BATTLE FOR THE TRUTH Iddo Netanyahu, Kevin Tillman and the Cover-up of their Brother’s Death

February 4, 2008 Guy Montag, feralfirefighter.blogspot.com

Benjamin, Jonathan, and Iddo Netanyahu (1966)

Richard, Patrick, and Kevin Tillman (2002)

“And of him one may say in the words of David: ‘They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions… O, Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan… Very pleasant hast thou been unto me, thy love to me was wonderful…’ The same heroism in the man. The same lamentation in the heart of the people.”

-- Shimon Peres, July 1976 funeral of Jonathan Netanyahu

Battle for the TruthIddo Netanyahu, Kevin Tillman and the Cover-up of Their Brother’s Death

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PDF Page #:

Letter to Mary Tillman (February 4th 2008) 3

. . .

Appendix “A”: Notes on Yoni Netanyahu 9

Appendix “B”: Notes on Pat Tillman 15

Appendix “C”: Parallels Between Pat Tillman & Yoni Netanyahu 20

Appendix “D”: Yoni Netanyahu & Raid on Entebbe Bibliography 26

Appendix “E1”: “Battling Against the Falsification of History” 4-02-07 30Appendix “E2”: “Official Version of Entebbe Raid “Ridiculous” 1-31-07 34Appendix “E3”: “Still Fighting Over Entebbe” 11-03-06 35

Appendix “F”: “Remember the Iconoclast, Not the Icon” 10/15/05 39

Appendix “G”: “The Tillman Files – An Offering of Our Fear” Stan Goff 41

Appendix “H”: “Something to Die For” Senator James Webb 45

                                                                                 February 4,

2008 

Mary Tillman,

Stan Goff mentioned that you and Narda Zacchino are working together on a memoir about your son Pat Tillman. I believe the Tillman family would benefit from speaking with Iddo Netanyahu, by learning more about the life and death of his brother Yoni (Jonathan) Netanyahu, and by asking Senator James Webb to review your book.

Iddo Netanyahu is the youngest of three brothers.  All three brothers fought together in the same elite Israeli army unit (Sayeret Matkal) during the 1970’s.  Iddo is now a radiologist.  His other brother, Benjamin Netanyahu, was Israel’s Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and is the leader of Israel’s Likud party.  Iddo’s oldest brother, Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu, has largely been forgotten in the US after his death 30 years ago leading the Rescue at Entebbe.

Like Kevin Tillman, Iddo’s oldest brother died in battle, became a national icon, and had the truth covered up by his government.  For the past 30 years, Iddo has been engaged in a battle for the truth about his brother’s death.

And, like Pat Tillman, Yoni Netanyahu was also a remarkable man.  The reality of both Pat and Yoni was much deeper than their iconic images. Both possessed a core of honesty and integrity, led by personal example, and lived their lives intensely.  Neither cared much about money or personal comfort.  Both were mavericks, intellectuals and avid readers [see Appendix “A” & “B”]For example, from the foreword to “The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu”:  “Of all the aspects of his character one predominates – integrity.  By this we do not mean only honesty toward one’s fellow man, but, above all, honesty toward oneself.  An inner wholeness marked Yoni’s entire behavior, inspired his way of life and determined his objectives.  That wholeness resulted from a great need for absolute harmony between his thoughts and deeds.”  “For Yoni, unlike many of us, could not hold beliefs without living them to the full.  Once convinced of the rightness of an idea, whether in the personal or national sphere, he had to do what he could to actualize it, regardless of the hardships or risks involved.  Again and again he asked himself whether he was working toward the realization of his life’s aims.” 

After reading about the Rescue at Entebbe, I was struck by the many parallels between the life and death of Pat Tillman and Yoni Netanyahu: Yoni died July 4, 1976 at Entebbe, Pat was born November 1976. Both were the oldest of three brothers and the “stars” of their family.   Both served in the Army in “special forces “and in combat with a younger brother.   Both became national icons after their deaths.   Both died from embarrassing mistakes made by a fellow soldier.   The truth of their deaths was covered up by their governments and each of their deaths were more “heroic” than the official story.

Friendly-fire deaths during battle were covered-up by their governments.   Both Pat and Yoni’s families have fought what Yoni’s younger brother Iddo called a “battle for the truth” about their deaths.

 [see Appendix “C” for more details] 

. . . Perhaps you recall the Rescue at Entebbe.  Thirty years ago, an airliner was hijacked by terrorists and flown to the Entebbe airport in Uganda. On July 4, 1976, Israeli aircraft landed at Entebbe and soldiers assaulted the terminal where the hostages were held.  About 100 hostages were rescued at Entebbe.  The official story was that seven terrorists were killed and three hostages “died in the cross-fire”.  Yoni Netanyahu was the commander of the assault force and the only soldier killed “…shot in the back by a Ugandan soldier from the top of an air traffic control tower after the initial assault had been completed”. Yoni became a symbol of heroic sacrifice for Israel.  His funeral was televised nationally and Prime Minister Shimon Peres gave his eulogy.  Several books were published and three movies about Entebbe were produced.   Yoni’s younger brothers Iddo and Benjamin (Bibi) published a collection of Yoni’s letters in a book entitled “Self-Portrait of a Hero” (1980).   Several years later, while interviewing participants in the Raid at Entebbe, Iddo discovered that the truth about his brother’s death had been covered upby the Israeli government.  Iddo Netanyahu published his account of his brother’s death in “Yoni’s Last Battle” (1991 Hebrew, 2001 English).

Iddo’s book revealed that embarrassing details of Yoni’s death had been covered up.  After Entebbe, the Israeli government didn’t want to admit that some hostages had been killed by “friendly fire”.  They didn’t want to give terrorists credit for killing Yoni Netanyahu.  Or reveal that Yoni died because his second-in-command, Muki Betser, failed to do his job of spearheading the assault and missed his assigned doorway [see Appendix “C]  Several accounts of the Entebbe raid have been published over the past three decades.  Most of these accounts, including a 1976 newscast, books, and documentaries were based on interviews with Muki Betser.  Muki’s differing accounts of his actions during the raid contradict each other [see Appendix “D”: Yoni Bibliography]. Iddo’s account of Entebbe is much more convincing than that told by Muki and the Israeli IDF.

. . .

Thirty years after Entebbe, the truth of Yoni’s death continues to be covered up by the Israel government and press.  Iddo is still engaged in his “battle for the truth.”

Last April an article was published, “Battling Against ‘The Falsification of History.” (ynetnews.com 4-02-07) In this article, Iddo said: “Over the course of 20 years, the Israeli press has decided to accept Muki Betser’s accounts at face value, despite the fact that within an hour or less, any journalist can research previous statements he gave and realize that his versions of what happened do not tally with each other and are so contradictory and illogical that they should not see the printed page.” … “It’s a sad indication of the professionalism and principles of the Israeli press.” [see Appendix: “E1”]

Last year, Iddo published a new book in which he calls the official account of Entebbe “ridiculous.” "Sayeret matkal b'entebbe: Ha'eyduiot, hamismakhim, ha'uvdot" ("Sayeret Matkal at Entebbe: The Testimonies, Documents, Facts"), compiled and edited by Iddo Netanyahu, Yedioth Ahronoth, Sifrei Hemed, 718 pages, NIS 98).  (Unfortunately, this book is only available in Hebrew).

Note: I’ve included a couple reviews of Iddo’s new book in Appendices “E2” and “E3”: “Ido Netanyahu: Official Version of Entebbe Raid ‘Ridiculous’” (www.israelnationalnews.com 1-31-07) and Uri Dromi’s “Still Fighting Over Entebbe” (11-03-06 haaretz.com).

. . .

 Twenty-three years ago, as a young paratrooper and student at the University of Michigan, I read the collection of letters by Yoni Netanyahu entitled “Self Portrait of a Hero.” It became one of my treasured books.

Four years ago, I believed Pat had been an idealistic, patriotic, “dumb jock”.  I refused to watch any of the flag waving coverage of Pat’s death on TV.  It seemed like a sideshow distraction to the Abu Gharib story that was breaking about the time of his death.  Then, in October 2005, I read David Zirin’s article (“Our Hero,”The Nation) which referenced Robert Collier’s 9/25/05 SF Chronicle piece. I discovered that Pat was my kind of warrior:  a fiercely independent thinker, a book reader and a maverick. With a radical edge (like my other military heroes including Stan Goff, Donald Duncan, and James Webb).  Pat even read Noam Chomsky! I was angered that the truth about his death and his character had been buried by the media and the government.  I wrote an editorial (Never published by my local paper, The Grand Republican … err, the Grand Rapids Press) entitled “Remember the Icon, Not the Iconoclast” [see Appendix “F]

The more I read about Pat, the more he reminded me of Yoni.  In October 2005, I re-read my dog-eared paperback copy of “Self-Portrait of a Hero.”  Then, I discovered that Yoni’s younger brother Iddo had written a much more recent book, “Yoni’s Last Battle,” about the raid on Entebbe. I was stunned to read that Yoni had been shot in the front of his chest by a terrorist as he personally led the assault teams forward at Entebbe.  What?  My recollection as an 11 year old boy watching the movie “Raid on Entebbe” was that Yoni was shot in the back by a Ugandan soldier from the control tower!

I’ve taken the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s death a bit personally.  Like Stan Goff [see Appendix ”G”], I feel a kinship with Pat Tillman.  When I was “young and dumb” I joined an Airborne Ranger Long-Range Recon (LRRP) unit. I was the “college kid” and bookworm of my company (I recall the captain catching me sitting against my rucksack reading “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius).  I was 17 years old when I enlisted.  I grew up in the Army, enjoyed being a LRRP, and being with the guys.  But, the lies of the first Gulf War were the last straw for me.  I no longer wanted to be in what Donald Duncan [Special Forces LRRP, one of the first veterans to protest Vietnam, and Robert Scheer’s co-worker at “Ramparts” magazine] called “The New Legions.” A slave who would be told who to kill for oil or other “national interests”.  After eight years, I got out of the Army in March 1991, and have spent the last 17 years as a firefighter.   In the early 1970’s, Yoni wanted to join his brother Benjamin on the assault of a hijacked plane.  His brother Iddo argued that it was irresponsible to risk both brothers’ lives on the same mission.  Yoni countered by saying, “My life belongs to me, and so does my death.”

