Tillman's generation
Robert Alt has a moving tribute to Pat Tillman and those men serving with him, such as our man in Afghanistan, the Army Reserve Major from Minneapolis whose reports we have posted here on occasion over the past several months: "Tillman's generation." Alt writes:
There is a temptation to say that Pat Tillman demonstrated a courage and ethic belonging peculiarly to a previous generation — perhaps Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" — one in which athletes and movie stars served. But that would be a mistake. This generation should not be underestimated. The young men of today's military have done something which "the Greatest Generation" did not have to do: They volunteered to serve after the Brokaws of the world lost faith in the American military. These soldiers have fought valiantly in Afghanistan after the press all but forgot them, and in Iraq after the press, yielding to unfounded accusations, forgot who they were. They have seen recent military victories cast as defeats. They answered the call to higher duty, only to have the elites question it as lower-class service. And despite politicians using the shameful rhetoric of "quagmire," the number of volunteer soldiers is increasing...There is no need to get into a debate about which generation is "greatest," for there are plenty of examples of courage and honor in each. But it is time to lay aside the recurring doubts about the conviction of this generation. This is Pat Tillman's generation, and as he and his fellow soldiers have so ably shown, this generation has greatness of its own.
