Priscilla Whitley

 
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I’ve always been a fan of Jon Krakauer.  From his well known books such as Into Thin Air and Into the Wild to his lesser known works like Under the Banner of Heaven.  He has a very simplistic journalistic tone to his writing.  He makes things very easy to read, which is a very hard thing to do.  He also asks questions.  But he does so without being imposing.  I’ve always said I’ll read just about anything he writes, regardless of the topic.  Which is how I found myself reading his most recent book, Where Men Win Glory, about Pat Tillman.  I’d of course heard of Pat Tillman.  To me he was reduced to “former NFL player who joined the Army Rangers after 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan.  Oh, and he was killed by friendly fire, right?”  Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have picked up a book about this young man if Krakauer hadn’t written about him.  But luckily he did.
 
I think the thing I need to mention is what a remarkable man Tillman was, and I think the book did a fabulous job of taking him out of that stereotype that I, and probably many others, have pegged him for.  I had figured he was a good conservative, Christian boy, a jock of course, who was driven to enlist because of a blind sighted patriotism.  In fact, Tillman was quite the free thinker who grew up not far from where my uncle spent the best years of his life surfing.  Yes he was a jock, but his long hair and attitude gave another impression.  Above all, Tillman questioned everything, much like Krakauer does in his book.  He enlisted in the Army alongside his brother, leaving behind a lucrative career and a new wife, because he felt it was right.  But Krakauer points out that both Tillman brothers questioned the president and his advisors, as well as the army.
 
Moving away from that story line a bit, my favorite part about this book was the way Krakauer weaved the history of Afghanistan into Tillman’s own story.  It definitely surprised me; I didn’t realize I was getting a very intensive, historical narrative.  But I happened to enjoy this immensely (coupled probably by the fact that this is my area of interest right now, and I’m fascinated by the Afghan culture and history). A good majority of the first half of this book was about Afghanistan, with only a slight mention of Tillman here and there.  What I loved was the way Krakauer would spend a good 10 pages on a certain battle up in the mountains of Afghanistan.  The reader completely forgets they’re reading about an American from the Bay area.  Until the next page begins with something like, “In the predawn hours on the day of that game, as Pat was asleep in his hotel room, a Toyota delivery truck appeared at the entrance to a parking lot behind the American embassy in Nairobi, Kenya," ( pg. 79). 
 
Little by little Krakauer began to weave the stories of Afghanistan (acting as a character) and Tillman.  Brilliantly done.  I began to see how the two stories were coming together.  Where they were going to collide.  And where there would be some sort of commentary on our (the U.S.) role, or lack of a role, in this mountainous Asian country.
 
The story diverted a bit too much to Iraq, though.  Yes Tillman did his first tour there.  And yes, I now see the necessary correlation that Krakauer makes between a disastrous friendly fire encounter that was squashed in the media by the rescue of Jessica Lynch and the propaganda machine in Washington that perpetuated the cover-up in Iraq.  I get it.  It’s definitely important to the story.  But that part needed a little bit of editing.  I felt like we got totally off track from Afghanistan (which is, I guess what happened in real life too).  My main critique of the book is I wish Krakauer could have found a way to better incorporate the style that was used early on – weaving the situation in Afghanistan with Tillman – in the latter half.  By the end of the book we were so caught up with figuring out what exactly happened the moments before Tillman was killed by friendly fire, the subsequent cover ups and propaganda from the government and the Army back home, that Afghanistan got lost in all the shuffle.
 
I must give accolades for Krakauer for doing his investigative research.  He's always done this well, and it shows.  I can’t imagine how difficult and tiresome it must have been to break through the barriers of the military to dig up all the information he did.  His final presentation on the minutes before and after Tillman’s death were not his own commentary.  He let the evidence, and the oral history speak for itself.  He presented the material as fact, and by doing so was able to make a strong statement – all without ever actually offering his view.  He simple told the story.  
 
I would absolutely recommend this book.  It’s a very powerful story on a variety of levels.  My only major complaint: There were no pictures.  Small price to pay, I guess.  I imagine it was at the family’s request.


Aurora Matthews
 


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