But Yoni’s death hasn’t belonged to him.  His brother Iddo has spent 30 years in a battle for the truth.  Nor has Pat Tillman’s death belonged to him.  The Bush administration has buried the truth about his death with a series of “latest and greatest investigations.”  Pat can’t even

speak for himself through his wartime journal, since the Army “lost” it after his death.  Now, it’s up to his family and friends to reclaim the truth and integrity of Pat’s life and death.

. . .

I apologize for having been taking my time in getting this “letter” out to you.  The usual busy-ness of life, chasing two small children, and pathetic procrastination. By now, your book is nearing publication.  Still, for what it’s worth, I’d like to offer a few suggestions: I believe the Tillman family might benefit from talking with Iddo Netanyahu. He’s a radiologist currently practicing in New York state [411 Canisteo St. Hornell, NY 14843, (607) ***-****, www.stjamesmercy.org]  Besides sharing the loss of a beloved brother, Iddo has had a similar experience in battling his government for the truth about his brother’s death.  His experience could prove useful. I believe it would be useful to read “The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu,” “Yoni’s Last Battle,” and “Yoni.”  [see Appendix “D”] These books illustrate how the Netanyahu family memorialized Yoni’s life and death and might give you some ideas for your own book about Pat. Perhaps you could include Pat’s journal writings into your book?  I believe allowing Yoni to speak for himself, through his letters, was most effective in conveying his story and spirit.  Finally, I suggest you ask Senator James Webb to review your book.  For 30 years, Webb has written novels with themes of betrayal, honor, integrity, and justice.  As a father, Webb has a personal stake in the “Global War on Terror”; his only son is an enlisted Marine in Iraq.   As a newly-elected U.S. senator from Virginia, Webb has not “made nice” with Bush. He is on the Armed Services Committee and could be an ally in the Tillman’s battle for the truth about Pat’s death.   Webb's 1990 novel, "Something to Die For," [see Appendix “H”] is reminiscent of the cover-up of Pat Tillman's death.  The novel centers on a Marine Colonel named Fogarty who fights a mistaken battle in Africa because of political games by the Secretary of Defense.  The nature of Fogarty’s death is covered up.  He's posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the President during a nationally televised state funeral service. A few quotes from the novel:  

“Having spent three years watching the Wizards of Oz in Washington, he stayed up nights wondering about the uses to which they would be put.  … ‘God save me from manipulative bureaucrats in polyester-wool suits, button down collars and power ties, and the kiss ass officers who let them get away with it.  I don’t need to see my men die because somebody cares more about helping the careers of their fellow madrigal singers over in the White House. or the State Department

than they do about the troops they compromise and misuse in places like Beirut and the Persian Gulf.’”

“He [the Secretary of Defense] knows the administration’s position on the matter was a cover-up. Eritrea was a mistake.  But it worked.  And they didn’t want the president to look bad.”

“Ron Holcomb [Secretary of Defense] never told a lie, at least not in the way he could be caught in it.  But he was a master dissembler, …Holcomb’s prepared speech had been given a “spin” …As a consequence, the remarks were a mix of bald truth, diplomatic half-truths, and what Holcomb had privately called “necessary, unconfirmable distortions.”  Nonetheless, they would become the government’s official pronouncement on the day’s action.  … And the media gave them their forum, always ascertaining beforehand that their allegations were borne out by facts if not the truth.”

. . . “My wife and I lost Abe in a tragic and senseless accident, a month or so before his fifth birthday.  If parents are fated to mourn a son, and if one can envy such bereavement, my wife and I can envy the Netanyahus.  Their son died for his people and for all men, in the full flush of manhood, doing a famous deed.  In his death he helped to save more than a hundred lives, brought glory to Israel, and gave the world a blaze of hope in a very dark time.  For our son, we have only the tears of the scar of a senseless waste.  …      -- Herman Wouk, Foreword to “Self-Portrait of a Hero” My boy, Nathan, is three years old.  He is, to use a quaint term, “a pistol.”  Good-hearted, but a bit wild, always with a mischievous glint in his eyes.  I don’t want to even imagine losing him.  (Hopefully, I can keep him from following my footsteps into the Army 15 years from now!)

What can you do with the “tears of a senseless waste?”  I hope that your forthcoming book will contribute to redeeming the integrity of Pat Tillman’s life and death. “When we close the book, we know the man; all we have to know, and all we will know.  He inspires and ennobles us, and he gives us hope.  That is enough. That is the best that art can do.”      -- Herman Wouk, Foreword to “Self-Portrait of a Hero”

I hope this “letter” has provided you with information that will help in your battle for the truth.  Feel free to contact me for more information or clarifications.   Sincerely,  Firefighter, ******** 1991 – presentSSGT, Co F (Ranger) 425th Infantry, MI Army National Guard 1983 – 1991  

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APPENDIX “A”:***********************************************************************:

9-10-06

NOTES ON YONI NETANYAHU    (Note:  Quotations are from Yoni’s letters unless otherwise attributed)

 Honesty & Integrity: He was utterly honest, completely without guile. … Honesty mattered more than victory.

Of all the aspects of his character one predominates – integrity.  By this we do not mean only honesty toward one’s fellow man, but, above all, honesty toward oneself.  An inner wholeness marked Yoni’s entire behavior, inspired his way of life and determined his objectives.  That wholeness resulted from a great need for absolute harmony between his thoughts and deeds.  For Yoni, unlike many of us, could not hold beliefs without living them to the full.  Once convinced of the rightness of an idea, whether in the personal or national sphere, he had to do what he could to actualize it, regardless of the hardships or risks involved.  Again and again he asked himself whether he was working toward the realization of his life’s aims.   And since Yoni saw real danger to the survival of his nation, he chose the path of action that he felt could help prevent Israel’s destruction.  Yoni did not know the meaning of cynicism.  His decision to join the standing army sprang first and foremost from his conviction that he was doing something vitally important for his country and his people.  “I’m left to play the role, so to speak, of a civilian.  And this is indeed merely playing a role, for I’m unable to live like this in times such as these.  There’s a war on right now. … I feel I’m being called on to perform a deed that I know to be essential…. You know what you had to do, and what’s more, you believed you had to do it, and for this reason you acted as you did.” To put it simply, he was following the voice of his conscience, as he was to follow it to the end of his life.  For Yoni never lost his way in live, never let life lead him, nor the years dim his major ideals. 

“Not only am I restless, but I feel that by continuing with my present way of life I’m being untrue to myself. …  I won’t be faithful to myself, and I will betray that inner summons that calls me forward if I fail to do so.” … When I talk about this with friends, they all agree that we ought to enlist, but most don’t do so.  How can I also say that, and yet not do anything about it?!" Led by Personal Example & Lived his Life Intensely: He was a good combat officer, he led by example and was out in front. … Their officer, who ran everywhere that they ran, who forded every river with them while other platoon commanders watched from a jeep, who when he sent them on team navigation exercises ran from point to point along the course, pacing them himself carrying weapons and full equipment.  Personal example was everything to him. Which life to lead?  In just going from one day to the next he could see no point.

A determination to achieve something more than merely make money to live.

Intense seriousness and concentration he brought to everything in his life.

 Worked earnestly, thoroughly, doggedly toward whatever he has to do. Always yearning to be the first and the best. As always throughout his years of service, Yoni worked to the very limit of his strength.  He would work day and night without pause. He literally lived the battalion twenty-four hours a day.  It’s rate that you meet a person with such drive to succeed at something. “I believe their can be no compromises on results.  Let us never compromise in this battalion with results that are less than the best possible – and even those let us improve.”  … “I believe that the greatest danger in the life of a unit is to lapse into self-satisfaction.”   “When I decide to do something, I devote myself completely to the matter at hand and cannot do anything else, since I have to do things perfectly.  It’s not a matter of principle or calculated decision, it’s simply the way I am.” 

“I live my life intensely, and most of the time I’m happy in this world of ours.   There are many things I would like to do, but I’m so absorbed in whatever I am doing that I generally forget to think of the other things.” “Man does not live forever, and he should put the days of his life to the best possible use.  He should try to live life to its fullest.  I must feel certain that not only at the moment of my death shall I be able to account for the time I have lived; I ought to be ready at every moment of my life to confront myself and say – This is what I’ve done.” “Yet even in this general state of ‘rightness,’ I always find things that need correcting, so as to keep me from resting on my laurels. 

Lack of  Pretense & Frugality: All his life he had a streak of Puritanism and austerity that was repelled by American comfort. Bruria saw his dirty shoes and his indifference to personal comfort, the untidiness that extended to everything in his life except his papers and his work

I remember the day he arrived.  He came to our camp dressed very informally – I don’t think he wore his rank insignia.   He didn’t have an Armored Corps black beret for the [promotion] ceremony, just a regular, green work cap.  In fact, he didn’t have any of the different emblems or insignia either.  All those little external symbols that they wear around every day in the Kiryah for people to see, he was missing.  He’d go around the base with these tattered major’s epaulets.

. . .For Yoni, creating an appearance of personal connection – giving the usual commander’s external, superficial impression of “friendship,” intended purely as public relations – was out of the question.   He hated pretense; anything fake in relations with people, even a “hearty” but meaningless smile, ran against his whole nature.

Yoni had run into army politics more and more, and it only depressed him.  He couldn’t bear the way men conducted intrigues and ran personal public relation campaigns to advance themselves.  Perhaps for the first time, he was seeing corruption in the army with his own naïve eyes. 

