Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillman

Here is a link to the article Rene Gonzalez, a graduate student at the University of Mass. wrote and had published in the UMass Collegian campus rag.

Rene Gonzalez says: "Pat Tillman is not a hero, he got what was coming to him"

Is this type of hideously dishonorable behavior becoming typical for the zealots and cenobites of the anti-Iraq War movement?

Britt

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That R.Gonzalez needs a big slap!

"You know he was a real Rambo, who wanted to be in the "real" thick of things. I could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures."

I didn't need to read any farther than this. What a moron.

FWIW, I don't consider him a hero either. At least not any more a hero than all the others who have given their lives in Iraq and elsewhere. Every life lost is a tragedy.

Peter

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

Wow. Not only insensitive, but stupid and ignorant.

I don't know if he was a hero or not, I think that term gets overused. I'd just say he was noble, as is anyone willing to put his life on the line to defend others.

That letter of Rene's was in very bad taste. College is no guarantee of common sense, good taste, compassion, or intelligence.

There are far better was to oppose the war than to ridicule our soldiers. People like Rene will only harden the opposition to her beliefs...talk about shooting oneself in the foot.

The real heroes are the troops who feel the war is wrong but serve honorably and risk their lives because they remain loyal to the oaths they took.

Freedom of speech also means freedom to make a complete *** of yourself in public /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In this persons mind all common sense has given way to a blind hatred and frustration. You don't win battles that way.

Those that would protest against what we're doing would do well to learn something from this. No matter how large they think their movements are, "middle america" is bigger. Those so passionate to do things like this will always be out numbered by people that are not so emotionally involved.

This sort of thing does not attract them to your cause. But rather repels even those that might be sympathetic, even in the abstract.

I forget now which one of the big 60's personalities said it now, but in looking back he said that if he had it to do over again, he would not go quite so far in alienating the rest of the population.

[ QUOTE ]
jayflash said:
...The real heroes are the troops who feel the war is wrong but serve honorably and risk their lives because they remain loyal to the oaths they took.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, according to what Jayflash said, the troops who don't "feel" the war is wrong and serve honorably and risk their lives because their word is good don't make the cut as "real heroes".

I agree with many others that the use of the term "hero" has been overused to the point of meaninglessness.

I'm sure Pat Tillman would have been embarrassed and displeased if he knew people were calling him a hero. How he lived his life witnesses that about his character.

I don't think all that many around Rene Gonzalez's Puerto Rico barrio would feel all that confident in calling Tillman a pendejo to his face. Atleast not if there were less than 10 of them. Like this Gonzalez and her pathetic ilk, they'd wait till he couldn't hear them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

Like after he was dead.

[ QUOTE ]
BC0311 said:
[ QUOTE ]
jayflash said:
...The real heroes are the troops who feel the war is wrong but serve honorably and risk their lives because they remain loyal to the oaths they took.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, according to what Jayflash said, the troops who don't "feel" the war is wrong and serve honorably and risk their lives because their word is good don't make the cut as "real heroes".



[/ QUOTE ]

BC, I'm pretty sure that's not what Jay meant.

I was so disturbed by this ,I just got done writing E-mails to the 2 editors, and the paper itself...

I think rene gonzalez is a SCUMBAG and should move back to wherever she came from... (or deported...)

this is rene /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif this is what i'd like to do to her /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xyxgun.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xyxgun.gif

Freedom is NOT Free!!!

Thank you kongfu, I appreciate your comment.

I respect all of our troops and only meant to recognize those who are serving honorably when, in their hearts, they feel there are better alternatives to this war. With our nation almost evenly divided about the war, I'm sure that many of our soldiers have mixed emotions about fighting.

For the record: ANY service member who performs beyond the call of duty should be regarded as a hero.

KFC, sorry, I just assumed he meant what he said and said what he meant. I can't read minds like you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

[ QUOTE ]

bryguy42 said:

Freedom is NOT Free!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif I completely agree!

Freedom is also not free if we refuse to allow others to exercise it.

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

The liberal universities are for freedom of PC speech. To be patriotic is not PC.
I did not read it, and don't read such garbage.

