Book review and recommendation

[Guest Revelator]

I just finished reading a new book by Jon Krakauer, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. If you ever wanted to know more about this awesome dude, and the shameful acts committed by the military and the White House in covering up his death, get this book. It made my jaw drop, reading some of the things they did after he was killed. Of course it's all been out for a while, thanks to Tillman's family who knew a rat when they smelled one, and the author puts it into an interesting, but sobering story. The best part of the book was, of course, the account of Tillman's death and the decisions made by the higher-ups in the hours beforehand. Earlier that day they ordered his platoon to be split in two. The platoon leader objected, saying it was dangerous because they were in unfriendly territory. He was ordered to anyway. Half the unit, including Tillman, was sent to secure a nearby village. The other half was put in charge of moving a wrecked Humvee. Later the guys with the Humvee came upon Tillman's unit, mistook them for Taliban, and opened fire. The kicker, to me, was that the officer who ordered the platoon split up got a promotion, and the Lt. who objected (and was wounded by the same friendly fire that killed Tillman) was kicked out of the Rangers. It makes you scratch your head, but as one of the soldiers quoted in the book says, "**** rolls downhill." After you read this you'll start to wonder what's going on with the folks calling the shots, if you don't already.

[JPS]

Krakauer does a good job in all his books of bringing detail to light - whether people want him to or not.

Good review - I'm going to pick up a copy.

[Guest Jcochran88]

Thanks, I might have to pick up a copy.