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Boots on the Ground by Dusk: The Life and Death of Pat Tillman | 
 enlarge | Author: Narda Zacchino
Creator: Mary Tillman
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $69.99
Buy New: $44.22
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 478987
Format: Audiobook, Cd
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Library ed.
Number Of Items: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 6.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400137020
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9781400137022
ASIN: 1400137020
Publication Date: April 29, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
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Product Description
In this explosive, heartbreaking, and deeply personal book, Mary Tillman shares the story of her son Pat's extraordinary life, the meaning of patriotism, and the Tillman family's efforts to uncover the truth about his death in Afghanistan at the hands of his fellow soldiers.
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| Customer Reviews:
 pursuit May 12, 2008
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.
The Killing Frenzy May 9, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Biter Sweet. May 6, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
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).
A mother's perspective on raising and losing a son and trying to find the truth behind his death after initial untruths. May 2, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
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.
America's Icarus May 23, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
No Oprah lite-read here.Instead, Boots on the Ground draws us into Mary Tillman's confidence as she recounts the ageless tale of parents doing it all right, forsaken by a government who got it all wrong. The real Patrick Tillman enlivens these pages, not a poster boy creation.
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