Unlike some other officers, he didn’t stick around the Kiryah after finishing his business to make his presence known and rub shoulders with the top brass.  … “You know, Bibi, someone who acts like that isn’t an officer anymore.  He’s a politician.” “I’ve been recommended for a DCC (medal), and though I frankly told them not to bother me with that sort of nonsense, it probably won’t stop them.”  “I don’t care so much “where I stand” – except where it concerns my present work.  And I don’t care whether I can count on a future assignment (by way of a “safe job”), and it doesn’t bother me whether I have money or not, or how much I’ll need to save, and there are still other things I don’t care about.” 

Maverick:

I know his trait of having to decide alone about anything really important to him.

I was trying to convince him to act a certain way; Yoni, in a moment of openness, said he couldn’t accept my advice because he looked at life differently from how I did.  He said he couldn’t think seriously about “tomorrow” and do the “rational” things because he couldn’t count on being alive when tomorrow came. “The Army offers the kind of people I like, who have initiative and energy, who break conventions when they have to; who don’t cling to fixed ideas but are always searching for new ways and new answers.” He would be the master of both his life and his death. “My life belongs to me, and so does my death.”    Poet Warrior:Yoni had the combination of an extraordinary fighter and an intellectual.  He seemed like a hero out of our ancient past.  “That’s the greatest fighter Israel has ever had.” Aristotle and other philosophical works which filled Yoni’s bookshelf.. … Alterman’s poems.  … The Apology of Socrates, Plato’s “The State”, Ayn Rand, Homer.  “For when I study philosophy or mathematics, I’m doing so purely out of intellectual curiosity.  I study philosophy not to get a profession but to acquire knowledge.” 

“Every book I opened led me to open three more and to want to open yet another three.”

Always reading a book whenever a break in training.

 

National Icon: Heroes are not supermen; they are good men who embody – by the cast of destiny – the virtue of their whole people in a great hour. After Entebbe, “Yoni” became in Israel almost a symbol of the nation itself. The death of this single officer at the extraordinary moment at Entebbe enabled the nation to focus upon him alone, perhaps as the symbol of so many others who have gone.  His name is literally a household name.  Schools have been named after him, the government voted to rename the assault on Entebbe Operation Yonatan, and his old tank battalion’s base on Golan has been renamed Camp Yonatan. “Missions far from home and close to the enemy, the darkness of the night, and the solitude of the warrior.  In the university he studied philosophy.  In the army he taught self-sacrifice.  The first among the storming party, the first to fall.  And by virtue of the few,the many were saved.  And of him one may say in the words of David:  “They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions… O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.  I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan…  Very pleasant hast though been unto me, thy love to me was wonderful…  The same heroism in the man.  The same lamentation in the heart of the people.”    --  Prime Minister Shimon Peres at funeral)  “Our Yoni – we saw him torn between the lust for knowledge and the sense of mission, the satisfaction of military deeds; Yoni of the history and philosophy books – Plato, Marx, and Klausner. … we saw him in battle, in the crucible of fire, in courage and wisdom …  “Yoni the man cannot be restored to life.  But Yoni the heritage and the symbol – this dauntless spirit, this warm heart, thirsty for knowledge, this faith in the righteousness and profound values of our cause, and this readiness to fling one’s life in the balance – all these, if we wish, are ours to adopt and cherish and pass on to those who come after us.  If we fail to do

so, we shall be shirking the obligation laid upon us by his death.  But if we can honor these obligations, we shall be erecting a monument to Yonatan more significant and perhaps more beautiful than any other that could be conceived.”    --   from memorial service, Ehud Barak (former commander of the Unit,          friend of Yoni.  He became  prime minister of Israel in the late 90’s)

 

Epilogue: Jonathan was not only Achilles, he is now, through his letters, his own Homer. We cannot say for sure what Yoni would have done had he come back alive from Entebbe.  He might have returned to the army, he might have turned to the political realm or to some other sphere.  But it is impossible to imagine Yoni living a quiet, ordinary civilian life for long.  Those who knew Yoni realize clearly that he could not have preserved in a grey, routine life for more than a few months.   Since Yoni was no Don Quixote tilting at windmills, he began to wonder whether he had made the right choice in concentrating on the army.  The interest Yoni found in any work depended on the importance he attached to it.   “And the same haunting question returns – can I let myself live like this, work like this and wear myself out?  And the answer is always that I must persevere and finish what I have begun – that I have an obligation not only to the job, but to myself.” “My wife and I lost Abe in a tragic and senseless accident, a month or so before his fifth birthday.  If parents are fated to mourn a son, and if one can envy such bereavement, my wife  and I can envy the Netanyahus.  Their son died for his people and for all men, in the full flush of manhood, doing a famous deed.  In his death he helped to save more than a hundred lives, brought glory to Israel, and gave the world a blaze of hope in a very dark time.  For our son, we have only the tears of the scar of a senseless waste.  … When we close the book, we know the man; all we have to know, and all we will know.  He inspires and ennobles us, and he gives us hope.  That is enough. That is the best that art can do.”

-- Herman Wouk, Foreword to “Self-Portrait of a Hero” 

Bibliography: Quotations are from Yoni’s letters, unless otherwise noted.  The other notes  were taken from the following: “Self-Portrait of  a Hero:  The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu (1963 – 1976),”  (1980)  Iddo & Benjamin Netanyahu (Foreword by Herman Wouk) “Yoni’s Last Battle:  The Rescue at Entebbe,” (2001) Iddo Netanyahu “Yoni: Hero of Entebbe” (1979), Max Hastings

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NOTES ON PAT TILLMAN               

Honesty & Integrity:

Tillman didn't have to tell me the truth, but he did. The guy is honest, period. … He answered questions frankly and without concern for the repercussions.

"He was a very big-hearted person," Mary Tillman said, "and honest to a fault. When he was little he wouldn't even steal a cookie. He just harassed me into giving him one. I used to think, Let me be the good parent. Just steal the cookie. But . . . "  It was a lesson she didn't have to teach him. Instead, it was as if honesty in its most blunt and straightforward form was in his genes, part of his DNA. It makes what happened after Tillman's death last year in Afghanistan even more difficult to take.

"Pat went over there for reasons that obviously he felt strongly about," Plummer said. "The sad part was the whole cover-up about his death, because if you knew Pat, you knew that a cover-up was the opposite of what he was about. He was an honest man. He was a man of his word."

. . .

If you look at Pat’s life, his theme always was to look deep into himself and determine what was right or wrong, good or bad, appropriate or not appropriate, and then to generate his values through this.  Once he

grabbed a value, he just relentlessly stuck with it and turned it into action. …it wasn't giving up money to Pat, it was going and doing something that he thought was right, something he had to do, and he went and did it. The guy had very strong ethics, very strong morals and he lived by that. And whether he was right or wrong, he felt he was always right, and that was the way he lived his life.  “At times like these (after 911), it makes you realize what is important and what isn’t important.  The game we play isn’t important.  … A lot of my family has gone and fought in wars and I haven’t really done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that …” All the phony flag-waving and professed sorrow following 9-11, all that lack of sacrifice ... no, if you feel it deeply enough, then do something about it.  … A lot of us think about that, but never act on it. Pat acted on it and paid the ultimate sacrifice.   Led by Personal Example & Lived Life Intensely: As a teammate he led by example.  He was all out every play, whether it was practice or the game.  He had an intensity you can’t describe.  When he decided to do something, he did everything it took to do it. "I've always approached the game with a very . . . as-hard-as-I-can-go attitude, and that's what Pat was all about. For me, I'm trying to carry on his legacy and remember him day to day because he was very inspirational." It went on like this for two days. I learned that Tillman was the type of football player who performed fully without regard for his body. He played at 100 percent of his speed, power and passion 100 percent of the time. That quality is indescribably rare.  He is the kind of guy who probably would have preferred playing football in a parking lot, rather than in stadiums full of fans. There was a rare purity about him. I've not seen it since. I don't expect to soon see it again.

Maverick:

Tillman is a road-not-taken cat. He does what he believes in doing. …there was no stopping him after he had his mind made up 

His decisions to leave pro football and to decline interviews are pure Tillman. The guy is a fearless nonconformist who has long refused to measure his life against ordinary standards.  He was cocky but in a good way and never arrogant.  Pat challenged things.  He didn’t accept B.S. answers.  …Pat wanted to think things out for himself.  He had his own ideas. He was driven by this internalized system, the young drummer within.  He alone would see what he did, not depending on applause or any favors from other people or living according to external principles, but driven entirely by his own sense of self. “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” 

-- Emerson, from “Self-Reliance” 1841)  [from memorial service program] 

Lack of Pretense: He bragged about none of this. Why? "Dude, I'm proud of the things I've done, my schoolwork -- because I'm not smart, I just worked hard -- and this award (the Pac-10 defensive honor)," he told me. "But it doesn't do me any good to be proud. It'd be better to just force myself to be naïve about things, because otherwise I'll start being happy with myself and then I'll stand still. And then I'm old news.''

. . .Two years ago he left a career in the NFL -- a career that scouts and personnel experts thought he never could achieve -- to enlist in the Army. He didn't give any interviews then, because he didn't want attention called to his decision. No surprise there He refused all attempts to glorify his decision.  He told friends he wanted to be treated as no more special than the guy on the cot next to him.  Tillman even forbade his family and friends from talking to the press about him.  News crews begged for photos.  They got nothing. 

