Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

by Jon Krakauer

During the first months of 2004, as he contemplated his future beyond the military, Pat seemed more at ease than he had in years. “Kevin and I both noticed it,” Marie says. “He was very much at peace with himself. It was like he’d gotten rid of any of his hang-ups. He’d sort of been evolving in this direction ever since he went to juvenile hall after the Round Table fight—resetting his priorities, figuring out what really mattered.” Pat confided to Marie that the Army had “been difficult in ways he’d never imagined going into it,” but that the experience had caused him to learn a lot about himself. He said the emotional trials he’d endured had made him a better person. He said the Army had humbled him. When Pat’s mother came to Puget Sound to visit a week before Pat and Kevin shipped out to Afghanistan, Marie joked to her that Pat had become so sensitive he was starting to grow breasts.