{"id":199,"date":"2004-04-23T11:53:31","date_gmt":"2004-04-23T15:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vmalt\/?p=199"},"modified":"2005-12-03T16:59:04","modified_gmt":"2005-12-03T21:59:04","slug":"sacrifice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/sacrifice","title":{"rendered":"Sacrifice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat Tillman used to be a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals. Entering his prime earning years (with a 3-year, $3.6 million contract offer on the table), he elected to quit football and join the U.S. Army. His brother also enlisted, and the two went through Rangers training.<\/p>\n

An ESPN article<\/a> about Tillman a year ago included the following quotes:<\/p>\n

“A professional athlete’s career is self-indulgent almost by definition,” said Alan Klein, professor of sociology and anthropology at Northeastern University. “Risking your career and your life is not an easy decision. They’re content to wear a patch on the uniform for solidarity, but that’s the easy way out. Really, we’re all taking the easy way out.<\/p>\n

“My parents were in [Nazi concentration camp] Auschwitz. All my life, I’ve heard about the acts of bravery and sacrifice. We would all like to think of ourselves as people who would do the right thing. But, deep down, how many of us would give up everything we have? Certainly, it’s not a lock.”<\/em><\/p>\n

No, it\u00c3\u00af\u00c2\u00bf\u00c2\u00bds not a lock. Pat Tillman got killed in an ambush\/firefight in Afghanistan yesterday<\/a>. I want to write something more about this, but I’m having a tough time parsing my feelings, between this and the debate about the photos of coffins of dead soldiers<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pat Tillman used to be a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals. Entering his prime earning years (with a 3-year, $3.6 million contract offer on the table), he elected to quit football and join the U.S. Army. His brother also enlisted, and the two went through Rangers training. An ESPN article about Tillman a year … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Sacrifice”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-3d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":242,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/once-in-a-lifetime","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":0},"title":"Once in a Lifetime","author":"Gil","date":"May 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw some of Pat Tillman's memorial service yesterday evening. Senator McCain was speaking when I tuned in, followed by Chief Petty Officer Steven White, who served with Tillman in Iraq. I didn't catch his introduction, but I think he was a SEAL in the Navy.He spoke wonderfully and plainly,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10565,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-236-mimi-pond","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":1},"title":"Episode 236 – Mimi Pond","author":"Gil","date":"September 18, 2017","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 236: Mimi Pond returns! \"I felt more of a sense of empty nest when I finished this book than I did when my children left home.\" Cartoonist and humorist Mimi Pond makes her third appearance on the show, this time to celebrate publication of The Customer is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/custcover.png?fit=670%2C856&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/custcover.png?fit=670%2C856&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/custcover.png?fit=670%2C856&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1503,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/just-half-ass-it","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":2},"title":"Just Half-Ass It","author":"Gil","date":"May 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I was sitting in Boston's South Station for an hour or so last week, and I found myself\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 transfixed by Reebok's new ad Run Easy campaign. Huge banners hung above the doors of the train station, bearing slogans that I found a little perplexing: Run to the beat of your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":879,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/im-so-easy","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":3},"title":"I’m so easy","author":"Gil","date":"March 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Wedding"","block_context":{"text":"Wedding","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/wedding"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1123,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/big-easy","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":4},"title":"Big Easy","author":"Gil","date":"September 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of the Saints' return to New Orleans, I made a dirty martini for Amy with some \"Cajun infused olives\" that we picked up this weekend (Amy accented it with a little Tony Chachere's). If I didn't have this crazy work schedule this week -- big issue, our conference,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Orleans"","block_context":{"text":"New Orleans","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/travel\/new-orleans"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11196,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-254-ann-hulbert","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":5},"title":"Episode 254 – Ann Hulbert","author":"Gil","date":"January 29, 2018","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 254: Ann Hulbert \"It's so easy as a parent to project your own hopes and ambitions on your child, even when you think you're not. Getting beyond that to see your kid as a person independent of you is the goal.\" Atlantic Monthly literary editor Ann Hulbert\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/hulbertcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C834&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/hulbertcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C834&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/hulbertcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C834&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/hulbertcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C834&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/hulbertcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C834&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}