Our country was shocked when Pat Tillman, who left a lucrative NFL career to join the army, was killed in Afghanistan in April, 2004. But that was just the beginning of it. The circumstances under which Tillman was killed, were unclear, and as it turned out were covered up. Now comes this book from Pat Tillman's mom.

In "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman" (344 pages), Mary Tillman (with help from journalist Narda Zacchino) brings an blistering indictment of how the Army misinformed and covered up the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death that fateful day. The first part of the book brings a mix of the author's memories about her son, together with the confusion if those early days and weeks after his death of what happened. Mary Tillman's recounts of how she dealt with the loss of her son are heartbreaking (I found myself choking up one a number of occasions). But the real value of this book comes in the second part of the book, in which she dissects, page after page, fact after fact, how the Army's explanations were inconsistent and untruthful. It is nothing short of an eye-opener.

When a country is at war, "friendly fires" are going to happen, you can say. But is it not acceptable that the authorities (in this case: the Army) are not forthcoming about what really happened. The culprits in this tragedy are many. I do not understand the mentality that clearly exists about covering up the facts. Pat Tillman was a 'celebrity' and hence this incident has gotten a lot of attention, but as Mary Tillman points out in her book, there are many other incidents like it that have not gotten the attention but still happen. This book is not an easy book to read, in fact it makes for a devastating read, but I nevertheless highly recommend it. The "authorities" need to be accounted for, and be held accountable. The last has not been said on the Tillman case. Meanwhile my heart goes out to Mary Tillman and her family.

This is a heart-felt expression of her grief and pain due to the death of her son. It is also an honest expression of her frustration and outrage at dealing with the deception of the military and government officals regarding her son's death. It is a moving read.

I perchased this book for my husband for Father's Day.
My husband was extremly happy to receive the book and is looking forward to reading it.

I will get back to you with his opinion of the book once he finished reading it.

This book allows us to get to know Pat Tillman as a person rather than just the football player turned soldier. It also provides insight into how his death was used for publicity for the war in Iraq and the many lies and mistruths that the Tillman family had to endure. Most importantly as you put it down you think you know Pat Tillman and why he did the things in life that he did.

Many of the facts of Corporal Pat Tillman's life and tragic death have been played and replayed: his joining the military from a deep love of his country after the attacks of September 11, 2001, his giving up a career as a professional football player and leaving his young bride to do so, his platoon's ill-fated mission in Afghanistan that led to his death on April 22, 2004, his memorial service where the likes of Maria Shriver and Senator John McCain gave eulogies, his receiving both the Purple Heart and Silver Star for bravery, then the news soon thereafter that he had died of (such an ugly oxymoron) friendly fire.

Now Tillman's mother Mary covers both the life and death of her son, the effect it has had on her, his wife Marie, his brothers Richard and Kevin-- who was in the same platoon as Pat-- his father Patrick, other family members and a multitude of friends. Additionally with the determination and courage of a woman possessed-- why shouldn't she be-- she traces the family's quest to find out the truth of what really happened on that awful day in April, 2004. Her journey will take her to countless meetings with military types, where she has difficulty getting a similar story from different people, and ultimately to two Congressional hearings.

What Ms. Tillman learns is sad and depressing beyond measure as she and others excavate the layers of a cover-up. Apparently Corporal Tillman was given CPR hours after he died so that his uniform could be destroyed since the bullet holes in it would indicate clearly that he died from U. S. fire. (If a soldier is still alive, his uniform, because it is a biohazard, can be taken off him and destroyed.) A Navy Seal was told to give false information about Tillman's death when he spoke at his memorial service. Records were changed; documents were lost. The list goes on and on. Then there are cruel, petty gestures on the part of some of the military. One of the officers placed in charge of one of the many investigations, for example, believed that no one in the Tillman family was satisfied or would ever be satisfied because they were atheists, unlike Christians, who could come to terms with "'faith and the fact that there is an afterlife, heaven, or whatnot.'" The Army reneged on its promise to fly Tillman's wife Marie to Dover, Delaware to meet Kevin Tillman with her husband's body. (An anonymous man had her flown there in his plane.) Then the Army tried to persuade Marie to have a military funeral for Pat.

Ms. Tillman includes many of the eulogies verbatim from her son's funeral--his baby brother Richard's was irreverent and deadly-- as well as written reports that she has received from the Army in her attempt at finding out the truth about Pat's death. She also prints here an article Kevin Tillman wrote for Truthdig entitled "After Pat's Birthday" that rises to the level of poetry: "Somehow those afraid to fight in an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started."

