Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

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Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 11,534 ratings · 1,890 reviews

The bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven delivers a stunning, eloquent account of a remarkable young man’s haunting journey.

Like the men whose epic stories Jon Krakauer has told in his previous bestsellers, Pat Tillman was an irrepressible individualist and iconoclast. In May 2002, Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million NFL...more The bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven delivers a stunning, eloquent account of a remarkable young man’s haunting journey.

Like the men whose epic stories Jon Krakauer has told in his previous bestsellers, Pat Tillman was an irrepressible individualist and iconoclast. In May 2002, Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army. He was deeply troubled by 9/11, and he felt a strong moral obligation to join the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Two years later, he died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan.

Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s wife, other family members, and the American public for five weeks following his death. During this time, President Bush repeatedly invoked Tillman’s name to promote his administration’s foreign policy. Long after Tillman’s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had “probably” been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible.

In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman’s journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death. Before he enlisted in the army, Tillman was familiar to sports aficionados as an undersized, overachieving Arizona Cardinals safety whose virtuosity in the defensive backfield was spellbinding. With his shoulder-length hair, outspoken views, and boundless intellectual curiosity, Tillman was considered a maverick. America was fascinated when he traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL for boot camp and a buzz cut. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell”—and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by complicated, emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, patriotism, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers.

Krakauer chronicles Tillman’s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer’s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war.
From the inside cover of ISBN 0385522266 / 9780385522267(less)

Hardcover, 344 pages

Published September 15th 2009 by Doubleday (first published February 29th 2000)

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Feb 18, 2010 Philip rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jordabecker-book-club, non-fiction

The back cover of my book reads, “Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the army and became an icon of post 9/11 patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, he became a tool for White House propaganda. Thus a legend was born…”

Throughout the book, Krakauer makes multiple references to how Pat Tillman didn’t grant interviews after enlisting, or how he didn’t want, “them to parade me through the streets” to advance a political agenda. I’m not exc...more The back cover of my book reads, “Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the army and became an icon of post 9/11 patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, he became a tool for White House propaganda. Thus a legend was born…”

Throughout the book, Krakauer makes multiple references to how Pat Tillman didn’t grant interviews after enlisting, or how he didn’t want, “them to parade me through the streets” to advance a political agenda. I’m not excusing the Bush administration’s mishandling of the incident, but this book does just that. It parades Tillman – once again – through the streets in order to advance a political agenda; this time it’s the left’s, not the right’s.

Maybe Krakauer thought he had to counter-balance the right and therefore be much more forceful with his arguments, but I swear, there were times I thought he was going to say George W. Bush secretly flew into Afghanistan and gleefully pulled the trigger himself – and that’s just as shameless given what Pat said he wanted. (Or didn’t want.)

Not only that, but it seemed like some of Krakauer’s research was shoddy, or at least his conclusions could be questioned. For instance, there are the flight tapes from Nasiriyah (pg. 204). “He was allowed to take it, whereupon he ‘mistakenly’ inserted the tape into the cockpit video camera and recorded over it, erasing it.” Those are some pretty hefty quotes around mistakenly. The thing is, evidence gets lost, or broken, or misplaced more often than one might think. But, because it was supposedly “key” evidence, there’s no way it was a mistake, obviously it was a “mistake.” Right?

Or a few pages later on 210 where it says, “Henry Waxman later alleged that Wilkinson delayed the mission to allow a Special Operations video crew to shoot the rescue for the news media. Although these allegations have not been substantiated…” If they haven’t been substantiated, maybe you shouldn’t include them…

Even the section where they discuss Tillman’s clothes being burned… did it bother me that they typically don’t burn the clothes, and why the heck did they in this case? Yes. But we never hear from the defense. It’s a trial where only one side’s giving the closing argument.

My biggest problem with the book though is the number of soldiers Krakauer throws under the bus. It’s one thing to call out and blast elected officials with low popularity ratings, but something else altogether to call out the people on the ground – especially if you’re wrong. And there’s a chance that Krakauer’s conclusions and even the Tillman family’s conclusions are wrong. These people on the ground (including Tillman) have to make split second life or death decisions. Sometimes it seems like there is no right choice. To be killed in your first fire-fight has to suck. To have a part in any friendly-fire killing – not to mention one of an icon – has to suck. To be thrown under the bus for it? Well that REALLY has to suck.

So, why 3 stars if I found the book so disagreeable? It was well written. It stretched me to think about war, and patriotism, and propaganda – both right and left. And I’m rating the book, not how the book aligns with my views. I don’t want to give a decent, thought provoking book one star because I disagree with some of its politics. How’s THAT for open-mindedness?
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Dec 28, 2009 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm active duty military and can partly--partly--understand why Pat Tillman turned down a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals, and, instead, enlisted in the Army as a grunt for $1200 per month. I use money as the central metric of Tillman's decision because it's the one most non-active duty military readers will misunderstand. I'll try to explain his decision from our (military) perspective.

Let me start by saying I would not have made the same financial decision, despite the...more I'm active duty military and can partly--partly--understand why Pat Tillman turned down a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals, and, instead, enlisted in the Army as a grunt for $1200 per month. I use money as the central metric of Tillman's decision because it's the one most non-active duty military readers will misunderstand. I'll try to explain his decision from our (military) perspective.

Let me start by saying I would not have made the same financial decision, despite the uber-patriotic shadow of 9-11 that led many of us to change our lives and some of us to join the military. This was Pat Tillman's decision, and I respect it. I joined 5 years before 9-11, and am proud to have deployed multiple times to Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF). If I wasn't already part of the military, I may have joined after watching the towers fall, but I can't be sure. (A few formidable years encompass major changes in a young man's place and perspective with issues like this). But, I know for sure that I would not have joined and turned down $3.6 million. I know myself, my family, our financial position, and our plans for retirement, so financial security would have trumped my patriotism. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. There's thousands of ways to be good Americans and support the troops without joining the military. However, Tillman was inspired, and money had nothing to do with his decision.

When you join the military, you don't join for the money. Pat Tillman knew this. Unless you become a 3- to 4-star general, you will probably live like 99.7% of retired military personnel--a life with a modest pension, and, very likely, a second career starting in your early-40's. In fact, many young enlisted, active duty troops with large families actually require food stamps and extra financial help at Christmas. There are no NFL contracts in the military. However, as a 25 year old, Pat Tillman already received several hundred thousand dollars from the NFL. His wife worked, they had no kids, and it seems they lived well within their means. So, it's safe to say that Pat Tillman had enough money to lean on. He could serve his 3 year tour, return to the NFL, and likely pick up financially where he left off--albeit with a more worldly perspective.

