American was shocked to learn of the death in Afghanistan of Pat Tillman, an individual who gave up a great professional football career to serve his country; and ended up giving his life. This is a letter to the editor piece sent shortly thereafter to the Tampa Tribune. It was printed as the "Letter of the Day."

 


Of Tillman and Flag-Draped Coffins

Yesterday I asked my 83-year old Mother if she knew of Pat Tillman. She had never heard of him. I told her his story, and her face filled with emotion and pride for him and all our service men and women.

I told of his death in Afghanistan. She cried. We were in a public restaurant.

Earlier, while I was thinking of the Tillman story but before I spoke to her of it, I asked about her experiences during World War II.

Was there a time when virtually everyone you knew was touched by the war? Oh, yes, we were all affected by rationing, and it seemed like every family had someone in the service or directly involved in some related capacity.

Was there a time when virtually everyone knew of some close friends or family that suffered due to the war injuries or death of servicemen? Yes. Two of the boys she had dated were killed on D-Day or shortly thereafter.

How did you keep track of the war? Every day we read the casualty lists on the front page of the Baltimore Sun. Every night we listened on the radio to Gabriel Heatter. He began every program with the words, “There is good news tonight,” or “There is bad news tonight.” We shuttered on the announcement of the bad news evenings.

Did you ever doubt the outcome, even on the ‘bad news’ nights? No, never. We knew that good would prevail over evil.

Today, we are largely not engaged by the war on terrorism. There is no rationing. Many of us don’t even know anyone involved overseas, and – if so – certainly not the point where every family we know is affected to some extent.

Many of us look at the situation in Iraq and are not even sure good can prevail over evil.

What should we do?

I say we need to get engaged. This is not about money, but money is something we relate to. How about a requirement that we all pay, over the next six months, and additional ten percent over the amount of federal income tax that was due on April 15th as a Fight on Terrorism payment. That’s not rationing, but we’ll all feel it. We can use the funds for both Homeland Defense and to supplement the overseas war efforts. Maybe Sunday should be a ‘no driving’ day, except for emergencies. Help take the pressure off fuel and give us time to reflect.

And post the casualty lists on the front page of the Tampa Tribune and show the flag-draped coffins – not to be insensitive to the families who are experiencing loss beyond all imagination, but to honor the sacrifice of their sons and daughters, and to keep us engaged.

Let’s be sure that we can know that good will prevail over evil.

Jay Braden
Valrico

2706 Sablewood Drive
Valrico, FL 33594
(813) 661-8449