Jerry

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

If Pat Tillmans was a checkout clerk at the supermarket making 6 bucks an hour and joined the army and (sadly) was killed, would he still be such a famous hero? Having known many people who served in Iraq i was a little disturbed by all the publicity for one person and the fact that the media made him out to be a saint for giving up an NFL contract and joining the army. What about the other "heroes" who were either wounded or killed that day? No disrespect to Mr. Tillman but I hate it when people who play professional sports, celebrities, etc. get all the attention and no one mentions the many others who make the ultimate sacrifice. Again, no disrespect, but lets put things into perspective and not take away from the sacrifice of other "everyday" people.

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

He should move to some poor, small, dirty, communist country and see how he likes it.

Show-off or not, Pat Tillman did something extrodinary. He protected the country. Why would somebody not support the people who protect our country? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif They ought to move elsewhere.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

Rene is a he. It's a spanish name.

Mass is a very liberal state, look at the senators they have elected. The UMass Minutemen mascot (guy in 3 cornered hat with a musket) is on his way out - the reason? It's a white male carrying a weapon... not politically correct!
DOH! WHAT were the minutemen? Former European males with hunting implements! What do they expect?

Given that background, I was thrilled when the president of the university blasted this Rene character:

"AMHERST, Mass. (AP) -- A University of Massachusetts graduate student who wrote a campus newspaper column saying former NFL player Pat Tillman was not a hero for being killed while fighting in Afghanistan was sharply criticized Thursday by the school's president.

UMass president Jack Wilson issued a statement saying Rene Gonzalez' comments in The Daily Collegian "are a disgusting, arrogant and intellectually immature attack on a human being who died in service to his country."

In his column, which ran Wednesday on the opinion page and was posted on the newspaper's Web site, Gonzalez called the former Arizona Cardinals safety a "G.I. Joe guy who got what was coming to him."

"That was not heroism," Gonzalez wrote. "It was prophetic idiocy."

His column also criticizes America's military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Tillman, the San Jose, Calif., native who gave up his NFL career to join the Army Rangers in 2002, was killed in combat April 22 in Afghanistan.

While recognizing Gonzalez' right to free speech, Wilson said the student owes Tillman a "debt of gratitude," and said he should apologize to Tillman's friends and family.

Gonzalez did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages left Thursday by The Associated Press."

I only hope Mr. Wilson doesn't lose his job for saying that.

(Article quoted because the original is no longer available)

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

People are categorizing this as an misguided anti-war zealot. I disagree. You can see this kind everywhere in college, young men who feel that somehow the world is judging them against peers like Tillman and therefore feel the need to tear the image down to erase their self percieved deficits. A self centered view to be sure, but college kids are hopelessly self centered. Throw in a healthy share of aging acedemics who never left the campus and never grew out of this insecurity (indeed often expanding it to include much of society) who provide validation to the youth's rationalization and this type of behavior becomes a college rite of passage.

Most guys grow out of this insecurity as they grow up and find other ways to distinguish themselves. But if you you look you can always find a few older guys that never served and feel the need to justify it by tearing those that did down.

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

Rene Gonzalez picked Specialist Tillman for the specific target of his anti-war rage.

However, when you read what he wrote, you realize that this is how Gonzalez thinks about all of the US Troops that are in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else fighting and dying in this war.

Gonzalez mentions that Tillman didn't die fighting on the east coast of The USA. Perhaps if Tillman had, he might not have been so scorned by Gonzalez.

This reminds me of the "beaches of San Diego" business I read from an anti-war poster recently. I suppose since Gonzalez is back east he uses the Atlantic coast strawman.

I don't think Gonzalez, and everyone who thinks and acts like him, are worth one day's sweat wiped from the brow of a single one of the troops that have served in Iraq, Afghanistan or any of the other nameless outposts in this war.

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

BC0311,
AMEN.

Jerry

Re: Anti-War grad student ridicules late Pat Tillm

When Rene said Tillman died in vain, he was wrong. Tillman threw away his life fighting for what he believed in. He could have had millions, but chose to be shipped to a foreign country, fight unknown terrorists, and leave his life behind. Folks, that is what honor and courage is all about. Fighting for what you stand for whatever the consenquences.

I believe Tillman was happy he could make a difference. He did not die in vain, and I think he is a true hero.