Churchill's Ghost
VIP Member
Guys, I can't let the Tillman Award thing go
I was one of the first ten people in the Pentagon to learn of Pat Tillman's death due to where I worked and who I worked directly for. We got word and my boss had to tell the news to the Chief of Staff of the Army. I will never forget the look on his face...and mind you, we had watched, on 10 foot tall screens, video captured of the Taliban and Saddam's men killing and torturing people. My boss went ashen and said something along the lines of "we won't be going home for a few days" You see, we knew from the beginning that it was probably friendly fire and we were going to have to balance the need to give information to the grieving family with the hunger of a hostile media.
I also accompanied my boss on several "Dover missions" where we would go to Dover AFB to meet the planes bringing back the bodies of men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had to look those families in the eyes during the worst moments of their lives and try to think of something besides platitudes to say to them. I have several close friends who are only here by some miracle of God (a bullet that a millimeter to the left would have rendered him a cripple; a former football player's loss of both legs; an IED that killed everyone in the convoy but him.) I have others who were not so lucky and I have seen how those left behind struggled to find meaning in their loss. Good men. Men who loved and cherished their families and would have lived lives full of joy.
I have spoken to countless veterans, including men who spent years in Japanese POW camps and were able to forgive and those who never fully came back from war. I watched my uncle who was absolutely broken by what he saw and my father (veteran of two wars) who knew that the best way to honor his lost comrades was to be a good man and cherish the life robbed from them. I have flown over/driven/walked in both Iraq and Afghanistan...generally not in immediate danger but conscious of the fact that many of the people I passed would be happy to see me dead.
Fuck you Harry for your stolen valor. Fuck you for your lack of honor. Fuck you for casually purchasing what other veterans have earned. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
I also accompanied my boss on several "Dover missions" where we would go to Dover AFB to meet the planes bringing back the bodies of men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had to look those families in the eyes during the worst moments of their lives and try to think of something besides platitudes to say to them. I have several close friends who are only here by some miracle of God (a bullet that a millimeter to the left would have rendered him a cripple; a former football player's loss of both legs; an IED that killed everyone in the convoy but him.) I have others who were not so lucky and I have seen how those left behind struggled to find meaning in their loss. Good men. Men who loved and cherished their families and would have lived lives full of joy.
I have spoken to countless veterans, including men who spent years in Japanese POW camps and were able to forgive and those who never fully came back from war. I watched my uncle who was absolutely broken by what he saw and my father (veteran of two wars) who knew that the best way to honor his lost comrades was to be a good man and cherish the life robbed from them. I have flown over/driven/walked in both Iraq and Afghanistan...generally not in immediate danger but conscious of the fact that many of the people I passed would be happy to see me dead.
Fuck you Harry for your stolen valor. Fuck you for your lack of honor. Fuck you for casually purchasing what other veterans have earned. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
hes such a loser 
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