From Where Men Win Glory I understand Pat Tillman as an aggressive, slightly hyper, type-A, alpha-male with a consuming urge to challenge himself both physically and mentally. He was a natural athlete, a raucous drinker, and a thrill seeker, yet he displayed a cool mettle, a certain sangfroid, that counterbalanced his testosterone. He even had a touch of the numinous, in spite of his agnosticism. Most importantly he had a set of morals by which the actions in his life were strictly defined and measured. His personal principles demanded that he bite the most out of life, masticate everything, and leave no opportunity untasted. Many men (and women--but I'll stick with the masculine pronoun from here out) in the military have these attributes. The military offers guys like this a chance to play really hard with big toys that bring hellfire and break things. The military also offers man an opportunity to make a difference, to fight for a cause Tillman considered noble, to defend your country, to apply all the previous attributes against a daily workload. For many, it's the best job in the world, and it's the job they'll talk about most as a grandfather.

Tillman, though, for me, remains a bit of an enigma. Why was he the only professional athlete in America since WWII that postponed a million dollar career to bring hellfire and break things? Here's what I think: despite his age, Tillman was still in that post-pubescent stage of life where a boy, just arriving at manhood, considers desperately where his mark in life will lie. Who am I; what will I be; will I share with a spouse/kids; does this damn college degree really matter; how long will I be in control; have I done anything worthwhile yet? It's a youthful angst. I had it. My buddies went through it. I still experience shades of it as I contemplate the intersections and turnpikes of my life. Tillman hadn't made that decision yet. Good for him. And what an awesome spouse he had that understood and supported his decision. She was (and is forever) a quintessential military spouse. My heart goes out to her. Pat Tillman--at a crucial point in his life--felt there was something more rewarding serving in the Army than serving as a Cardinal. He was 3.6 million dollars sure he wanted a military experience defending freedom before defending the backfield as a strong safety.

Two things crush me about this story. One, Tillman was killed during his first encounter with troops in contact (TIC), and two, the army used his death for internal propaganda and subsequently tried to cover it up. Tillman knew death was a possibility, so he entered that decision with a clear mind. But to die at your first hostile exchange with enemy fire, and from friendly fire at that!! Goshdarn, that sucks. Worse, the army made 7 successive investigations into his death, each one revealing new information while continually redacting previous conclusions. It's the cover up that makes me throw up a little in my mouth, as it did many of the junior level soldiers when told to hide the truth, even from his brother who was also in the firefight, until an official investigation could be completed. The Army provided false information for his eulogy, and the White House procrastinated releasing to the media until they could frame the story. It's shit like this that reminds me the machine is too big, or we're too politically correct, or that somehow we've lost the value and sacrifice of the individual to the State. I pray that it doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it's necessarily egregious. And it happened to Pat Tillman and his family.

5-stars for Pat Tillman. But only 3-stars for the author, Jon Krakauer. I've only read one other book by Krakauer, Into the Wild, but he uses the exact same formula. He investigates the death of a young male, in an austere environment, under very dubious circumstances, and which has generated voluble public debate. He's a tenacious reporter and reveals the facts in an engaging way. He's slightly biased, but not to an unreasonable extent, and his author's voice is relatively settled. However, neither book presents much more than an extremely long series of articles that you'd find in a distinguished newspaper or popular outdoor magazine. It's simply a journalistic exposé.

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Feb 26, 2011 La Petite Américaine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: meh-whatever, biography, middle_east

I wanted a biography of Pat Tillman, not a scathing critique of the Bush administration. While the actions of George W. Bush and his staff regarding the events surrounding Tillman's death are totally relevant to the story, here Krakauer abandons his usual objectivity and jumps head-first into an attack on Bush that leaves the author sounding like nothing more than a pissed-off liberal Seattle-ite. (And I can say that because was a pissed off liberal Seattle-ite.) Ugh. Go cry into your cappuccino...more

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Mar 13, 2009 Mrs. Roy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oh. My. God. He had written another. At long last...ladies and gentlemen, guard your small children and animals on the day this one comes out (September of 2009) - the bullet flying by will be me trying to get to the book store first. Can't wait for the library on this one!

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Mar 13, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nonfiction

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

Jon Krakauer details the circumstances surrounding Army Specialist Pat Tillman's "friendly fire" death in Afghanistan. Along the way he writes a fascinating biography of Tillman, an inspiring and rare man who stood by his principles and acted on them, sacrificing all for his country and his ideas of what is right. It's impossible to write about Tillman's death without also exploring the ensuing attempts to cover it up, a shameful business that involved Tillman's fellow s...more Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

Jon Krakauer details the circumstances surrounding Army Specialist Pat Tillman's "friendly fire" death in Afghanistan. Along the way he writes a fascinating biography of Tillman, an inspiring and rare man who stood by his principles and acted on them, sacrificing all for his country and his ideas of what is right. It's impossible to write about Tillman's death without also exploring the ensuing attempts to cover it up, a shameful business that involved Tillman's fellow soldiers; his superior officers and commanders; the four-star leaders of the US Army, the JCS, CENTCOM, JSOC, and USSOC; the SecDef; even the President. And you can't write about the cover-up without also exploring how the military, the DoD, and the nation's political leaders manipulated news from Iraq and Afghanistan to cover up other incidents of fratricide, to fictionalize events in order to turn them into pro-war propaganda, and to make heroes of soldiers like Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch to drum up public support for unpopular wars. I've read other reader reviews of Where Men Win Glory, and many say they wish Krakauer would have been more "even-handed" in his criticisms of military and civilian leaders and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What they mean is that they wish he hadn't written this book at all, because the truth isn't "even-handed" and they don't want to hear it. I was a USAF officer for 24 years -- a fighter pilot and a joint staff officer at US Special Operations Command -- and have witnessed first-hand similar attempts to hide or bury embarrassing accidents and deaths, and to scapegoat lower-ranking personnel when cover-ups fail. Krakauer is dead on. Jon Krakauer is fearlessly honest. With Into Thin Air, he was roundly criticized for detailing the hubris and poor decision-making of the leaders of the disastrous 1996 Everest expeditions. With Under the Banner of Heaven, he angered Mormons everywhere by exploring the excesses of the church and many of its members. Krakauer reported honestly on the life and death of Christopher McCandless, the young man at the center of Into the Wild, refusing to make a romantic hero of this misguided young man. Krakauer is also a damn fine writer who can explain the most minute and technical details of esoteric activities like mountain climbing and complex military operations to lay readers. You can't get much better reportage, and if you're not afraid of seeing where the chips really fall, you should read Where Men Win Glory.(less)

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Jul 23, 2010 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jeanette by: Becca

Shelves: nonfiction, politricks, america, four-star-nonfiction, cultural-and-social-commentary

This book is a modern exploration of the ancient hero archetype, with Pat Tillman's life journey as a well-known example. The narrative also gave me a better understanding of the male need to prove oneself in battle. I still think it's foolish, for I would never intentionally place myself in harm's way. But at least I can now see the primal drive that makes men rush to recruiting offices when war is declared.
There's also a lot of important history here regarding America's friend-enemy relations...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Will Byrnes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography-memoir, military-and-intelligence-non-fic, non-fiction, the-bush-administration, american-history

Pat Tillman was a top-notch safety with the Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL. He was an incredibly intense guy, always looking to challenge himself, to push himself past his limits. But he also had a sensitive, emotional side and an intellectual curiosity, exceptional in his chosen profession. He came from a close-knit family that held the military in high regard and was touched deeply when the USA was attacked on and subsequently went to war following 9/11. Setting aside his lucrative football care...more Pat Tillman was a top-notch safety with the Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL. He was an incredibly intense guy, always looking to challenge himself, to push himself past his limits. But he also had a sensitive, emotional side and an intellectual curiosity, exceptional in his chosen profession. He came from a close-knit family that held the military in high regard and was touched deeply when the USA was attacked on and subsequently went to war following 9/11. Setting aside his lucrative football career, Tillman and his brother, Kevin, joined up, intent on going to Afghanistan to fight.