And he didn't hold any press conferences to explain it, and I thought I could understand that, too. Publicity, first cousin to hype, translation "phony." The hypocrisy, he said, the phoniness of professional sports was what he hated most. Saying the right things, doing the old interview number ... all the self-serving junk merely to feather one's own nest. And there I sat in my tall chair, spouting off and thinking: Tillman would despise this. He would deplore that television anchors and journalists and politicians are making a fuss over his death or worse yet, using his death to push their own agendas. With each passing live shot, I felt more out of place, more desirous of running and apologizing to Tillman's memory. When I was finished I did a telephone interview with Bruce Snyder, who had been Tillman's coach at Arizona State. This time I was asking the questions:  "If Pat could see all this ..." I started to ask.  "... he would absolutely hate it," said Snyder 

 Frugality:

“I try not to make decisions based on money,” said Tillman, whose frugality was evident in the Volvo wagon he drove, his aversion to cell phones, and his living in a modest house. He arrived at traing camp on a bike, pedaling in behind his teammates’ Mercedes and BMWs. The thing that doesn't stand out to me is that he turned down $3 million from Arizona. Anybody who knows Pat very closely, money meant nothing to him anyway, so people are affected by the fact that he did give up that money. 

Poet Warrior: He was also a a strong student who graduated summa cum laude in three and a half years with a 3.84 grade-point average. He worked on master’s degree in history while playing professional football. He was also able to use his brain as effectively as his body. Coaches who told him something had to do so only once. 

He started keeping a journal at 16 and continued the practice on the battlefield, writing in it regularly (His journal was lost immediately after his death).  Both Pat and Kevin (who has a degree in philosophy) were amazingly well-read individuals. Baer recalled that Tillman encouraged him in his ambitions as an amateur poet.  He subscribed to the Economist magazine and created a makeshift base library of classic novels so his platoon mates would have literature to read in their down time.    

Loyalty: One word I think of when I think about Pat is loyalty. The St Louis Rams, one year removed from a Super Bowl victory, came on strong in going after Tillman.  They offered him $9 million for five years,which he waved off to stay with the last-place Arizona Cardinals, for a one year deal at ½ million.  “I’d like to be part of building something. I felt loyalty to the coaches.  I’ve come a long way, and it’s because of them”. What Could Have Been: He would talk about anything, such as politics.  If Pat were still alive and had made it out of that thing in Afghanistan, he would be back here, trying to change stuff, trying to make things better by running for office … I believe that someday he was going to run for some high office.

***********************************************************************APPENDIX “C”

************************************************************************           9-10-06

PARALLELS BETWEEN PAT TILLMAN AND YONI NETANYAHU  

 

Born & Died Young About 30 Years Apart: Yonatan Netanyahu was born on March 13, 1946 and died on July 4, 1976 during the Raid on Entebbe.  He was only 30 years old.   Pat Tillman was born later in 1976 on November 6, 1976.  He died in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.  He was only 28 years old.  Three Brothers in their Family: 

Yoni was the eldest of three brothers, each born about three years apart.  His brother Benjamin (Bibi) was born in 1949, then his youngest brother Iddo in 1952.   The brothers were close-knit, especially Yoni and Bibi.

 . . . 

Pat was the eldest of three brothers, each born about three years apart.  His brother Kevin was born second, and then his youngest brother Rich.  The brothers were close-knit, especially Pat and Kevin.  “Star” of the Family: Yoni was the “star” of his family.   He excelled as a paratrooper officer, fought in the ’67 and ’73 wars and became the leader of “the Unit” (Israel’s “Delta” force).   Bibi was an officer in the same Unit, then a businessman and politician (Bibi became Prime Minister of Israel (’96-’99) and is currently head of the Likud Party).  Iddo, the youngest and most sensitive of the brothers, served in the Unit as an enlisted man and is a radiologist currently living in the US.

. . . Pat was the “star” of his family.  He excelled at professional football even though he was small and at the bottom of NFL draft.  Kevin played baseball in the minor leaques.  Rich, the most sensitive of the brothers, played high school football and is an actor.  Brothers Served in Army Together: Yoni’s younger brothers followed him into the Israeli paratroops.  All three brothers served together in “the Unit” (Sayert Matkal, the elite anti-terrorist and special operations unit of Israel).   They served together on at least one operation.  In 1972  all three brothers participated in the kidnapping of five Syrian intelligence officers in a cross-border raid into Lebanon to exchange for Israeli pilots held by the Syrians. This raid was led by Ehud Barak (later Prime Minister of Israeli from ’99-’01).  Rather ironic considering all the denunciation by Israel about the Hezbollah July 2006 cross-border kidnapping of Israel soldiers for a prisoner exchange!  

. . . 

Pat and his brother Kevin enlisted together and become paratroopers with a Ranger Battalion.  They served together during training and tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.   

 Became National Icons After Death: Yoni Netanyahu became a national icon of Israeli after the Rescue at Entebbe:  In 1976 an airliner was hijacked by terrorists and flown to the Entebbe airport in Uganda.  On July 4, 1976, Israeli C-130s landed at the airport and  about 30 soldiers executed a surprise assault on the terminal where the hostages were held.  The official story is that during the assault seven terrorists were killed and three hostages “died in the cross-fire”.  Over 100 hostages were rescued.  Yoni was the only soldier killed, “shot in the back by a Ugandan soldier” from the top of the control tower.  Israel held a televised state funeral in his honor.  Prime Minister Shimon Peres delivered the eulogy.  Three movies and several books were produced about the Raid on Entebbe shortly after his death.   

. . . 

Pat Tillman became a national icon of the United States after his death in Afghanistan.  The official story was that he died heroically charging a hill to save his fellow solders from an ambush.  He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star.  His memorial service was televised “live” (more or less, since apparently the US “can’t handle the truth” his brother Rich spoke!) Senator McCain spoke and Maria Shriver.  Pat was on the cover of “SportsIllustrated”.  A couple of books about Pat were produced shortly after his death.  Both Died from Embarassing Mistakes Made by Fellow Soldiers: The official story was that Yoni was shot in his back by a Ugandan soldier in the control tower shortly after the rescue was accomplished.  However, his brother Iddo later uncovered that Yoni was shot by a terrorist in the front of his chest at the beginning of the assault.  Yoni died because of his executive officer’s failures that resulted in delay and loss of surprise: Assault teams were assigned to each of the doorways of the airport terminal where the hostages were held.  Yoni’s combat-seasoned executive officer, Muki Betser, was assigned to lead the charge and to enter the 1st doorway into the hostage room.  Yoni and his command team were to follow behind and remain outside the terminal.   The unit’s C-130 landed on the airstrip.  Their black Mercedes and two jeeps drove off slowly toward the terminal.  As they approached the

control tower two guards ordered them to stop.  They were shot with silenced pistols, but one guard let off a burst with his rifle and the element of total surprise was lost.  The vehicles stopped below the control tower and Muki led the charge toward the terminal doorways about 50 m ahead. As they approached the terminal, Muki swerved to the corner of the terminal and fired at targets in front of the terminal.  The assault stalled.  Yoni yelled “Forward Muki!”  When Muki failed to move, Yoni bypassed Muki and ran ahead to personally lead the assault teams forward.  Muki missed his assigned doorway (he said the doorway was “missing” or “bricked up”; it appears the door was merely closed) and instead followed another team through the 2nd doorway into the hostage room.  Yoni was in front of the 1st doorway when he was hit in the front of his chest by a rifle burst fired by a terrorist from inside the terminal, just before the teams entered the 2nd doorway.  After Muki entered the hostage room, he shot and killed at least one hostage.

. . . The official story was the Pat Tillman’s platoon was caught in an ambush while passing through a canyon.  Pat heroically led the counter-assault up a hill and was killed by enemy fire.  Afterward, it turns out that Pat was actually killed by friendly fire when the Rangers in a humvee  got tunnel-vision and opened up on Pat and other members of his platoon as they emerged from a canyon.  Cover-Up of Friendly Fire Deaths: Yoni didn’t die from friendly fire per se, but I would argue that the failures of Muki Betser resulted in Yoni’s death.  However, three Israeli hostages were killed in “the cross-fire,” at least one by “friendly fire.”  Decades later, Muki admitted that he shot and killed a young man who jumped up from the floor (in his previous accounts, he said he had shot a terrorist)  It’s unclear how the other two hostages died.  They may have also been hit by bullets intended for terrorists that were near them, or possibly terrorists might have shot them.

. . . Pat and an Afghanistan soldier were killed by “friendly fire.”  His LT and RO were wounded.   The Rangers were lucky that more soldiers weren’t killed or injured by the indiscriminate fire from the humvee.

  Cover Up of the Truth of their Death: After Entebbe, the Israeli government didn’t want to admit that hostages had been killed by friendly fire.  They didn’t want to give terrorists credit for killing Yoni Netanyahu.  Or that Yoni died because his executive officer failed to do his job.   The truth of Yoni’s death continues to be covered up by the Israel government 30 years later.  Several varying accounts of the raid were published afterwards.  Most of these accounts, including 1976 newscasts and documentaries, were largely based on interviews with Muki Betser.  His varying accounts contradict each other.

. . . 

It’s apparent that Pat’s death was known to be a case of friendly fire immediately after his death.  Pat’s death by friendly fire was covered up, ultimately by Rumsfeld or the White House, until five weeks after his funeral.  Why?  Probably because the US government didn’t want more bad press in April 2004.  They used Pat’s death for a bit of positive public relations during the Abu Gharib revelations.  The coverup continues today with the initial investigation still classified, and the Defense department conducting their “latest and greatest” investigation.  Maybe this investigation  will be done after the 2006 mid-term elections? 

 The truth of their deaths was more “heroic” than the official story:

Yoni’s combat-seasoned executive officer, Muki Betser, was assigned to lead the charge. Yoni and his command team were to follow behind and remain outside the terminal.

The official story was that Yoni “was shot in the back by a Ugandan soldier from the top of an air traffic control tower after the initial assault had been completed”.