BOOTS ON THE GROUND BY DUSK-- the book gets its title from the order that Lieutenant David Uthlaut received on April 22, 2004 that his platoon (Kevin and Pat Tillman's) was to leave the town of Magarah and "have boots on the ground before dark" in Manah, a small village on the border of Pakistan-- is very well-written; and not all of it is so dark although parts of it are almost too painful to read. I'm thinking now of Ms. Tillman's account of the return of her son's body to the local mortuary in his hometown. I decided that if this brave woman could write the book, then surely I, who along with the rest of stay-at-home Americans, have been urged by my president to support the troops by going to the mall, can finish it. She said a couple of nights ago in a sparsely-attended reading she gave at the Carter Library in Atlanta that she wrote this book to encourage other families in the same predicament as she, families that have lost sons, daughters, fathers, and brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan, to help them deal with their grief. And she made this statement in the library of a former president of the U. S. and naval officer, who, when asked by a reporter on his 80th birthday, what he would want to be remembered most for as president, responded that no American soldiers died in combat during his four years in office.

Mary Tillman shows a mother's dogged pursuit to get at the truth of what happened to her son and the aftermath. Nothing maudlin here. The amazing facts of delay, stonewalling and lying by the military, from the ground up into the highest ranks, to the Tillmans' faces are disgusting and disheartening but apparently not unusual in fratricide.

A reader might infer that the killing of this exceptional man was personal and even murderous. Someday justice will be wrought upon those responsible for the flawed decisions, implausible military orders, and actions that led to his death.

As you read this account, do not be distracted by the author's personal biases. Instead, focus your hearts and prayers on those who died (Pat Tillman was not the only one killed.), those left back home, and those who have shut and others who may yet slam doors on this family as they continue their quest for truth and justice.

Mary Tillman renders here the most accurate, dispassionate description of what can happen when highly trained soldiers are thrust into a situation where their training is not enough.

As Mary describes the situation, her son Pat was a member of a fighting group who were separated from the rest of their unit, caught in a firefight, and then fired on by members of their own unit. The evidence is that they gestured and signalled for their own fellow soldiers to stop firing, but, in those four seconds, the other men just could not do so.

All the training could not stop what can only be characterized as a "killing frenzy." Rational thought cannot reassert itself in the face of this compulsion.

It all happened in four seconds, and Mary lost her Pat. Other mothers lost their sons, too. Pat forgives the soldiers who killed her son, and invites her readers to do the same. She has a harder time forgiving their commanders who made efforts to disguise the truth in the name of not damaging morale.

Read this book. It teaches us all something about a mother loving her son, and about what we unleash when we train young people to kill.

Only secondarily, we also come to appreciate the value of transparency in leadership. Pat's example steadfastly refuses to be held up as a "poster child" for pacifism or political polarization. Our front line infantry does the very, very best they can with what God has given them - and us.

I certainly feel for the Tillman family.
Forty years ago my father, the only Olympic medal winner ever killed while serving in combat for the USA, was killed in Vietnam. My father was on a six man recon. team in a Ranger detachment and according to the statement by the commander of his ready reaction force, although his team was out of radio contact for nearly 11 hours, he was unconcerned because he had another force near the location that had heard nothing. Well, I have three other reports conflicting that statement. My father's team radioed at 915PM that his team was being approached by an enemy force. At 935PM his team radioed they were in a firefight and requested fire support. Not until well after 6AM the next morning did help arrive even though the ready reaction force was on ten minute alert and only 500 meters away with the fire power equivalent of three rifle companys. 5 of the 6 men on my fathers team were killed, one dying on the way to the hospital. I have the records proving that at 9AM that morning this CO met with a general and my father's commanding officer and four decades later have evidence that the most likely "enemy" that killed my father was the US Navy SEALs.
But I can get no answers after all these years. And that is why it is so biter sweet, this book and the circumstances surrounding Tillman's death. When I read in the newspaper that the Army assigns all these folks to research and serve the Tillman's, all these investigations by generals and boards it gives me a really sick feeling in side. Yes, the Tillman's deserve it, but what about the rest of us ? I wrote to the National Archives for my father's records and they responded telling me that they could not locate his records but let me know that they could happily tell me he served in the Army (duh). The Army told me that they are not historians. I was able to contact the commander of the L ready reaction force and he told me he could not help me because his tour ended before the investigation was completed. The intelligence officer my father's unit worked for said he was on R&R at the time, an imposter told me he was the only survivor and the stories go on and on...
Will the Tillman's ever get the truth ? Probably not because in the military only good news goes to the top. No officer is going to burn his chance at a promotion by being honest in a report that will screw him 20 years down the road.
I am glad to see this book. My heart goes out to the Tillman's because I understand their resentment. If you want to read about my father, SSGT Robert Carmody- go to ESPN and look in archives and search under the author "Mark Chalifoux'. The article is titled, "Heart of Bronze". (2005).

The most unique aspect of this book is hearing the family and friend's perspective on many events before and after Pat's death. I have followed the news stories for the last four years and watched the video on espn of the memorial service. This book differs from the past material in that there are new stories and you get the family and friends perspectives on these and other major events already covered in past articles and books. The book also has Pat's memorial speakers' words. This book is similar in that aspect to Walter Payton's book, "Never Die Easy" and the speakers at his funeral. The difference being the obvious different circumstances of death, and you get the Mother's perspective on how she felt about those speeches and that some of the speakers were not telling the truth about the events that led to Pat's death, that is the military speakers.