Krakauer braids several strands here, one of Tillman, a biography that offers enough warts to matter, the second a look at the events leading up to the Afghan war, pretty much all warts, and a third, which looks at the specifics of how Tillman was used by political types, how he was killed and how the military and politicians handled his passing, by wart manufacturers.

Tillman comes across as a compelling character, a Renaissance grunt. But I would have liked for Krakauer to have at least looked at the possibility that there was an explanation for some of Tillman’s behavioral choices that was less than laudatory. Maybe the guy was, in addition to his other characteristics, an adrenalin junkie, who went out of his way to take unnecessary risks.

There were many irregularities in the investigation of Tillman’s death. The officer assigned to conduct the investigation was a captain, and thus could not investigate any officers of higher rank, which would have included the Major who gave the order to split up the squad Tillman was in, a crucial aspect of the tragedy. Tillman’s uniform and body armor were not left on his body, to be removed at his autopsy. Instead a captain had them put into a bag, then ordered a sergeant to burn the materials. Tillman’s personal notebook was also burned. When Tillman’s brother Kevin tried to reach platoon members to find out exactly what had happened, a Captain told at least one platoon member to say nothing about friendly fire. When the medical examiner was told that Tillman had been killed by the Taliban, but saw from the body that this was not the case, he asked the Criminal Investigation Division to look into the case, but CID refused. Seeking to distract public attention from the Abu Ghraib scandal, which broke the day Tillman’s body was returned to his family, the Bush administation sought to highlight Tillman as an American hero. Part of that was to award him posthumous medals. PFC Bryan O’Neal was ordered to type out a witness statement in support of Major Hodne’s Silver Star recommendation, “but after he wrote , his words were embellished so egregiously that he never signed it.” (p298)

A remarkable life went to waste here. Krakauer does a good job of showing the value that was lost and the values of those who tried to hide the truth of that waste.
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May 10, 2010 Cailin Deery rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub

This biography is as much a modern day odyssey as a story could be; it’s written in Krakauer’s hyperbolic, bombastic style and explores the life and death of an American Hero gone off to war. He leaves his wife behind, leaves a multimillion dollar contract in the NFL to enlist, and is really going to war for principles rather than patriotism. Tillman is an extremely likeable person and very unlike the icon trotted out by the Bush Administration.

Where Men Win Glory goes into the history of Afgha...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Miranda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: our-fabulous-untitled-book-club, biography-memoirs

When I first started the book, I asked myself if I liked the character of Pat Tillman. I didn't understand why I was having such a problem with him. But my problem wasn't with him, it was with Krakauer and his kiss-assery, if I may. The hero treatment was way too much for me. Although, Tillman is a hero in many people's eyes and an overall good guy, it felt like he just couldn't be any guy. He had to be "unafraid to buck the herd", "defend honor, with fists if necessary", "Tillman...virtually in...more When I first started the book, I asked myself if I liked the character of Pat Tillman. I didn't understand why I was having such a problem with him. But my problem wasn't with him, it was with Krakauer and his kiss-assery, if I may. The hero treatment was way too much for me. Although, Tillman is a hero in many people's eyes and an overall good guy, it felt like he just couldn't be any guy. He had to be "unafraid to buck the herd", "defend honor, with fists if necessary", "Tillman...virtually indestructible", and was "uncommonly resistant to the temptations of the baser human appetites". Hell, he used ODYSSEY in the title! I could go on forever! There's even several paragraphs about how Tillman wanted to meet Noam Chomsky which seems useless until you realize Krakauer wanted to throw that in there because his friend noted that their minds operated the same way. Oh wait, actually that was useless.

Really? I almost disliked myself reading this book because I saw how cynical I was becoming with each chapter filled with adoration for Tillman. With that, I thank Krakauer for featuring the history of Afghanistan's civil wars because without it, I would have lost my mind. My suspicions on why he did this were confirmed towards the end. A lot of what was happening in Afghanistan possibly mirrors American policy or how Pashtunwali beliefs mirrored Tillman's own beliefs. I enjoyed that aspect and probably found that's what saved the book.

There are several wasted paragraphs and chapters on superfluous information. I see what he was trying to do with involving the Jessica Lynch story. Clever but annoying in the end. This was the same with other chapters. I felt like I answered my question on whether I liked Tillman's character when we got to journal entries. It was there that I felt he was real, while in Krakauer's own accounts, he relishes in the myth of Tillman. He should have relied more on Tillman's writings than on his own.

I don't think I'd ever read Krakauer again. I wonder if the author has an obsession with grandeur and the romance of people rather than letting these people be beautiful and wonderful on their own. As far as I know, this is his second book featuring white, upper middle class, men who are well educated but are looking for adventure in the most drastic ways. Though educated, they don't use their heads much. Rather their hearts. And this is not a bad thing but I wish Krakauer realized that instead of writing these ballads. Tillman didn't have to be boy wonder. The author even ends with the idea that Pat possessed no tragic flaw. But why would that be so bad? Pretty good read, good history, but in most cases, much too much.(less)

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Jan 01, 2010 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, best-book-i-read-in-2009

This is at once a biography of Pat Tillman, a history of Afghanistan, the Taliban (they originally formed to stop bandits from shaking down the populace at checkpoints) and the cover up of Tillman’s fratricide.

Having read and been very impressed with Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven, I was expecting – and got— a complex story. As a non-football fan, I don’t know the difference (or if there is one) between a sack and a tackle or a fullback, a free safety and a linebacker. But who Tillman was...more

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Mar 14, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

My son insisted I read this book and gave it to me for my 56th birthday. An incredible portrait of a true patriot and hero. As brave and courageuous as Tillman comes across, the bureaucratic insensitivity after his death and the Bush Administration's efforts to use this man's life as a recruting tool for an increasingly unpopular war are shameful. One of the key messages this book delivers is that however much we may oppose a war, we must pay homage to the courage of those who not only give up t...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Ginny Messina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks

Liked, but didn't love this book--and certainly didn't like it nearly as much as Into Thin Airand Into the Wild.