In Iddo’s account, however, as the assault teams neared the terminal Muki swerved to the corner of the terminal and fired at targets in front of the terminal. .  The assault stalled.  Yoni yelled “Forward Muki!”  When Muki failed to move, Yoni bypassed Muki and ran ahead to personally lead the assault teams forward. He was shot in the front of his chest by a terrorist just before the assault teams entered their

doorways. Yoni’s leadership up front saved the mission, and cost his life. He was the only soldier killed.

. . .

The official story was that Pat was killed by “friendly fire” from the first Humvee in Serial Two. However, this story doesn’t mention that he saved another soldier by pushing him back down to cover just before Pat was hit while throwing a smoke grenade.

“Self-Portrait of a Hero”: In 1980 Yoni’s  brothers Iddo and Bibi  published a collection of letters written by Yoni from 1963 to 1976, “Self-Portrait of a Hero”.  They let Yoni’s own words speak for himself, although they wrote the foreword and brief biographical notes.  Herman Wouk wrote the introduction.  A slightly revised version was published in 2001, “The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu,” adding a brief account of the raid and deleting Muki Betser’s (“2nd in Command) remarks.

. . . Pat’s war journal went “missing” after his death.   Mary Tillman will publish a memoir with SF Chronicle editor Narda Zacchino in 2007 [Note: Narda left the paper in 2007; the book will be released by Modern Times/Rodale Books 4-29-08].  Perhaps this book will include some of Pat’s journal writings and letters?“Battle for the Truth”: Iddo refers to his “Battle for the Truth” in one of the footnotes in “Yoni’s Last Battle.”  In the years after Entebbe, Iddo Netanyahu was concerned that the Israeli army had not done much to document the events of that raid.  He took it upon himself to interview as many of the participants as possible.  He published his book, “Yoni’s Last Battle” in 1991 in Israel (English edition in 2001).  His book was controversial because it contradicted the official government story as told by Muki Betser.  Another source of controversy was Benjamin Netanyahu’s rise in politics resulting in politically based attacks on Yoni’s legacy.    Note:  11-03-06, Iddo just published a book in Hebrew that appears to contain exhaustive source material documenting the raid on Entebbe:  "Sayeret Matkal at Entebbe: The Testimonies, Documents, Facts", compiled and edited by Iddo Netanyahu, Yedioth Ahronoth, Sifrei Hemed, 718 pages, NIS 98.  

. . .

Two years after Pat Tillman’s death, his family is still engaged in a “battle for the truth” about  Pat’s death and the subsequent coverup of his friendly fire death.   Pat’s family has only briefly commented on various investigations …so far.  However, Mary Tillman will publish a memoir with SF Chronicle editor Narda Zacchino in 2007.  Perhaps Kevin, Rich, and Patrick Tillman, Sr. will be speaking out as well next year. 

************************************************************************APPENDIX “D”

************************************************************************                                                                                                                                                                          9-23-06

 

YONI NETANYAHU & RAID ON ENTEBBE BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

PRINCIPLE SOURCES: 

 Jonathan Netanyahu [Editors, Benjamin Netanyahu & Iddo Netanyahu]. Self-Portrait of a Hero:  From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu (1980, Random House) 

Introduction by Herman Wouk.  Foreword and Afterword by Yoni’s brothers.  Collection of Yoni’s letters dating from high school in 1963 until his death in 1976 at Entebbe.   Includes very brief biographical information and very little about the Entebbe rescue operation itself.  I first read this book over 20 years ago.  Reading Yoni’s own words puts flesh on the icon.  Jonathan Netanyahu.  The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu:  The Commander of The Entebbe Rescue Operation  (2001, Gefen Books) Essentially a re-issue of “Self-Portrait of a Hero”.  A statement from Yoni’s “Second in Command” (Muki Betser) has been deleted.  Iddo includes a brief account of the raid at Entebbe based on his book “Yoni’s Last Battle”.    Iddo Netanyahu.  Yoni’s Last Battle:  The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976  (2001, Gefen Books)  Note:  Published in Hebrew in 1991. Exhaustively researched book detailing the planning and execution of the raid on Entebbe.  Also includes some of Iddo’s recollections of Yoni and his own service in the Unit.   This book was controversial in Israel since it contradicts the official account of the Israel Defense Force and Muki Betser.  Iddo does not emphasize the controversy, just lays out the facts as he sees them.  The only mention of controversy appears in the footnotes.  Iddo Netanyahu.  Entebbe:  A Defining Moment in the War on Terrorism: The Jonathan Netanyahu Story,  (2003, New Leaf Press) Re-issue of “Yoni’s Last Battle.”   The content appears unchanged, although this edition includes more chapter footnotes.  Still no index!  "Sayeret matkal b'entebbe: Ha'eyduiot, hamismakhim, ha'uvdot" ("Sayeret Matkal at Entebbe: The Testimonies, Documents, Facts"), compiled and edited by Iddo Netanyahu, Yedioth Ahronoth, Sifrei Hemed, 718 pages, NIS 98  This book was just released in 2006.  I happened upon a review by Uri Dromi in Haaretz.com, “Still Fighting Over Entebbe” (11-03-06).  This book sounds like an exhaustive appendix to “Yoni’s Last Battle”.   I’ve love to read it, but I don’t know how

to read Hebrew.  (Note:  Sayeret Matkal is the name of “the Unit”; Israel’s version of the US “Delta.”)  Max Hastings.  Yoni, Hero of Entebbe (1979, Doubleday) Biography of Yoni with information not found anywhere else.  Put’s Yoni’s letters into historical context.  The best contemporary account of the raid on Entebbe (a bit hard to follow since puesdonyms are used).  Max Hastings had access to many of the participants in the raid, his family and friends, and the cooperation of Israel.  However, his account is tainted by being largely based on Muki Betser’s recollection.  Also, Hastings mentions his account was censored by Israel.  It would be interesting to see what he would say now (he was an editor at several British papers and is still writing books on military history).   Muki Betser.  Secret Soldier:  The True Life Story of Israel’s Greatest Commando (1996, Atlantic Monthly) Muki was Yoni’s second-in-command at Entebbe.  They served together on several missions in the Unit.  His book gives a bit more biographical information on Yoni.   Muki was the primary source for the official account and popular books about the raid on Entebbe.  He appears in documentaries and was on CBS news in 1976.  However, his accounts of the raid vary over time and are contradictory.  Despite the books shortcomings, it’s still a good read.  

MINOR SOURCES: 

 Maj. Louis Williams, Entebbe Diary (from “Israel Defense Forces – The  Official Website”)

  Official Israeli army account.  Based largely on Muki Betser’s recollection.  Contradicts Iddo Netanyahu’s book on several key points. 

Ben Caspit and Ilan Kfir, Netanyahu: The Road to Power (1998, Birch Lane)  Biography of Benjamin Netanayhu, Yoni’s younger brother who later

became Prime Minister of Israel and is currently leader of the Likud party.  Includes some biographical information on Yoni.  The authors are dismissive of Iddo’s Entebbe account.  Media self-censorship in action?

  

William Stevenson.  90 Minutes at Entebbe (1976, Bantam)   Popular book published shortly after the raid.  Probably the most widely read account and provided much of the material for the US movies. 

Ira Peck.  Raid at Entebbe (1977, Scholastic)            Short book based on new’s accounts and Stevenson’s book. 

Yeshayahu Ben-Porat, Eitan haber, Zeev Schiff.  Entebbe Rescue (1977, Delacorte Press)  Israeli journalists’ account of Entebbe.  Includes much information from the hostages point of view. 

DOCUMENTARIES: “20th Century with Mike Wallace:  Volume 5,  from CBS-TV 9/14/1976 “Rescue at Entebbe:  How They Saved the Hostages” (1994, A& E) CBS news coverage of Entebbe. 

Includes footage of Muki Betser explaining the raid with a scale model. 

 Understanding Terrorism, Volume 5. “Operation Thunderbolt, The Entebbe Hostage Rescue”  (2001, Ambrose Video)

Contains interview with Muki Betser.  Gives “official” story.

  MOTION PICTURES:

  Raid on Entebbe (1977)  Not a bad movie, especially if you like Charles Bronson.  This is probably the most influential movie about Entebbe in forming the US public memory.  I recall seeing this movie when I was 11 years old on TV.  Mivtsa Yonatan (“Operation Thunderbolt” in English) (1977)  Made in cooperation with government of Israel (e.g. Shimon Peres appears as himself in a non-speaking role).  Best movie of the bunch in depicting Entebbe, although still a bit “Hollywood” in depicting the actual raid.  The movie contains an example of the coverup of Yoni’s death.  According to this movie, the Unit members knew beforehand that the 1st doorway to the main terminal hall was blocked.  However, Muki’s varying accounts say that the door was unexpectantly “blocked off” “locked”, etc.  The movie uses the actual scale model, photographs of Entebbe, and the terminal diagram that was used to prepare for the raid.    Victory at Entebbe (1976)   All-star cast.  Terrible movie.

************************************************************************APPENDIX “E1”

Battling against ‘the falsification of history’

Iddo Netanyahu, younger brother of Yoni and Bibi, talks to Ynetnews about how a Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper article helped preserve the historical accuracy of what

happened at Entebbe

Josh Hamerman ynetnews.com 4-02-07

If the pen is mightier than the sword, Yedioth Ahronoth proved it last June. On June 30, just before the 30-year anniversary of the IDF’s dramatic rescue of Jewish hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, the daily Hebrew newspaper published an article debunking 20 years of myths surrounding that proud moment in Israeli history.  

The story, written by journalist Ariella Ringel-Hoffman, also restored the reputation of one of Israel’s most renowned military heroes.

Ringel-Hoffman’s story, ‘The Unfinished Battle,’ included a statement from 15 former members of Sayeret Matkal, the IDF’s elite commando unit, who took part in the rescue of over 100 Israelis and Diaspora Jews being held by terrorists at Entebbe Airport on July 4, 1976.

The unit members issued the statement and agreed to be interviewed by Ringel-Hoffman because they were fed up with attacks on the credibility and conduct of their late commander, Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu, who was the only Israeli soldier to perish during the operation.

