Legacy of Pat Tillman bigger than any statue

While communities all over the country argue over whether to tear down monuments to men of questionable character, distinction or accomplishment, Arizona State University unveiled a statue to a man of unquestioned character, distinction and accomplishment … who did not need a statue.

And who probably would have hated it.

Pat Tillman does not require a physical monument to be remembered. Or admired. Or emulated. Just the opposite. As his brother, Kevin, said at the unveiling of the Tillman statue in Sun Devil Stadium, “Pat spent his whole life trying to be the best possible person he could possibly be. He didn’t focus on money. He didn’t focus on fame. He didn’t focus on a pretty statue. It was: ‘How to make myself better?’ ”

Tillman’s father, Patrick Sr., was asked how he thought his son would react to the monument.

“If they were unveiling this statue and he were alive, he wouldn’t come,” he said. “He’d just say, ‘Nah, nah.’ He wasn’t that big on compliments. He would take them, but it wasn’t all that important to him.”

Not only is ASU’s statue of Tillman unnecessary, but it is located in the wrong place.

The Tillman statue should not be on the north side of Sun Devil Stadium.

It should be outside ASU’s main library.

Pat Tillman wasn’t a jock who occasionally read a book. He was a thoughtful, socially aware and politically conscious guy who also played football.

An old-school renaissance man.

In Jon Krakauer’s book on Tillman, “Where Men Win Glory,” there are excerpts from Tillman’s journals.

Not long after he and Kevin joined the Army, and just before the invasion of Iraq, Pat wrote, “Were our case for war even somewhat justifiable, no doubt many of our traditional allies ... would

be praising our initiative . ... However, every leader in the world, with a few exceptions, is crying foul, as is the voice of much of the people. This ... leads me to believe that we have little or no justification other than our imperial whim. Of course Nub (his nickname for Kevin) & I have ... willingly allowed ourselves to be pawns in this game and will do our job whether we agree with it or not. All we ask is that it is duly noted that we harbor no illusions of virtue.”

After Tillman’s death by friendly fire, the government undertook a grotesque cover-up, even using Pat’s sacrifice and his memorial service as a kind of recruiting tool.

Speaking later to a congressional committee, Kevin said, “Delivering false information at a nationally televised memorial service is not an error in judgment. Discarding an investigation that does not fit a preordained conclusion is not an error in judgment. These are deliberate acts of deceit. This is not the perception of concealment. This is concealment.”

It is a well-instilled value within the Tillman family to ask questions, seek answers and speak out.

Pat Tillman earned a B.S. in marketing from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business, graduating summa cum laude. But his education didn’t begin there or end there.

Education was, for him, an ongoing, evolving process, one that would have been amazing for the rest of us to watch during his post-military, post-football life. I suppose, in some ways, the statue at ASU is a monument to what Tillman might have become. Again, though, it isn’t necessary. In his journal, Tillman wrote, “Will people see me as an honest man, hardworking man, family man, a good man? Can I become the man I envision? Is vision and follow-through enough? How important is talent & blind luck? ... There are no true answers, just shades of grey, coincidence, and circumstance.”

Tillman did not waste his days trying to make a name for himself. He made a name for himself by not wasting his days. His “monument” is his life and the way he lived it.

The ancient Roman statesman Cato the Elder said something I believe Tillman would have liked.

He said, “I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.”