I had to kind of slog through parts of it, especially those describing football games. Mostly,though, I felt that Krakauer used Pat Tillman as a means to his (Krakauer's) own end, which was to discredit the Bush administration and its war efforts. It's not that I don't agree with him--I do--but it felt very heavy-handed to me.

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Jan 30, 2010 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent example of government coverup of death of NFL player for war publicity.

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Apr 18, 2013 Francis Gahren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: military, nonfiction

My take

Tough book to read – very interesting and tragic story. At times hard to believe the incompetence and downright arrogance of the U.S. military and government; at other times inspiring to read about young men in battle as good as any we have ever fielded in any other war.

Good quotes by Asch….

Some reviews

Amazon

The bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven delivers a stunning, eloquent account of a remarkable young man’s haunting journey.

Like the men...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was looking for a book about Pat Tillman, but instead found a book that, in my opinion, used him as an excuse, or means, to simply bash the Military, Bush administration, CIA and the wars we are engaged in. I had read prior books by Mr. Krakauer and enjoyed them, but honestly, after reading this book I find myself wondering how accurate or slanted those books were, as this book definitely had an agenda to me, which was not to focus on Pat Tillman. Sure, he's talked about a lot, but it felt lik...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Jason Phillips rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mr. Krakauer once again examines the very personal side of a much larger narrative, like he has done with the excellent Into The Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven. One can only admire Pat Tillman, a man who had a great deal to lose yet put his money where his mouth was - literally. A patriot who did what we all felt but only talked about - getting back at those who perpetrated the 9/11 murders of 3,000 people. Thank God for patriots like Pat Tillman and the countless thousands...more Mr. Krakauer once again examines the very personal side of a much larger narrative, like he has done with the excellent Into The Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven. One can only admire Pat Tillman, a man who had a great deal to lose yet put his money where his mouth was - literally. A patriot who did what we all felt but only talked about - getting back at those who perpetrated the 9/11 murders of 3,000 people. Thank God for patriots like Pat Tillman and the countless thousands of others that took up the cause and the fight to our enemies.

What is painful to read here is a truth that unfortuanely has played itself out for as many centuries as governments have sent their best to war. Pat Tillman's virtue, bravery, and sacrifice was sullied by a disgraceful bureaucracy that Mr. Krakauer and the Tillman family thankfully exposed.

There was a fair amount of political opinion stated as fact by Mr. Krakauer, and you can tell he is not much of a fan of the Bush administration. It is fair to say that we were drawn into a war in Iraq based on false information, and I share Mr. Krakauer's anger that no one was truly held to account for this. To say as fact that the was a calculated effort to lie and deceive to lead us to war may be true, but he does not support that opinion with facts here in his book. The more you read about the level of detail to which lies were told, however, the more the case for going to war crumbles along with whatever is left of the adminstration's credibility.

The story he tries to weave, of course, is that what happened to Mr. Tillman was another in a long line of lies and abuses related to the Iraq war. It was enough for me that the lies told about Mr. Tillman were told at all and that no one was held to account for this disgrace. He exposes a possible (and probable) cover up by the White House here - they were all too happy to ride the story of Pat's heroic sacrifice and life story, but the real evidence lies with General McChrystal and others in that chain of command. If the White House was involved - shame on them. Yet another example of how those we send to Washington are not worthy of representing a great and free people, much less send our heroes to their deaths and disgracing their names.(less)

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Feb 08, 2013 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, afghanistan, military-hist-policy

The author tells three stories. One is the story of Pat Tillman and another the systematic failures that led to his death and produced a cover up. The third story, the modern history of Afghanistan, is used to parallel the life of Pat Tillman. The first two stories are the heart of the book. The third story is lengthy and seems to be filler. There are good maps and no photos. Given Tillman's interest in philosophy and literature, the title is appropriate as well as the quotes that introduce the...more The author tells three stories. One is the story of Pat Tillman and another the systematic failures that led to his death and produced a cover up. The third story, the modern history of Afghanistan, is used to parallel the life of Pat Tillman. The first two stories are the heart of the book. The third story is lengthy and seems to be filler. There are good maps and no photos. Given Tillman's interest in philosophy and literature, the title is appropriate as well as the quotes that introduce the chapters. You come to understand that Tillman is no ordinary jock, but an exceptional person with considerable depth.

Dysfunctions in the prosecution of the GWOT have been described many works. Here, as in "Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq", personnel at a remote location literally call the shots. Here, the brass at the FOB ordered a Humvee carcass to be towed over and down a mountain and a platoon to be divided. There are rules of engagement which, like the towing and platoon split, give little weight to the front line individual's judgment. Why is it that the communications equipment, which should be state of the art (goodness, what did it cost?) doesn't work in battle? Each of these is an element that factored into the "friendly fire" death of Pat Tillman.

While the dysfunctions are described, the book's most powerful indictment is on how the tragedies of war were distorted and fed to an uncritical press in order to build support for the war. Jim Wilkinson's "perception management" had previously been successful in diverting attention from an incident resulting the 29 US deaths, 11 missing and 6 other captives by creating Jessica Lynch as a hero. The author describes how this was done and how the Tillman tragedy was similarly managed at the highest levels. The Tillman story is more insidious because evidence was destroyed, witnesses ordered to silence (despite the presence of brother Kevin Tillman in their platoon) and reports delayed and otherwise manipulated.

While the book is about other systemic problems, Chapter 19, on boot camp, is worthy of note. The description of the recruits is discouraging. This is not a cross section of Americans and clearly not like the universal commitment to WWII. The general recognition that Tillman is an exception, particularly for making a financial sacrifice, says something about the public's perception of this war. While it's the stuff of lore and jokes, what really is the purpose of "Clean your boots, scuff them up, clean them again because I said so"? Have the goals objectives and methods of boot camp been seriously evaluated in recent years? Tillman, who has had years of top notch athletic training and team work conditioning notes a lot of boot camp is "archaic, bizarre and counterproductive."

In some areas the prose seems forced. Quotes from Abdul Ghani and Reka Cseresnyes strike me as too idiomatic for second language speakers. There is a lot of extraneous content. The final chapter's discussion of Nietzsche and the masculinity of western men struck me as just plain weird. While these flaws exist, there do not seem to be any problems with the research. This is an important work and should be widely read.(less)

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Jan 23, 2013 Gracie added it

