More “bios of the banner brave” on Daniel Island
Editor’s Note: The following continues an ongoing series of biographical briefs celebrating those named on the Exchange Club of Daniel Island’s “honor banners” around the island. In conjunction with the upcoming Independence Day, we have a special feature on a hero with a touching link to Daniel Island. Please watch for more bios in future issues.
The first of three sons for Mary and Patrick Tillman, Pat Tillman was born on November 6, 1976, in San Jose, California. He grew to be a “natural leader with a tendency to push limits,” astounding in the classroom and guiding his high school team to a Central Coast Division I Football Championship. Pat was then recruited by Arizona State University to play linebacker, and led the Sun Devils to the 1997 Rose Bowl following an undefeated season. During his college career, the athletic and academic accolades came pouring in, each hard-fought and well-earned: three consecutive selections to the Pac-10 All-Academic Football Team, a 1st team Academic All-American honor, and the NCAA’s Post-Graduate Scholarship for academic and athletic excellence. In just three and a half years, Pat graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU’s prestigious W.P. Carey School of Business with a B.S. in Marketing.
In the seventh round of the 1998 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals selected Pat, and he became the team’s starting safety, breaking the franchise record with 224 tackles in 2000.
During his time in the league, he pursued a Master’s degree in history, volunteered with the Boys and Girls Clubs and March of Dimes, and conditioned off-season by participating in marathons and triathlons. Despite his stardom on the field, his spirit had remained largely unchanged.
Perhaps the first clue of the personal impact the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. had on Pat came in a comment to a reporter on September 12, 2001: “A lot of my family has gone and fought in wars and I really haven’t done a damn thing.” Just after his return from honeymooning with new bride (and high school sweetheart), Marie, in the spring of 2002, Pat announced that he would take a hiatus from the NFL to join the U.S. Army with his brother, Kevin. The two enlisted for a three-year commitment that July, and were assigned to the second battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington. Pat and Kevin served tours in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004.
As Pat and his fellow Rangers traveled through the rugged terrain of eastern Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, their unit was ambushed. Ever the leader and shepherd, Pat attempted to cover his comrades as they fled the canyon. He was shot and killed, an unfortunate, untimely victim of friendly fire.
Not wishing for the controversy and publicity surrounding the conditions of his death to be his legacy, Pat’s family and friends instead focused on that which better defined the soldier: his principles and his service. His champions founded the Pat Tillman Foundation to offer military veterans and spouses who best honor that legacy educational scholarships, tools, and support to propel them in the fields of medicine, law, business, education, and the arts. To date, more than 406 Tillman Military Scholars have been named, with over $8 million in scholarships awarded.
Pat Tillman’s Exchange Club honor banner flies on Daniel Island because of one resident’s chance connection with his family. Shortly after Pat’s death in 2004, former infantry Marine Joel Jackson reached out to the Tillman Foundation in its infant stages, just to see how he might be of help. “I certainly followed (Pat) when he gave up his NFL contract to join the military,” Joel recalls, “like many others did.”
Pat’s brother-in-law, Alex Garwood, responded to Joel with some ways he might be of service to the Tillman family and to the Foundation. “After I hung up the phone with Alex I sent him a pretty emotional email on what Pat meant to me and how inspiring he was to me personally,” recounts Joel. “For some reason I just wanted him to know.” Two hours after sending that email, Joel got a call from Pat’s mom, Mary Tillman.
“I’ll never forget it,” states Joel. “Here was this mother - whose son was just killed and being paraded on every news channel on the planet - calling me, thanking me for the kind words… We talked about how unique Pat was and I told her not to listen to all these people on TV saying ‘Pat was just another guy who volunteered and we shouldn’t treat him any differently’... because he wasn’t. I don’t know a single person in all my military travels (including me) who would give up a $4 million NFL contract to join the military.”
Today, Joel and wife Sarah are raising three boys: five year-old twins – one of whom sports the middle name “Tillman” - and a one year-old. With Pat serving as a continued influence in their lives, the couple travels to Tempe every year for Pat’s Run, a 4.2 mile run (Tillman’s jersey number was 42) with over 40,000 participants. And this past spring Joel went a step further - though it was closer to home.
Earlier this year, the Tillman Foundation granted Joel permission to administer an official Pat’s “Shadow” Run in the Charleston area. Without enough time to arrange for the closure of streets on the peninsula, the inaugural Pats Run-Charleston took place on Daniel Island on Saturday, April 23. The race started in front of the Jackson’s Smythe Park home, and meandered through Pierce Park, with a loop completed twice to log the 4.2 miles.
Last fall, Joel purchased an honor banner from the Exchange Club of Daniel Island to bear the name of his hero. Though they never met, Pat Tillman and Joel Jackson are forever linked by a desire to pay tribute to an extraordinary American and encourage others to share in that honor.
Learn more about the foundation and ways to get involved at pattillmanfoundation.org.