Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman

by Mary Tillman, Narda Zacchino Narrated by Mary Tillman

Overview

Pat Tillman was seen by many as an American hero. A star college football player turned pro, he walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract after the 9/11 attacks, choosing to enlist in the U.S. Army. He graduated from their elite Ranger school and was deployed to Iraq in 2003. On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan. The administration and the Pentagon immediately portrayed his death as the result of a dramatic gun battle with the enemy, and Pat was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and a promotion in recognition of his bravery. But as would later emerge, Army officials were all along hiding the truth: Pat was killed by his fellow Rangers. The Tillmans discovered this fact five weeks after Pat's death, and six separate investigations have since been launched, largely due to the family's passionate insistence. But even now, the true circumstances remain murky and fraught with contradictions.



Here is Mary Tillman's story, as she describes her attempts to uncover the truth about what happened to Pat and why the government went to such great lengths to keep the circumstances secret. In the process, she paints an indelible portrait of her son, a man of remarkable character who followed a set of guiding principles that ultimately led him to Afghanistan and, in death, into the hearts and minds of people all over the world.



Written to coincide with the release of the feature film The Tillman Story, Mary Tillman's explosive new foreword describes her family's ongoing appeals to President Obama, the Pentagon, and members of Congress to get to the bottom of what happened and hold accountable the senior military officials responsible for the cover-up of Pat's death.



"McChrystal's actions should have been grounds for firing. That is why it was so disturbing to us when President Obama instead promoted McChrystal to the position of top commander in Afghanistan.... On June 22, 2010, General Stanley McChrystal was forced to retire after remarks he and his staff made to a Rolling Stone reporter, Michael Hastings. I found myself feeling strangely validated." -Mary Tillman

Editorial Reviews

Tara McKelvey

Much of the story has been revealed in newspapers and Congressional testimony. Yet Boots on the Ground by Dusk offers something other accounts do not: the heartache of searching for answers about a son's death…it overflows with love and moral outrage.
—The New York Times

Publishers Weekly

This gripping and emotional memoir by Mary Tillman relates the tragic story of her son Pat who gave up dreams of playing in the NFL to fight in Afghanistan and lost his life at the hands of his fellow soldiers. Tillman gives a stirring, raw and honest reading, relating her struggles both internally and with the less than forthcoming U.S. government, as well as her son's incredible life story. Despite the heightened emotions at work, Tillman never loses focus and presses on to deliver a memorable reading as solemn as it is tender. Pat Tillman's story has been shrouded in mystery since his death in 2004 at the age of 27; Mary Tillman brings her son justice with this audio. A Modern Times hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 3). (May)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Reviews

Eulogy, investigative report and all-out condemnation of the U.S. military-and those who control it. When NFL player Pat Tillman gave up a multimillion-dollar contract to enlist in 2002, more than a few people-including his family-questioned his judgment. Inspired by 9/11, however, Tillman and his brother Kevin chose to become Army Rangers. Two years later, Pat was killed in Afghanistan. Hailed as a heroic patriot by the Bush administration during a period when good news was in short supply, Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his valor-accolades that seemed almost cruel when it came to light that Tillman was killed under mysterious circumstances by members of his own platoon. Though known primarily as a football player, Tillman's athletic feats are little more than footnotes in his mother's plaintive, cathartic reminiscence about Pat's childhood and his closeness with brothers Richard and Kevin, relationships with friends and abundant intellectual curiosity. Her rage over his death-and the obfuscation that followed-is palpable, however, and is at least as strong as her grief. Alongside fond memories and recollections of Pat's charismatic bluntness and self-sacrificing nature, Mary details her family's exhaustive search for the truth with the help of allies ranging from Senator John McCain to retired General Wesley Clark to numerous investigative reporters. Standing in the way, however, are layers of military bureaucracy, blocking every attempt to get records, and, perhaps, an administration unwilling to admit that it was fully prepared to leverage Pat's accidental death as a tool to increase support for the war. Mary's tender tributes are achinglysincere, though they sometimes sit awkwardly alongside the in-depth details surrounding the search for the truth. But the chilling results yielded by the Tillman family's unflagging efforts indicate that Pat's death was, at best, a result of gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the U.S. Army and, at worst, a sinister coverup by high-ranking officials willing to lie to a soldier's family and hoodwink the public in exchange for higher approval ratings. Moving, powerful and overwhelmingly distressing. Agent: Steve Wasserman/Kneerim & Williams

From the Publisher

"Moving, powerful and overwhelmingly distressing." ---Kirkus

OCT/NOV 08 - AudioFile

Mary Tillman tells of the life and death of her son, NFL football player Patrick Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman shares her grief in a slow, even voice and dolorous tones as she recounts how she mourns her son and copes with her emotions. In other chapters she describes her son's life as a well-known athlete. The pace of the memoir is uneven, especially the parts about Pat’s death and the subsequent military cover-up. Tillman also highlights her own tenacity in every aspect of her life—as a soccer coach, a supportive mom, a grieving mom, and determined citizen. In all aspects of her performance Tillman brings her son's life and her quest for the truth to the listener. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170866496
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	05/13/2008
Edition description:	Unabridged

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