A scandal and a heroic tale that is in one book; is that possible? Yes it is. Jon Krakauer beautifully exposes a U.S. military scandal in the novel Where Men Win Glory. Pat Tillman an excellent athlete leaves the NFL to join the military after the tragic incident of 9/11. How the death of this athlete happened is a very complex answer, yet Where Men Win Glory does an amazing job answering it. I would definitely recommend this novel because it is well written and it is a brilliant mix between an...more
A scandal and a heroic tale that is in one book; is that possible? Yes it is. Jon Krakauer beautifully exposes a U.S. military scandal in the novel Where Men Win Glory. Pat Tillman an excellent athlete leaves the NFL to join the military after the tragic incident of 9/11. How the death of this athlete happened is a very complex answer, yet Where Men Win Glory does an amazing job answering it. I would definitely recommend this novel because it is well written and it is a brilliant mix between an inspiring tale of an all-American boy and a disturbing military scandal.
Krakauer’s writing style is mature and sophisticated which made Where Men Win Glory very enjoyable to read. Instead of writing about Pat Tillman’s persistent effort to do the right thing, as an unfortunate weakness, but as an unfortunate strength, Krakauer writes, “A compelling argument can be made, however, that the sad end he met in Afghanistan was more accurately a function of his stubborn idealism—his insistence on trying to do the right thing. In which case it wasn’t a tragic flaw that brought Tillman down, but a tragic virtue” (Krakauer 406). Using the words “tragic flaw” and “tragic virtue” is a much more sophisticated way to say unfortunate weakness and unfortunate strength. It is more sophisticated because weakness and strength are very shallow words while virtue and flaw have a lot of depth to them. These word choices are just small examples of the maturity of his writing, making the story of Pat Tillman thought provoking and enjoyable.
I would also recommend this novel because it is not just another American hero story, but it has a skeleton in the closet twist. The novel alternates between military based chapters and Tillman’s heroic life chapters; once Tillman joined the military, however, the alternation disappeared and Krakauer combined the two subjects. The military did not want anyone to know that Tillman had been killed in a “friendly fire” incident (killed by fellow Americans), “Over in Afghanistan, McChrystal directed Nixon to keep the facts of the facts of Tillman’s death under tight wraps within the Ranger Regiment” (336). Krakauer is writing that the true cause of death has to be kept secret, with only very high-ranking people in the government and military knowing the truth. Tillman’s family did not discover this information until the military had to tell Pat’s brother Kevin, who was also in the military, (because he was in the platoon with the very men who killed his brother and the whole platoon knew the truth and someone was bound to let it slip). The withholding of the friendly fire information and the fact the military and government deliberately tried to make Tillman’s death seem to be the responsibility of the enemy was despicable to many Americans. Although the military exaggerated Pat’s valorous personality, Pat was indeed a brave man who cared about his country and believed in doing the right thing no matter what it was, “’Pat decided that going into the military was what he needed to do’ Marie explains” (159). Marie (Pat’s wife) is saying Tillman knew what he had to do so he did it. Krakauer has done a superb job displaying Pat Tillman as a hero that believed in always doing the “right” thing.
Overall, Where Men Win Glory is a terrific novel that is well crafted and a fascinating story of a noble man paying the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

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Jan 16, 2013 Jeremy added it

Shelves: politics, sociological

Like his previous books, Krakauer finds an American outsider and uses his life (and especially in this case, his death) as a launching point to examine broader issues of the often toxic relationships between modern societies and principled, determined individuals. Pat Tillman was an NFL player whose decision to enlist after 9/11 made him into, for lack of a better phrase, a war celebrity. He was certainly a more 'main-stream' outsider than the murderous Mormon fundamentalists or fanatical surviv...more Like his previous books, Krakauer finds an American outsider and uses his life (and especially in this case, his death) as a launching point to examine broader issues of the often toxic relationships between modern societies and principled, determined individuals. Pat Tillman was an NFL player whose decision to enlist after 9/11 made him into, for lack of a better phrase, a war celebrity. He was certainly a more 'main-stream' outsider than the murderous Mormon fundamentalists or fanatical survivalists that Krakauer has written about in the past, as a result, the biographical sections of the book dealing with his early life make for interesting if not utterly compelling reading. Krakauer tries to juxtapose his relatively placid life as a gifted athlete with the turmoil that has engulfed modern Afghanistan for the past 30 years, a strange contrast that doesn't always gel. In fact Krakauer seems to struggle to explain and encompass the full scope of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the mid 2000's while still focusing in on Tillman in the middle part of the book, which is a daunting task that probably requires at least twice as many pages as he presents here. There are detours into middle eastern history, bush-era hypocrisy, botched military rescues, the Jessica Lynch story, etc. All of which serve to reinforce if not exactly enhance the central narrative of Tillman's death from friendly fire in 2004 and the subsequent military cover-up and propaganda campaign meant to make him look like a hero who died fighting the Taliban. The final chapters accounting for these gory and sad events are compellingly rendered, Krakauer's writing is sharply investigative, and he obviously put a huge amount of research into getting the incident that killed Tillman and the subsequent bureaucratic scumbagery to cover it up right. And he overtly editorializes much less here than in any of his previous books, but that's also probably a by-product of trying to cover too many different huge issues at once and veering back and forth from them to Tillman's story so much, which ultimately prevents this from being a really great book, but it is still a valuable if somewhat muddled examination of our most recent conflicts and how a multitude of poor decisions made at different levels can manipulate and ruin peoples lives.(less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Jay Glickman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction-war, nonfiction-politics

n 2004, right around the time it was becoming all too clear that our military adventure in Iraq was far from "Mission Accomplished", Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan, shot to death by soldiers from his own unit. For some time, Tillman's death was portrayed by the Pentagon and the Bush Administration as a heroic sacrifice, demonstrating Tillman's honor, courage and patriotism. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Where Men Win Glory, author Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air, Under The Banner Of He...more n 2004, right around the time it was becoming all too clear that our military adventure in Iraq was far from "Mission Accomplished", Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan, shot to death by soldiers from his own unit. For some time, Tillman's death was portrayed by the Pentagon and the Bush Administration as a heroic sacrifice, demonstrating Tillman's honor, courage and patriotism. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Where Men Win Glory, author Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air, Under The Banner Of Heaven), comprehensively depicts Tillman's life and brief career in the Army Rangers, creating the full and contradictory picture of a genuine human being, instead of a media stereotype. Macho, yet gentle, outgoing, smart, and surprisingly self-aware, Tillman felt compelled to give up a multi-million dollar contract to play pro football for the Arizona Cardinals after 9/11, enlisting as a private in the Army.

During the time he was training in the regular infantry, and then in the elite ranger school, Tillman (who was accompanied in enlistment by his brother Kevin) gave no interviews, and sought no media attention. By all accounts, he joined up because he felt it was right for him to do so. Even as he experienced a deployment to Iraq, and began to think that the war there was ill-advised and pointless, he continued to serve with distinction, because he simply wanted to be as good a soldier as possible.

His career ended on a hill in Afghanistan in 2004, under a hail of bullets fired by soldiers from his own unit. The details of the many errors of judgment and failures to observe procedure that led to Tillman's death are interesting reading, but ultimately irrelevant. "Friendly fire" deaths are a commonplace event in all armed conflicts - the details vary, but the results are always the same.

What matters more than the final truth about how Pat Tillman died is how that truth was evaluated, decided upon, and covered-up by Tillman's chain-of-command, all the way up to the Pentagon and the Bush Administration. The story of Tillman's death was initially portrayed as a heroic stand against Afghan "terrorists", enjoying a media response very similar to the now-discredited stories of Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq (in whose "rescue" mission Tillman played a small part).