 The attacks on Yoni came from another raid participant, Muki Betser, who for 20 years claimed that he, not Yoni, planned the operation, and that Yoni’s actions during the rescue almost caused its failure, making him responsible for his own death as well as the deaths of three hostages.

In a recent interview with Ynetnews, one of Yoni’s younger brothers, radiologist and writer Iddo Netanyahu, discussed the importance of the unit members’ disclosure and Ringel-Hoffman’s article. He said of the unit’s statement, “The issue wasn’t just about criticizing something Muki Betser said. It was something more – they were coming out against the falsification of history.”

Yoni’s soldiers in Sayeret Matkal were silent in accordance with their unit’s tradition of keeping operations covert. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was an article in the June 16 issue of Haaretz, in which journalist Amir Oren wrote, “The painful truth, that Netanyahu’s commanders and friends at first tried to conceal, is that his contribution to the operation was marginal to negative.”

 Ringel-Hoffman’s article included interviews with the other participants, who discredited Betser’s assertions about what took place. Ringel-Hoffman also dug into the IDF’s archives to find statements Betser wrote in an operational report immediately following Entebbe, which contradict what he has said in the years since.

 

Israeli media bias:

Despite the article’s impact, Iddo and his family remain troubled by the Israeli media’s blind support for Betser prior to the publication of Ringel-Hoffman’s piece.

 “Over the course of 20 years, the Israeli press had decided to accept Muki Betser’s accounts at face value, despite the fact that within an hour or less, any journalist can research previous statements he gave and realize that his versions of what happened do not tally with each other, and are so contradictory and illogical that they should not see the printed page,” he said.

 “Yet the more outrageous his accounts, the more support they received in the Israeli press. Until recently, virtually the entire Israeli media stood behind him in his attacks on Yoni, including the most preeminent commentators. It’s a sad indication of the professionalism and principles of the Israeli press.

 “All that changed because one journalist actually decided to ask the other men who were involved, and actually looked at the accounts Muki gave immediately after the operation, which contradict what he said later, and of course because Yedioth Ahronoth decided to carry the story.

 “So, at least in Israel, it seems his gig is up. But the fact that it took 20 years indicates that ‘there’s something rotten in the State of Denmark.’”

Shortly after the Entebbe rescue, the Netanyahu family published a book of selected letters Yoni wrote to family and friends from the ages of 17 to 30. Known in Israel as ‘Yoni’s Letters’ and published in English as ‘Self-Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, 1963-1976’ in 1980, the book has kept Yoni’s name and beliefs alive for readers all over the world.

 “Yoni’s name is what it is in no small part because of his book of letters,” said Iddo. “The book has never been out of print in Israel, and what emerges from his writings has a lot to do with why Yoni is remembered in such a way, beyond his achievements.”

 However, Iddo said the book was also the impetus for the Israeli media’s backlash against his brother and support for Betser. “If Yoni had different beliefs, I don’t think all this would have happened,” he said. “In his letters, his views are clearly the opposite of those of the ‘post-Zionists.’

 He is a firm believer in Zionism, and believes Israel is in the right and not the Arabs, seeing our struggle as a just one. And he says he would rather keep fighting as long as necessary, even his whole life, rather than be a wandering Jew. These ideas don’t fit with the so-called post-Zionist views espoused by a lot of Israeli journalists, who obviously do not feel someone like Yoni should be a role model.”

 A stellar operation:

The Entebbe raid is considered one of the most daring military operations of the twentieth century. The Sayeret Matkal, along with members of the Israeli Air Force, Golani Brigade, and paratroopers, traveled 2,500 miles to Entebbe, where they rescued the Israeli and non-Israeli Jewish passengers of Air France Flight 139, hijacked on June 27, 1976 by Arab and German terrorists after a stopover in Athens.

The hijackers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Baader-Meinhof Gang, diverted the plane to Benghazi, Libya for refueling and then to Entebbe. At the airport, they were met by other terrorists and welcomed by notorious Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

The terrorists demanded the release of 53 comrades – imprisoned in Israel and several other countries – or they would begin killing hostages on July 1. Israel initially agreed to negotiate with the terrorists, and the deadline was extended to July 4.

 The Jewish and non-Jewish hostages were separated and herded into the airport’s old terminal building, which was guarded by terrorists and Ugandan soldiers. The non-Jewish passengers were eventually freed, with the exception of Air France crew members who chose to stay with the remaining captives.

 At around 11 p.m. Uganda time on July 3, Israeli forces landed at Entebbe in C-130 Hercules transport planes. Twenty-nine members of Sayeret Matkal approached the old terminal in a convoy designed to fool the Ugandan soldiers into thinking they were part of Amin’s entourage.

 After killing two Ugandan troops who ordered them to stop, the unit soldiers stormed the old terminal and engaged the terrorists and other Ugandan soldiers, during which three hostages and Yoni were shot and later died.

 All the terrorists and two dozen Ugandan troops were also killed. The paratroopers secured the new terminal building and airfields, while the Golani soldiers ushered the hostages to the aircraft. After Soviet-built MiG-17 fighter planes stationed at Entebbe were destroyed, the rescue party and hostages left Entebbe and landed in Nairobi, Kenya on their way to Israel to refuel and allow the injured to receive medical treatment.

 Iddo has written three books on the rescue, including ‘Entebbe: A Defining Moment in the War on Terrorism – The Jonathan Netanyahu Story’ and ‘Yoni’s Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976.’ The third book, a compilation of interviews he conducted with

sources for his other books, was published in Hebrew by Yedioth Ahronoth Press and is in its second printing.

 Remembrance:

On July 3, Ynet and Ynetnews published a special article series, ‘Entebbe’s Open Wound,’ for which Betser was interviewed, to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary. One story was an interview with the family of Jean-Jacques Maimoni, one of the three hostages who died during the rescue.

 The Maimoni family told Ynet that the Israeli establishment has consistently focused only on memorializing Yoni, at the expense of the slain hostages’ families. “Obviously, the several hostages who were killed should be remembered, but it’s natural for people to focus on particular individuals,” said Iddo.

 “That’s true of any historical event. For example, there were one million Jewish children who died in the Holocaust, but the only one I know of is Anne Frank. Since Yoni had such a leading role in the preparation and execution of the raid, and because of the power and contents of his published letters, it is natural that he’s the person the Israeli media and public remember most.”

 The ‘Entebbe’s Open Wound’ series also included a story about a survey taken by the Shiluv research institute which claimed 30 percent of Israelis between 18 and 22 have never heard of Operation Jonathan, while 20 percent have heard of it but do not know it involved the rescue of Jewish hostages in Uganda. A third of the participants did not know the mission was posthumously named for Yoni.

 However, Iddo said the survey, which polled 429 people, is not indicative of all Israeli youth. “In reality, Entebbe is a household word in Israel,” he said. “If you took a poll of American youth to see how many know who Thomas Jefferson was, I’m sure you’d find some who’d say he was a Civil War figure or something equally silly. It’s the same everywhere – some people are educated more, some less.”

 In September, the mayor of Entebbe announced that the old terminal where the hostages were kept would be destroyed and replaced by a museum commemorating the rescue. Iddo said his family has not been consulted about museum plans or materials, but he hopes the facility will include information about the threat of international terrorism as a whole in addition to Operation Jonathan. 

************************************************************************APPENDIX “E2”

Ido Netanyahu: Official Version of Entebbe Raid "Ridiculous" Wednesday, January 31, 2007 (Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com)

Testimony and documents revealed in a new book by Dr. Ido Netanyahu reveal a different story from that told in the official IDF account, a version Dr. Netanyahu terms "ridiculous."

As Dr. Netanyahu tells it, the official IDF version of the 1976 raid – in which his brother, Yoni Netanyahu, one of Israel's greatest heroes, was killed – is an attempt to diminish Yoni's role. The IDF history, he says, has Yoni moving in back of the soldiers' formation during the daring rescue operation – when he was without a doubt at the front. The history also makes it look as if Yoni received a completed plan of operation before the raid. The truth, says Ido, is that Yoni planned the raid himself, based on information he received regarding the number of terrorists in Entebbe, their attire, their equipment and more.

Yoni Netanyahu, one of Israel's most revered heroes, was born to a family that holds right wing views. Most of Sayeret Matkal's men in the 1970s were from the left wing kibbutz and moshav movements.

************************************************************************APPENDIX “E3”

************************************************************************

Note: This is a hostile and inaccurate review of Iddo’s book Still fighting over Entebbe

By Uri Dromi   Haaretz.com   11-03-06

With all the effort Iddo Netanyahu has invested in this book about his legendary brother, there's no guarantee that readers who plow through it will conclude that he is right

"Sayeret matkal b'entebbe: Ha'eyduiot, hamismakhim, ha'uvdot" ("Sayeret Matkal at Entebbe: The Testimonies, Documents, Facts"), compiled and edited by Iddo Netanyahu, Yedioth Ahronoth, Sifrei Hemed, 718 pages, NIS 98

The echoes of this summer's clash between the Netanyahu family and Moshe (Muki) Betzer over who deserves credit for Operation Entebbe have barely died down and the battle is raging again. For those of you who have forgotten: Betzer, one of the senior commanders of the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, claims that while the rescue plans were being drawn up, Yoni Netanyahu, the commander of the unit, was in the midst of a training exercise in Sinai, so it was his deputy, Betzer, who did most of the planning. Another claim that has infuriated the Netanyahus for years is that Yoni strayed from the plan by opening fire on a Ugandan guard. What was meant to be a stealthy operation thus turned chaotic, it is claimed, and the Matkal force lost its element of surprise. Netanyahu did this despite the entreaties of Betzer, who was sitting beside him in the black Mercedes.

  

Betzer has missed no opportunity to publicize these claims. They also appear in his book, "Secret Soldier: The Autobiography of Israel's Greatest Commando," which was published in English in 1996.

