Boots on the Ground by Dusk - Mary Tillman with Narda Zacchino

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Boots on the Ground by Dusk

My Tribute to Pat Tillman

Mary Tillman with Narda Zacchino

Modern Times, April 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59486-880-1, ISBN10: 1-59486-880-8,
6 x 9 inches, 368 pages, 8 pp b&w photo insert,
Hardcover, $25.95

Praise
Biography

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See All Categories Political Science United States & Canada

Boots on the Ground by Dusk is Mary Tillman's tribute to her son Pat, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2004, and to the other American families who lose sons and daughters at war and are left without answers that might help bring closure.

On April 22, 2004, Lieutenant David Uthlaut received orders from Khost, Afghanistan, that his platoon was to leave the town of Magarah and "have boots on the ground before dark" in Manah, a small village on the border of Pakistan. It was an order the young lieutenant protested vehemently, but the commanders at the Tactical Command Center disregarded his objections. By nightfall, Uthlaut and his radio operator were seriously wounded, and an Afghan militia soldier and a U.S. soldier were dead. The American soldier was Pat Tillman.

The Tillman family was originally informed that Pat, who had given up a professional football career to serve his country, had been shot in the head while getting out of a vehicle. At his memorial service twelve days later, they were told that he was killed while running up a hill in pursuit of the enemy. He was awarded a Silver Star for his courageous actions. A month and two days after his death, the family learned that Pat had been shot three times in the head by his own troops in a "friendly fire" incident. Seven months after Pat’s death, more uncertain than ever, the Tillmans requested an investigation.

Boots on the Ground by Dusk is a chronicle of their efforts to ascertain the true circumstances of Pat’s death and the reasons why the Army gave the family and the public a false story. Woven into the account are valuable and respectful memories of Pat Tillman as a son, brother, husband, friend, and teammate, in the hope that the reader will better comprehend what is really lost when our sons and daughters are killed or maimed in war.

In the course of three and a half years, there have been six investigations, several inquiries, and two Congressional hearings. The Tillmans are still awaiting an outcome.

Praise

"Alongside fond memories and recollections of Pat's charismatic bluntness and self-sacrificing nature, Mary details her family's exhaustive search for the truth with the help of allies ranging from Senator John McCain to retired General Wesley Clark to numerous investigative reporters . . . the chilling results yielded by the Tillman family's unflagging efforts indicate that Pat's death was, at best, a result of gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the U.S. Army and, at worst, a sinister coverup by high-ranking officials willing to lie to a soldier's family and hoodwink the public in exchange for higher approval ratings."—Kirkus Reviews

"This gripping real-life account chronicles Mary Tillman’s attempts to get a straight answer about the death of her son, Pat, in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman, who put on hold a career as a pro football player and enlisted in the army, was shot to death during a mission that was (to judge by the evidence presented here) poorly planned and disastrously executed. Although it seems clear that Tillman was killed by American soldiers—shot in the legs and then three times in the head—by men who surely should have known they were killing one of their own, the exact circumstances seem deliberately obscure. The army kept giving Tillman’s family a new version of the story of his death, often contradicting previous versions but never answering any of their questions. The book, which superimposes Mary’s search for the truth over memories of her son’s life, is both emotional and frustrating. We, like Mary Tillman, feel angry and bewildered over the government’s apparent lack of interest in providing her with a simple explanation for her son’s death. This story has made headlines for the last several years, and while there are no final answers here, those who have followed the controversy will be eager to hear from Tillman’s mother."—Booklist

About the Author(s)

Mary Tillman

Mary Tillman was a special education teacher in San Jose, California, for fifteen years. She still lives in San Jose.

Narda Zacchino is a former associate editor of the Los Angeles Times and a former deputy editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Berkeley, California.