The media, at this time largely reduced to a kennel of eager lapdogs, jumped unquestioningly onto the bandwagon, as Tillman was fast-tracked by the Pentagon for a posthumous Silver Star. His family, meanwhile, were told nothing about the actual circumstances of his death. Only after the President himself planned to refer to Tillman's "heroic sacrifice" on national television, did the Pentagon decide that it would be politically dangerous to maintain the cover-up. There were simply too many witnesses, not least the soldiers who killed Tillman accidentally.

But actual details released about the incident remained sketchy, as the Army brass sought to insulate the higher officers whose poor decisions contributed to the incident. (The short version is that Tillman would probably not have been shot, if the Army had been willing to leave behind a heavily damaged Humvee.) After three separate investigations (one of which was conducted by officers involved in the events), the Pentagon was left with a contradictory mess, and imposed virtually no punishment on officers above the level of Tillman's Lieutenant, who was essentially employed as a scapegoat for his superiors.

Attempts by Tillman's family to get the unvarnished truth were countered with Army public relations and endless spin, the full story remaining cloudy until the debut of this excellently researched book. The failed PR attempt to spin Tillman's enlistment, deployment, and tragic death for political benefit, is connected throughout the book to the many other public failures of the Bush Administration and the Pentagon in the prosecution of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

As always, Krakauer seamlessly blends revealing pictures of individuals (particularly Tillman) with strong, well-researched factual reporting on the shooting incident itself, and the embarassing path to the attempted cover-up. The many tragic errors of the "War on Terror" have become common knowledge during the last few years: WMD, no exit strategy, Abu Gharaib, etc, etc. This is one more story, a very intimate and personal one, of the consequences of the Bush Administration's incompetence and hubris.

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Nov 08, 2012 Angel Geovonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

To be completely honest, this book was neither good nor bad. In total, it was okay. Some parts were blatantly boring and over-informative. It was during these parts that I had trouble staying awake and found myself with my eyes fluttering shut and a light snore escaping my lungs. However, I did appreciate these parts later on when the story tied itself together, although not all of it was necessary. The action scenes were definitely a welcome read though. It was really easy to relate to Tillman...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Aida rated it 3 of 5 stars

For this book, I really liked the fact that it is not fiction. It provides readers with a new perspective and allows them to take a step back and really understand what is going on around them. Moreover I enjoyed how straight forward and how unbiased he was in his writing. He provided information from both sides of the story and really allows his audience to have a mind of their own. However there were some writing styles that I personally am not a fan of. The fact that the story kept going bac...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Larry Nguyen rated it 4 of 5 stars

The government is supposed to protect society and all the laws that uphold society. The government is supposed to be truthful, trustful, and altruistic. The government is supposed to do what is right in times of moral conduct. Or so that is what people believe. There is truth to these statements, but in Jon Krakauer's novel Where Men Win Glory the government is found wanting in the state of morality. Pat Tillman's death and its cover up is explicably delineated and explained, every significant...more The government is supposed to protect society and all the laws that uphold society. The government is supposed to be truthful, trustful, and altruistic. The government is supposed to do what is right in times of moral conduct. Or so that is what people believe. There is truth to these statements, but in Jon Krakauer's novel Where Men Win Glory the government is found wanting in the state of morality. Pat Tillman's death and its cover up is explicably delineated and explained, every significant event written down and is wrapped around a shroud of detail. I found that this book to be very enjoyable, though there is an excessive amount of detail and information that does not pertain to the main point of the book. Even if there is a lot of information that does not necessarily need to be in the book, this book makes me wonder about what actually happens within our government. Is it hiding anything from us? Is the government keeping anything away from the general public in order to protect itself? This work of literary art infuriates me when I read about Bush's cabinet's manipulation of the fratricide of Pat Tillman in order to promote the war in the Middle East. This would have to fall under the category of a man against society, or rather his government to be exact. Pat Tillman loved his home country and so he fought for it and died for it. However it was his government that Tillman did not admire, Tillman thought his government was performing the wrong actions, but Tillman endured and fought. His government betrayed his moral character by idolizing his wrongful death therefore this should be categorized as a man against his government. I loved this part of the book, the exposure of the controversy within the government; it contains the excitement and the pathos that an exceptional book creates within an avid reader.
Krakauer's writing style is also exclusively for avid readers, "If the United States' involvement in future wars is inevitable, so, too, is it inevitable that American soldiers will fall victim to friendly fire in those conflicts, for the simple reason that fratricide is part and parcel of every war" showing his articulate vocabulary and sentence structure which can lead a reader astray (Krakauer 343). His diction can hinder a reader who wants a simple plot or journey, but under his eloquent writing is a deep message. That deep message may as well be a slandering of the U.S. military and its cover up. I was surprised that he introduced the story of Jessica Allen and her rescue, but that left a deep message. Krakauer always provided an elaborate explanation of what the Army would do in these cases, they would further publicize the Army's glorious tasks and throw away the negative actions, and there is a lot of negative actions done by the army. I would recommend this book for avid readers who enjoy the truth and controversy.
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Nov 08, 2012 Dora Wang rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jon Krakauer’s novel, Where Men Win Glory, illustrates the legacy of Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman is an extraordinary young man who is willing to give up his three point six million dollar contract to play in the National Football League in exchange for an enlistment in America’s army. Tillman is glorified for his post- nine- eleven patriotism. His death two years later in Afghanistan marks the birth of a new legend. Krakauer’s writing style is intensely dense and highly detailed; he goes through p...more Jon Krakauer’s novel, Where Men Win Glory, illustrates the legacy of Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman is an extraordinary young man who is willing to give up his three point six million dollar contract to play in the National Football League in exchange for an enlistment in America’s army. Tillman is glorified for his post- nine- eleven patriotism. His death two years later in Afghanistan marks the birth of a new legend. Krakauer’s writing style is intensely dense and highly detailed; he goes through pages and pages describing America’s war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. Krakauer provides a significant amount of background information that may make the novel difficult to get through. His switching of chapters between conditions of war and the life of Pat Tillman can cause confusion. “Ever since Homo sapiens first coalesced into tribes, war has been part of a human condition…. But death by so- called friendly fire, which is an inescapable aspect of armed conflict in the modern era…. It’s an unsettling reminder that barbarism, senseless violence, and random death are commonplace even in the most ‘just’ and ‘honorable’ of wars. Consequently, and unsurprisingly, when soldiers accidentally kill one of their own, there is tremendous reluctance to confront the truth within the ranks of military” (Krakauer xxviii). War is part of human life. Death incurred by war is often portrayed with bravery and heroism, glorifying fallen warriors as sacrifices for a noble cause. Death by friendly- fire is the exact opposite; such death represents the barbarism of war and its almost purposeless violence and innumerable deaths. Krakauer expresses, with a hint of anger, his perceptions on war. His sophisticated writing is present all through the novel as he thoroughly describes America’s war effort, Tillman’s life, and the government’s act of disguising Tillman’s death with lies. For those who enjoy reading about American history and war, this would be the perfect novel, but for those who do not enjoy history and politics, this novel may not be quite as interesting.
The main conflict in the novel is man versus society. Society encompasses government. Army commanders who are supported by the Bush administration deceptively disguise Pat Tillman’s death. America’s government encourages the act of covering up Tillman’s death with lies, claiming that the Taliban killed Tillman rather than friendly fire. The government transforms Tillman into the poster boy Tillman did not desire to be. “Pat and I used to talk at night a lot before we’d rack out…, but one night he said he was afraid that if something were to happen to him, Bush’s people would, like, make a big deal out of his death and parade him through the streets. And those were his exact words: ‘I don’t want people to parade me through the streets’” (349). Society, controlled and supervised by government, fails to grant Tillman’s last wish. Krakauer’s description of how society uses Tillman’s death for political advantages arouses great hatred and anger against the Bush administration.
Glory does not come from wealth and prosperity, but the courage to escape society's common ideologies and to strive for personal goals and ambitions. “Trust thyself…,” Emerson once said. Self- reliance is confidence in an individual’s intelligence and own way of thinking; self- reliance is to not walk in anyone’s shadow. Pat Tillman escaped society’s limiting expectations, and even though many viewed him as insane, Tillman continued to act upon what he believed was truly right. Krakauer’s theme is a lesson to be remembered. (less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Arianna Carrasco rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was very interesting and intriguing. This book, which is based in a true story, is about a man who dies of friendly fire. Pat Tillman, the main character if the book, is an all American football player who has a contract with the NFL, but all that changes when the drastic 9/11 happens. Tillman thinks it is his duty to fight for his country, so he gives up his contract and joins the military. While fighting, a fellow comrade shoots Tillman and the government tries to cover it up by sayi...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Amberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