This book by Yoni's youngest brother, Iddo Netanyahu, is actually two books. The first is an attempt, impressive in scope, to reconstruct what happened in those days in the summer of 1976, from the hijacking of the Air France plane to its return to Israel with the freed hostages aboard. Netanyahu has collected testimony from 50 people who were involved in the operation, which was actually called Operation Thunderbolt by the army, and has woven it into a story that is practically drowning in detail. But this part is only an introduction to the second, more important one, in which Netanyahu gets down to the real challenge: ripping Betzer's arguments to shreds. Betzer cares nothing for truth, he charges, and has no compunction about distorting it.

Rashomon-style accounts of military battles and war have been around since the dawn of history. The Greek historian Thucydides, who lived in the 5th century

 

B.C.E., encountered this problem when he sat down to write the history of the Athenian-Spartan war: "My conclusions have cost me some labor from the want of coincidence between accounts of the same occurrences by different eye-witnesses, arising sometimes from imperfect memory, sometimes from undue partiality for one side or the other," he wrote ("The History of the Peloponnesian War").

In the case of Operation Entebbe, all the documents and books are ultimately based on the testimonies of the people who participated in it. There are no "neutral" sources that explain what happened there. Two publications - the report compiled by the history department of the Israel Defense Forces, and Avigdor Shahan's "Operation Yonatan, Formerly Thunderbolt" - come closest to that definition. According to Uri Saguy, commander of the Golani force that was airlifted to Entebbe, Shahan's book is the best and most accurate account published to date.

Memories and decisions

The trouble is that neither of these sources back up the Netanyahu version of events. So what is one to do? One option is to follow in the footsteps of another historian from the days of yore, Plutarch, author of "Nine Greek Lives." While preparing to write about his first subject, Lycurgus, Plutarch is confronted by multitudinous and sometimes conflicting information. His solution: "Notwithstanding this confusion and obscurity, we shall endeavor to compose the history of his life, adhering to those statements which are least contradicted, and depending upon those authors who are most worthy of credit."

Iddo Netanyahu does not adopt this balanced approach, however, because it would leave Betzer with some of his reputation intact. Netanyahu's goal is to mow him down. No prisoners are taken in the war of memory. Thus, without even realizing it, he adopts the method of Thucydides, who wrote: "With reference to the speeches in this history, some were delivered before the war began, others while it was going on; some I heard myself, others I got from various quarters; it was in all cases difficult to carry them word for word in one's memory, so my habit has been to make the speakers say what was in my opinion demanded of them by the various occasions, of course adhering as closely as possible to the general sense of what they really said."

In his previous book on Entebbe, "Yoni's Last Battle," Iddo Netanyahu discusses the kind of decisions that had to be made. He said he had to sort out which testimonies or parts of testimonies to believe, whose stories sounded most logical, and who had the best memory (even people without phenomenal memories might remember details of a specific event, he noted). He went on to explain how he had to weed out those who were basing themselves on information they had heard or read, as opposed to those who had personal knowledge and those who were prone to exaggeration or had a bone to pick. Finally, Netanyahu, consistent with

his unusual research method, had to choose those who were more clearheaded and factual, and decide which of the written documents that also relied on human memory and subjective impressions, adhered most closely to the truth.

Armed with this supposedly foolproof recipe, Netanyahu got down to work. In the book under under review, he swiftly dismissed the report of the IDF history department as "worthless" because the researchers "blindly accepted the erroneous and misleading statements of Muki Betzer." Avigdor Shahan, who plays down Yoni Netanyahu's part in the raid, was also rejected out of hand, on the grounds that he, too, was influenced by Betzer and the IDF report. It doesn't seem to make much difference to Netanyahu that Shahan, an independent, unaffiliated historian, based his conclusions not only on Betzer's reports, but on interviews with 130 people directly involved in the operation.

If Dan Shomron tells Shahan (and Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Naomi Levitzky) that Yoni opened fire on the guards before the specified time, then Shomron "does not represent the historical truth," as far as Netanyahu is concerned. And who holds the key to that historical truth? I'll give you one guess.

A bigger front

The battle over who should get credit for Operation Entebbe is not limited to the Netanyahu-Betzer front. In his memoirs, "Pinkas sherut," Yitzhak Rabin criticized Shimon Peres for his slow response: "Fifty-three hours after receiving news of the plane hijacking, the defense minister had not even done the minimum - summoning the chief of staff to discuss military options for rescuing the hostages." After the operation, Peres' spokesman told the foreign media that "Rabin opposed military action, and only the stubborn insistence of Peres, who supported the operation from the start, forced Rabin to change his mind."

Peres devoted a whole book to the operation, "Yoman entebbe" ("Entebbe Diary"). He describes Rabin's tenseness during the cabinet meeting, and how he tried to persuade his ministers that "there have been precedents for Israel giving in." The then chief of staff Motta Gur, in writings that were published posthumously, wondered how Peres could support a military operation and then turn around and vote in the government in favor of bowing to the hijackers' demands ("Rosh hamateh haclali," "Chief of the General Staff").

Benny Peled, then commander of the air force, had his say, too: "After the operation ... nearly all of them played hero, claiming they wouldn't have surrendered to extortion under any circumstances. All except for Yitzhak Rabin, who stuck to his guns even when it was over. He said: 'Before I became prime minister, I decided in principle that if we ever had to negotiate with terrorists on foreign territory ... I would give in, because I could never look a mother in the eye if her soldier or hostage son were killed in a failed operation" ("Yamim shel

heshbon," "Days of Reckoning").

Peled had harsh words for Motta Gur, too, but Gur took preemptive action: He wrote a sequel to his children's book "Azit hakalba hatzanhanit" ("Azit the Paratrooper Dog"). Gur, the brains and driving spirit behind the operation, sent Azit parachuting into Entebbe with Yoni and his force - a slight, pardonable revision of history, considering the profit to be gained from properly wiring the brains of young children "Azit b'entebbe" ("Azit in Entebbe").

But all this pales in the face of the 30-year wrestling match that has been going on between veterans of Sayeret Matkal. In this free-style match, anything goes - and that includes hinting that Betzer's abrupt halt while in the middle of charging, ostensibly to change the magazine in his submachine gun, really had a different explanation. Recalling other missions in which Betzer was meant to lead his men and suddenly found himself in the rear, is insinuating enough. Why not come right out and call him a coward to his face? Maybe we'll see that in the next round. Netanyahu doesn't stop here: Betzer didn't kill a single terrorist. At most, he shot a terrorist who had already been hit, or was already dead, and if he killed anyone, it was one of the hostages.

With all the effort Netanyahu has invested in this book, there is no guarantee that readers who manage to plow through all 718 pages will conclude that he is right. If anything, they will probably be bored and wonder why all of this was necessary. The truth is, people have also been turned off by Betzer's frequent media appearances. Five years ago, when this battle flared up again, Yedioth columnist Uri Elizur ridiculed him: "Maybe next year he'll think he was the one who was killed in Entebbe and they only identified the body as Yoni by mistake. Watching brave young warriors turn into old men lusting for glory is not a pretty sight. Take it easy, old soldier. There's enough honor for both of you."

After the fiasco of our last war, the satirists have been having a field day with this never-ending feud. "A critical look at our old wars shows that we've screwed up big-time before. We just were luckier back then. Last month we found out that during Operation Entebbe, Muki Betzer deviated from the original plan by bursting into the terminal from the left door because he didn't know which hand he was wearing his watch on, and Yoni started shooting too early because he was aiming at Muki Betzer's back. The big secret, never divulged before, is that we landed three times in the wrong African capital, until we figured out where the hell Entebbe was. Sic transit gloria mundi" (Reshef and Regev Levy, Haaretz Hebrew edition, August 2, 2006).

The Netanyahus, Iddo and Benjamin, have done a great service to the memory and legacy of their brother by sorting through his correspondence and publishing "Self-Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, 1963-1976." If you want definite proof of that, just wake up anyone (except for Muki Betzer, of course) in the middle of the night and ask who the hero of Operation Entebbe

was. The answer will be Yoni Netanyahu. I fear that this book, which will certainly trigger a counterattack by Betzer, will only erode the myth of their big brother.

Uri Dromi is the publications editor of the Israel Democracy Institute.

 

************************************************************************

APPENDIX “F”

REMEMBER THE ICONOCLAST, NOT THE ICON(Word Count 297)

  

                  “Inquiry Re-Examines ‘Friendly Fire’ Death:  Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s Family Wants Answers” (10/02/05) was buried on page A15.  The Press also buried the better story by cutting much of the SF Chronicle article (9/25/05) showing a side of Pat Tillman not widely known – a fiercely independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq.   Pat Tillman was a poet, kept a journal, and was an avid reader.  His mother said a meeting with leftist Noam Chomsky, a favorite author, was arranged to take  place after his return.  She said, “Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war.”  While in Iraq, Ranger Baer recalled, “Pat said, ‘You know, this war is so —ing illegal.’  And we all said, ‘Yeah.’  That’s who he was.  He totally was against Bush.”  Another Ranger said Pat urged him to vote for Kerry in 2004. Tillman was enshrined as an icon while the man fell by the wayside, his parents used as props at his funeral.  Tillman’s parents still don’t have the meager consolation of knowing the truth about his death.  “The truth may be painful, but it’s the truth”, his mother said.  “If you feel you’re being lied to, you can never put it to rest.”  Let us honor Pat Tillman’s memory by honoring the man, not the myth.  The iconoclast, not the icon.  As his mother said, “Pat would have wanted to be remembered as an individual, not as a stock figure or political prop.  Pat was a real hero, not what they used him as.”  Pat Tillman, never at a loss for words himself, is now silent.  Of the many tragic aspects surrounding his death, one is that he cannot define his own legacy.   ************ Army Veteran, 1983 – 1991, Co. “F” (Ranger) 425th Infantry  MI ARNG************ Firefighter, 1991 –  Present  

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APPENDIX “G”

THE TILLMAN FILES - Part OneAn Offering of Our Fear

byStan Goff

Military/Veterans Affairs Editor

© Copyright 2006, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com. All Rights Reserved. This story may NOT be posted on any Internet web site without express

written permission. Contact admin@copvcia.com. May be circulated, distributed or transmitted for non-profit purposes only.

