Boots on the Ground by Dusk

by TILLMAN, MARYZACCHINO, NARDA

• ISBN13: 9781594868801
• ISBN10: 1594868808
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-29
• Publisher: Modern Times

Summary

To millions of people, Pat Tillman stands as the epitome of an American hero. On his way to stardom in the pros after a hugely successful college football career at Arizona State, where he graduated summa cum laude, he walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract in response to the 9/11 attacks to enlist as a Ranger in the U.S. Army. On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in what the Administration and the Pentagon initially portrayed as a dramatic gun battle with the enemy. But in the weeks that followed, disturbing facts emerged. Army officials had been hiding the truth: Pat was killed by his fellow Rangers. In this compelling and deeply personal book, Mary Tillman shares the story of her son's extraordinary life and the Tillman family's impassioned and tenacious efforts to uncover the truth about what happened to him and how our government went to such great lengths to keep the circumstances secret. Today, despite seven investigations, five of them launched largely due to the family's insistence, what really happened remains murky and fraught with contradictions. Mary Tillman writes of her son's brief but remarkable life and the military's betrayal of him and his family. She paints an indelible portrait of the guiding principles that defined her son and that ultimately led him, in death, into the hearts and minds of people all over the world.

Author Biography

MARY TILLMAN is a special education teacher in San Jose, California, where she lives.

NARDA ZACCHINO is former associate editor of the Los Angeles Times and former deputy editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

"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...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." - Kirkus Reviews