The truth is often shocking and sometimes stranger than story we thought was true. In an explicit and uncovering novel, Jon Krakauer goes beyond the face of America’s post 9/11 poster boy. Where Men Win Glory reveals a story that is much more personal, complicated, and intricate. Pat Tillman was a football player in the NFL when he decided to give it all up to join the army. But he was more than the Captain America of the Afghanistan War. Jon Krakauer does justice to the life that Tillman led a...more The truth is often shocking and sometimes stranger than story we thought was true. In an explicit and uncovering novel, Jon Krakauer goes beyond the face of America’s post 9/11 poster boy. Where Men Win Glory reveals a story that is much more personal, complicated, and intricate. Pat Tillman was a football player in the NFL when he decided to give it all up to join the army. But he was more than the Captain America of the Afghanistan War. Jon Krakauer does justice to the life that Tillman led and brought to light the type of person he really was. I was originally under the impression that the book was solely about Tillman and his life so I was not expecting the bombardment of information regarding the war and its background. In retrospect, I think it was appropriate to have so much of that information. I personally found the story of Tillman more interesting, but Krakauer does such a good job painting the scene right before your eyes it is hard to not appreciate. It is obvious that there was a good deal of work put into the research and finding all the information. The material of the book itself is heavier reading, so it may be tougher for someone that has never read Krakauer before. However, I personally recommend the book to readers that want to be challenged in thought and putting their reading skills to the ultimate test. The dense component is a struggle to read, but power through and the result is well worth it.
Krakauer is a very informative writer, which is a huge part of how he wrote this book. Often there were times that I wished he would just get to the action. However, everything connects in the end and it is important to know the circumstance of what is going on. He often leaves his chapters with a meaningful note that serves as a hook into the next part of the story. “Yousef had learned the art of making bombs from a manual written by the CIA for the mujahideen to use in their struggle against the Soviets. He was given the CIA instruction booklet while attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Khost, Afghanistan, in 1991 or 1992” (Krakauer 36). At first glance, the words feel exhausting, but they tell so many underlying messages. Krakauer took a boring fact and showed an interesting point of view: the American paradoxically caused 9/11 themselves. It shows much more depth than what most people believe and although it takes time to get to the core of whatever Krakauer is expressing, he certainly keeps it interesting.

The conflicts in Krakauer’s story are hard to pinpoint exactly because of the ever-changing situations. Much like life, nothing ever stays the same for long. However, the conflict of man vs. man deserves special attention due to the fact that the book is about a war. People are literally in conflict with each other. They have differing views, differing goals, and they take their arguments to the ultimate level: war. It reflects how simple and linear the human mind can be. If we cannot resolve our issues, we try to overpower and subdue each other to our will. There are a number of similar messages throughout Krakauer’s book, but one of the big overlying takeaways is that how much honor and glory a person has is not measured by what they have or what they have earned, but by how they earned it and the quality of their character. If Pat Tillman had not been a famous football player or such an earnest person, he would not be so remembered beyond the grave. “In twenty-seven years… I’ve never had a player turn down that big a package in the National Football League. I’ve had players that take twenty grand or less per year to stay at clubs they really wanted to play for, but turning down nine and a half million? That’s unheard of. You just don’t see loyalty like that in sports today. Pat Tillman was special. He was a man of principle. He was a once-in-a-lifetime kid” (130). Pat Tillman was a truly spectacular character. He turned down millions of dollars to stay at the club that drafted him out of pure loyalty. He was not in it for the money; he was never in it for the money. He just wanted to do what he really loved and what he felt was right for him to do. He never planned to become America’s poster boy. He just wanted to do what was right and what he felt was his duty. The truly best people are the ones who never want to be great or glorious. They are the ones to live the humblest lives but they are often the ones to leave the greatest stories.
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Nov 08, 2012 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was an interesting read, hands down. Non fiction is a tough genre to master, but Krakauer does an admirable job with the amount of detail and information he uses. It was intriguing to see a biography structured without using any chronological order. This threw me off quite a bit and I often found myself forgetting where he had left off before introducing new information. I was more puzzled on when I was suppose to feel suspense because I kept waiting for the exciting bits to appear. W...more This book was an interesting read, hands down. Non fiction is a tough genre to master, but Krakauer does an admirable job with the amount of detail and information he uses. It was intriguing to see a biography structured without using any chronological order. This threw me off quite a bit and I often found myself forgetting where he had left off before introducing new information. I was more puzzled on when I was suppose to feel suspense because I kept waiting for the exciting bits to appear. While the beginning keeps you informed, it was also boring. I, in particular, have little interest in the military and weaponry which didn't help the book become any more enjoyable when such detail was described. Although, I did enjoy how the main conflict was man vs. society. Leaving a great opportunity to play in the NFL to serve in the military seemed so odd which drew me to reading about Tillman's life. What was even more interesting was how the government tried to cover up the fact that he was indeed killed by friendly fire. I was rather disappointed that the book did not keep me engaged since I thought the idea of writing about such an event had so much potential. If you enjoy reading about war, then I would recommend this book due to its heavily coated military talk. Otherwise, I'd say this book was just alright.
As I mentioned before, Krakauer does an amazing job of describing scenes. Towards the end, he describes Tillman's death with such acquainted information. "Although the entrance wounds were deceptively small and clean--each was just five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and all three were grouped tightly together--when the high velocity, copper-jacketed bullets collided with the frontal bone of Tillman's skull, they broke apart and began to tumble wildly, with devastating effect" (275 Krakauer). In any other book, I have never read a more horrifying image with such detail that I can imagine it in slow motion. Not only is the information well put together, Krakauer also seems to sound a bit cold as if he were only reporting the event. However, he makes up for the tone by using quotes from Tillman's friends and family to show their struggle and the great burden of grief that they carry. With this tactic he can use their words to show his compassion. I believe Krakauer's message was that honesty is the best policy. Deceiving not only Tillman's family, but the whole country, the government only created a more severe situation. The truth eventually came out which hurt the family more, who were struggling enough, and betrayed the trust that we, the people, have towards the government. By the end of the day, it is better to tell the truth than to spread lies because it will only hurt the people around you.(less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Lucas West rated it 5 of 5 stars

