Death and Pat Tillman (Spoilers for AtS5.15 -AHiTW)

[dlgood]

Why is Fred dead? Proximate cause - because Gunn signed papers that allowed Knox to sneak the coffin through. Bigger picture - because she was there. To the extent that it was her choice ('mindwipe') Fred chose to be in LA, chose to be in that fight, and could have gone elsewhere. She didn't And she's become a casualty of her lifestyle. It is sad. It sucks. It's also how life works sometimes.

As illustrated by the death of former Arizona Cardinals safety, Pat Tillman. A few years ago, Tillman gave up his NFL career (passing on a $3.6 million contract) and enlisted in the US military. At Arizona State, he was both a star athlete and an honor student, and he felt that it was more worthwhile to serve his country than play football, particularly after September 11. Tillman became an Army Ranger, and insisted on recieving no special media attention or treatment for his decision.

Today he was found dead in Afghanistan. I don't know the specific cause of death. Or who was to blame. Do we blame his CO or the pentagon for the strategies. For sending him to war. Perhaps. Maybe there was faulty equipment.

But Tillman made a choice, and he chose to be a soldier. Even though he knew the risks, and even though he could have been somewere else. And he did so, because he felt that joining in the fight was worthwhile to him. It satisfied his preference. And he died following through on that decision. And Fred died following through on hers.

It's sad. It's tragic. The Tillman family grieves. Those who love Fred grieve. But it's life.

Comments

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

I'm largely in the same boat. Slight difference in that my dad and most of my dad's friends and co-workers wore blue uniforms throughout their careers. Some of 'em had Vietnam service ribbons, although Dad's hardship service was Johnston Island instead. My best friend's dad lead the tankers that refueled the F-111s that bombed Libya, and I remember his mom wandering around the house like a ghost whenever the wing was out.

I think, in some ways, the Watchers and everyone else are like a comedy-drained MIB (an analogy derived because I saw it w/ der kinder last night). Remember the scene outside the jewelry store, when J fires the Noisy Cricket? K tells him that the fact that humans don't know what's going on is the only way they can get on with their lives, and that there's always another impending apocalypse, and the only way to enjoy a life is to wipe your memories and tell the Post you've been in a coma. Same kinda worldview as the Watcher/Initiative deal, isn't it? (Couldn't you just see Riley with a Glock in the testing scene?) Thing is, there's no retirement plan in that mindset, and it seems he can't imagine another, which is why his treatment of the Initiative and Riley sucks so bad. Maybe it's the Lovecraft influence. Maybe he knows no other plots.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Thing is, there's no retirement plan in that mindset, and it seems he can't imagine another, which is why his treatment of the Initiative and Riley sucks so bad. Maybe it's the Lovecraft influence. Maybe he knows no other plots.

That's my guess. I just can't buy that. My experience of the world is so different.

Dreaded Sports Metaphor
You join the football team as a player. And if you stay in the game long enough, eventually you won't be able to play anymore. You get injured, get old, get slow, get beaten. But you aren't dead. If you still want to stay in the game, you can be a coach, or a general manager, or eventually an owner. Or you can be a broadcaster. Or you can work as an equipment supplier. And so on... We see the same thing with the military.

JW's world doesn't have a George Halas. It doesn't have a John McCain. There's destruction and death, but not much in the way of long term growth stories and career evolution. Ride that horse to death and put it out to pasture.

But it does have a Michael Jordan - because oh dear does Buffy's S7 performace correspond in a very uncanny way with MJ's career as a player and executive in Washington DC. And it's not in a pretty way.