing for the AZ Cardinals.
The family is interviewed extensively. His mother and father played a huge roll in bringing this story public and pushing the Govt for answers regarding their son's death. Sadly there is no interview with Pat's brother Kevin who he served with and was present the day Pat died.
This film stirred up a few different emotions for me. I of course felt duped when this story played out in real time years ago but even more so last night sitting in that theater. As many questions this film answered, it left me leaving with more unanswered. The accounts of what happened that day from fellow soldiers are difficult to hear and after hearing them you can't help but wonder how this could have happened. I was always under the impression that the friendly fire incident that took Pat's life was a case of mistaken identity (this is maintained throughout the interviews). I thought each team was firing on each other from hundreds of yards and that seems to not be the case. Pat was apparently killed from less then 50 yards and this was after he popped smoke. I found myself wanting to rewind this section of the film to make sure I was comprehending this right. It was disturbing and explains the exhaustive effort on the part of Pat's family to push for answers. The congressional hearing at the end regarding the P4 cover up memo will make your stomach turn.
If you have time, and this is playing at a theater near you, I would recommend you see it. Take a few friends with you because you will want someone to discuss this with. I will be looking for this when it is released on DVD, there are many parts I want to review again. I walked out of the theater wondering just how much of an accident this was.