This books was, buy far, my favorite book by Krakauer. It does have few, far too in depth moments, and the philosophy bit at the end was not to my liking, but other than that this book is excellent. Krakauer paints a perfect picture of Tillman, his struggles, and his own various internal conflicts to be the best man he could be. I did like all of the historical background stories that were given, as they did an awesome job of setting up the environment in which Tillman was going through. It seem...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Mayank rated it 3 of 5 stars

John Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman is a wonderful author's attempt to chronicle a dull story. This book, while featuring a captivating and unique writing style, suffers from lack of interesting subject material. Now, I understand that some people like this kind of book and must have enjoyed this. But for me, I could barely stand the intense boredom brought on by this story. I would recommend this to people who enjoy war stories with a mix of politics, but if you do...more John Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman is a wonderful author's attempt to chronicle a dull story. This book, while featuring a captivating and unique writing style, suffers from lack of interesting subject material. Now, I understand that some people like this kind of book and must have enjoyed this. But for me, I could barely stand the intense boredom brought on by this story. I would recommend this to people who enjoy war stories with a mix of politics, but if you do not fall into that crowd, I recommend you leave this book alone.

The central conflict in this novel is one of man vs. society. Pat Tillman fights what society expects of him to do what is right, and ultimately loses the fight. After shrugging off society's path of football fame, Pat joins the Army only to be killed by an ally and then have his death lied about.

Perhaps the only enjoyable thing in this book-the sole thing keeping me awake- was the unique writing style of the author. Krakauer's writing has a simple elegance that not many other authors can achieve. For example:
“He was enraged about not passing the test, as angry as he’d ever been about any mistake he’d made as a football player, but his fury wasn’t directed at the NCO who failed him. Not one to make excuses, he blamed only himself, believing that he should have been able to pass the test no matter how many sit ups the instructor decided not to count. “(Krakauer 254)
This except shows the somewhat indescribable elegance that Krakauer that writes with. It might be the structure of the sentences, or the rhythm that he writes with, I don’t know. But his writing has a unique quality that conveys more information with well-formed sentences that perhaps even essays cannot capture. This is the sole reason for the three stars that I gave this book.

The central theme throughout the novel is weaved throughout the many parts of the story, but always comes back to one idea: that honesty is the best policy. This is best shown by Krakauer’s scathing commentary on the Bush administration, and his condemnation of the dishonest practices used to motivate soldiers.
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Nov 08, 2012 Forest rated it 4 of 5 stars

Forest Finnigan
Ms. Campanella
Per 7 English 2 Honors
8 November 2012

Informative and Moving

The main goal of a journalist is to educate and inform people. Jon Krakauer with his book Where Men Win Glory fulfills this goal of informing. The book provides the reader with a full knowledge of the political and social climate that surrounds the death of Pat Tillman. The book goes into detail about the Bush organization and the workings of the army and army Rangers. The best part of the book is in the dept...more Forest Finnigan
Ms. Campanella
Per 7 English 2 Honors
8 November 2012

Informative and Moving

The main goal of a journalist is to educate and inform people. Jon Krakauer with his book Where Men Win Glory fulfills this goal of informing. The book provides the reader with a full knowledge of the political and social climate that surrounds the death of Pat Tillman. The book goes into detail about the Bush organization and the workings of the army and army Rangers. The best part of the book is in the depth of knowledge provided. Mr. Krakuaer leaves no questions to ask about the physical nature of Pat’s death. Krakuaer also explains the emotional reasons that drove Pat to forgo his NFL contract for several years in service. For anyone interested in the politics of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or the life of Pat Tillman, this book is perfect. Where Men Win Glory chronicles the death and part of the life of Pat Tillman perfectly.
The story of Pat Tillman, in Where Men Win Glory, is the story of a conflict between man and society. Pat was always his own person; he refused to give in to the stereotypes assigned to both members of the military and members of the NFL. As a member of the NFL he kept his integrity and resisted being traded for money. In the army, he looked out for the weaker members of his regiment. Pat’s death itself stemmed from issues of society: the faulty governance of the Bush administration and military higher-ups. The rest of the Tillman family also clashed with the government. It was their force of will which made the government run several investigations and finally reveal the facts of Pat’s death. The Tillmans constantly found themselves against the pressures of society and the government.
In Where Men Win Glory, Krakuaer incorporates excerpts of Pat’s notebook and interviews of the Tillman family. These anecdotes provide details into how the Tillmans were as individuals. Pat refers to his training. “I feel no sense of accomplishment from finishing this place. I’ve learned no ultimate lessons and improved my character in no way”(Krakuar 186). Pat was always interested in improving himself as a person. This aspect of his character helped to explain what motivated him to go fight for his country. Quotations from Pat Tillman offer a valuable insight into Pat’s nature and motivations. Krakauer’s choice to include quotations gave palpability to the Tillmans as real people.
Through Pat’s unique character, Krakuaer teaches the value of standing up for one’s virtues. “The foundation has received thousands of letters and e-mails recounting how ordinary folks were inspired by Pat’s example to undertake extraordinary challenges”(230). Pat left behind him a great legacy of people inspired by his values. Without his integrity, Pat would not have been such an enduring figure. In the end, the only thing of real substance is a person’s character. People with positive characters, such as Pat Tillman, are the ones who will leave the most impact on their families and communities. Jon Krakauer, through the story of Pat Tillman, teaches the intricacies of the military and the value of standing by one’s virtues.
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Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.

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“the sad end he met in Afghanistan was more accurately a function of his stubborn idealism--his insistence on trying to do the right thing. In which case it wasn't a tragic flaw that brought Tillman down, but a tragic virtue.” — 9 people liked it

“Many decisions are made in our lifetime, Most relatively insignificant while others life altering” — 1 person liked it

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Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

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