&ECREE
EdiTOr's Corner
VoluME XIX, NUMbER 9
E
ECREE
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From tNe
EdiTORs Desk mmy
Dear Reader,
Lately 1 have been so caught up in
the problems on campus that t iost
sight of the world. I was brought
back to reality on April 25'^ when
1 read that, Pat Tiilman, a former
pro-football player for the Arizona
Cardinals, who left professional
sports to become an Army Ranger,
had died during a combat operation
in Afghanistan. What first drew
me to the story was that Tillman
was a member of the US Army’s
75'^ Ranger Regiment, which is my
son’s unit. However, it was Tillman’s
story that affected me.
Tillman was stationed at Fort
Lewis, Washington and deployed
overseas in 2003. His brother,
Kevin, is also an Army Ranger
serving in Afghanistan and also
was a professional athlete and had
played for the Cleveland Indians,
The brothers had decided after the
attacks of 9-11 that they wanted to
give back to the country that had
allowed them to become wealthy
and successful in their chosen
sports and joined the Army.
Tillman was living his dream in the
NFL. After graduating from Arizona
State University with a 3.84 GPA, a
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Marketing Degree and being named
the PAC-10 Defensive Player of the
Year in 1997, he was drafted by the
Cardinals and played four seasons
with them earning a career high
224 tackles in his final season with
the team.
Placing his convictions ahead of
his 3.6 million dollar salary Tillman,
along with his brother, joined the
Army as enlisted men when they
could have entered as Officers,
He asked for no special favors
or treatment based on his prior
athletic stardom and just wanted to
be another soldier, and a Ranger.
Arizona Cardinals Head Coach
Dave MacGinnis said Tillman was
‘Very serious” about his decision,
“It’s very personal, and I honor that.
1 honor the integrity of that, it was
not a snap decision he woke up and
made yesterday,"
Tillman’s agent, Frank Bauer,
called the decision consistent with
his client’s contemplative, non-
materialistic nature,
Arizona Republican, Senator John
McCain, said in a statement Friday,
“There is in Pat Tillman's example,
•
ASSOCIATED
COLLEGIATE
PRESS
in his unexpected choice of duty
to his country over the riches and
other comforts of celebrity, and in
his humility, such an inspiration to
all of us to reclaim the essential
public-spiritedness of Americans
that many of us, in low moments,
had worried was no longer our
common distinguishing trait,"
What I find in the sacrifice of Pat
Tillman is the sadness of a worid
that has not learned to live together.
A world that makes the sacrifice of
Pat Tillman and that of every other
soldier, sailor, airman and marine
of all nations is a fact of life that
shows no end.
Keep reading,
Ron
The opinions found
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are those of the
individual author
of the article. They
do not necessarily
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opinions or policies
of North Carolina
Wesleyan College or
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Faculty Adviser to
The Decree:
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English/Journalism
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dkcncwc@earthlink.net
Proctor for Dow Jones
Editing Exam at NCWC
Random
Thoughts
"University politics are
vicious precisely because
the stakes are so
small."
- Henry Kissinger
"Let me tell you
something about
the newspaper, if a
newspaper, if the media
gets 50% of a story
right your ahead of the
game. IVe had lots of
experience with that.
They always get it
wrong."
- Ian D.C. Newbould
'Knowledge speaks, but
wisdom listens."
- Jimi Hendrix
Mi
HS P I . C
1 A'S'ON-Tris
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NoRTh CaroUna WesIeyan CollEqE Rocky Mount, NortIh CaroUna 27804