May 4, 2006 1530 PST – (FTW) - Captain Scott felt the mixture of anxiety and resentment rising in his throat like the onions from a bad sandwich.

He’d known somewhere backstage in his brain all along that he would cross that portal and run smack-dab into the reality behind the rah-rah about Army Values: Integrity, my ass. This one was always too big for integrity. It had spin written all over it; and it went high, very high. But he’d had to test it, had to do it by the book, make it real, ask all the questions…state his true conclusions.

No way he wanted to go into that room, face that flat-eyed phalanx of careers and agendas. He had known, somewhere before the little voice could even say it aloud in his head, this is one where you are supposed to read between the lines. This is one that is so big, heads are going to roll, and pawns are going to be sacrificed in a bureaucratic gambit of “protect the king.”

Integrity was no longer about Army Values. It was about making a choice he’d have to live with for life; and he had known that his quiet conscience was going to be purchased at great risk.

Colonel Kazlorich had told him, when he assigned him this fucking investigation…it was fratricide. One day after it happened. Hell, minutes after it happened, they knew. Pat Tillman—Pat fucking Tillman!—was killed by his own men.

Those had been among his last words before he stood up during the lull in fire, thinking they’d figured it out, only to be gunned down in a resurgent hail of automatic weapons fire.

“Stop shooting!  I’m Pat fucking Tillman, goddamnit!”

But when the public statements had come out, Captain Scott reflected anxiously—waiting to be called into the room—even before he’d assembled his materials to conduct the

investigation, whoa Nelly! He remembered thinking then, this can’t possibly end well…do they really think they can get away with this? They can’t hide this.

Now he was walking into a room full of them, officers with their career-obsessed asses on the line, a very dangerous crew. This is so fucked up, he found himself thinking, so big…and I’m just a squirrel here, trying to cross an eight-lane highway. Two little fucking words, and now I have to face the whole fucking chain of command after they cut some kind of deal and changed those statements. Two words: ROE and negligence.

In April, I wrote an FTW commentary about the fratricidal killing of Pat Tillman and the subsequent attempt by the US government to first spin it, and then to bury it.

The commentary came to the attention of Pat’s mother, Mary. After an email introduction, Mary Tillman and I have had a series of conversations. I have also spoken with Pat’s brother, Kevin, assigned to the same platoon with Pat and who was on the road to Manah, Afghanistan with Pat when these fatal events unfolded, and was then separated from his brother by 15 minutes after the fateful directive was passed down from Khost to split the platoon.

In what I am about to write—an investigative series about not only Tillman’s death, but more significantly about a felonious conspiracy to cover up the lies that followed his death—I am in no way claiming to represent the remarks of either of these family members. I have attempted to clarify a number of details with them, but I have relied on documentation to establish most of the pertinent facts and statements. What the Tillmans have had to say on this matter is public record; and what they choose to say in the future is not for me to direct or amend in any way. They are quite capable of speaking for themselves, as I am sure they will.

There are plenty of people remaining to be called to account for what happened during and after the events that ended the life of Pat Tillman: some for stupidity, some for naked ambition, some for criminality, and some for a basic lack of common decency. I’ll address the last, first. The others will be addressed in due course.

When the death of Pat Tillman became public, there was a feeding frenzy of commentary. I expect the right-wing media to put out simple-minded demagogy, so the fact that they did so is of little concern to me. But I also stand alongside a lot of people in my opposition to the Energy War in Southwest Asia—Iraq and Afghanistan are the same war, in my opinion—and when our putative allies cross the line of common decency, we have to take them to the woodshed.

Indymedia of Portland, as one example, published a reprehensible headline that read: “Dumb Jock Killed in Afghanistan,” which provoked a pile-up of similarly insensitive and outlandishly celebratory posturing—escalating their tantrums to one-up each other for cyber-anarchist bona fides. Some apologized once they learned that Pat was becoming a critic of the war; but that does not let them off the hook. My abrupt advice to all of these commentators is to get the hell out of politics. Find a nice, quiet, nine-to-five job

where you can’t break anything until you can gain at least as much integrity and maturity as Pat Tillman had. I don’t want you anywhere near me, until you have enough experience with the real complexities of life to divest yourselves of your sanctimoniously bad manners.

Pat Tillman was a person, not a symbol. He understood this better than anyone, from what I can glean.

As different as we were in many respects, the more I have learned about Pat, the more I find myself identifying with him. Obviously, I never had his physical gifts. But at some level, closer to the hard-wiring wherever personality traits are rooted in the cerebral cortex, my reading and conversations have highlighted a restless inquisitiveness about Pat Tillman—one that didn’t accord well with authority all the time, even as he craved the discipline and challenge that reveals not just external reality, but something about what we are inside our own phenomenological experience.

Pat Tillman played football—undersized by most accounts—with a kind of ballet-dancer’s sixth-sense, sometimes angering his coaches by ignoring their directions, almost as merriment in the existence of his own body. He also ruminated on the writings of Henry David Thoreau. His GPA was 3.85. He asked questions like, how far? How high? How hard? How true? This is where I feel the most powerful identification with Pat, and even though I never knew him, I feel sure that over time he would have inevitably ended up as I did…on the other side of everything he knew. It is that restlessness and inquisitiveness that takes one there…along with a compulsion to turn those questions in on oneself in an incessant auto-interrogation.

Many believed that Pat Tillman abandoned a lucrative football contract to join the Army because he was out for revenge against the perpetrators of 9-11. That’s what I thought. But, in his own words, he said that while football had been very good to him, he’d never really “put it on the line” as his great grandfather, a survivor of Pearl Harbor, had.

Many who are now familiar with my writing on gender will be surprised by my valorization of this. But the same people often ask me, how did a career solider become a radical, a feminist? It wasn’t from reading. It was from a restless inquisition of both my circumstances and myself. I can’t even take credit for it. It is how I am wired. I wish I could shut it off sometimes.

I am not idealizing Pat’s masculine exploits in the military. I did the same thing, and I am on record that at the end of that particular path, there is nothing. Neant. Nada. Nothingness. But I was restless as a ferret, so when there was nothing there, I kept nosing around until I found something. I don’t celebrate the path. I celebrate Pat Tillman’s nature. He kept asking questions. He kept boring in on life. He offered life a lot of himself, but he would not offer it his fear. That’s why I know, had he stayed longer, Pat Tillman would have abandoned old paths and found new ones. That’s why I am confident that there would have been a place where we could have come directly together, instead of along this meandering umbilicus of history and memory.

This series on Pat Tillman’s death and the government cover-up in its wake is dedicated to Pat Tillman, both what he was and what he would have been. In the current struggle to break the power of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld clique that Pat Tillman had unmasked for himself and learned to despise, I feel confident that he would have approved how his own story—the story of a human being—might become one among many successive waves of attack against an immense edifice of malignant power. He would have understood that whether we succeed or not—while important—is not the measure of what we are. The measure of what we are is that we try, and that we don’t supplicate ourselves before that malignant power and make an offering of our fear.

8-23-06

SOMETHING TO DIE FOR James Webb (1991; paperback Avon Books 1992)

 Note:  Silver Star on the front cover; same medal awarded Pat Tillman

 72                “… it’s going to cost us.  And I’d like to be able to tell my men that the price

they’re going to pay is worth it.  That it’s important to the country. Vital.  Something to die for.

387   “We are awarding the Medal of Honor to the family of one of our brave officers,….”

 395           “You (President) killed my Dad.  Why?  Why’d you send him in? Why?”

383            It was the look of an accuser who was not afraid to die.  The boy (Fogarty’s son) probably didn’t even know it yet, but he had become his father’s avenger. 

401           “He knows the administration’s position on the matter was a cover-up. ..  Eritrea was a mistake.  But it worked.   And they didn’t want the president to look bad.”

. . .

160            Holcomb liked to say that Lazaretti (his military aide) had a penchant for playing politics with a small p.  The general was unable to comprehend the duplicity and multiple agendas at the Cabinet level and in the Congress … the issue behind the issue, the secret agenda that was being explored while the visible problem was being confronted.

54                Ron Holcomb never told a lie, at least not in the way he could be caught in it.  But he was a master dissembler, capable of taking the truth and twisting it into so many directions that it became fantasy at the same time it was undeniable.

 55                Holcomb almost never lied.  He would merely package the facts, box them

up and wrap them with a bright, optimistic ribbon.  And anyway, his version could never be challenged.

 340            Holcomb’s prepared speech had been given a “spin” by Hank Eichelberger. 

As a consequence, the remarks were a mix of bald truth, diplomatic half-truths, and what Holcomb had privately called “necessary, unconfirmable distortions.”  Nonetheless, they would become the government’s official pronouncement on the day’s action.

 356            And the media gave them their forum, always ascertaining beforehand that

their allegations were borne out by facts if not the truth.. . .

3                    But Bill Fogarty wasn’t so sure anymore.  Maybe he had done it too long.  Maybe it was the recent assignment in Washington, three years split between working the Congress and serving as an action officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The assignment had unsettled him, opening up his eyes to the sometimes bewildering series of second and third agendas advanced by ambitious top-level executives whenever military force was debated.

 7                 And times were not good in Washington.  Fogarty could sense it from little

hints on the news that he never would have noticed had he not spent three years learning the doublespeak of government.  The more bellicose members of the administration seemed especially antsy of late, spoiling for a reason to use military force.

 31                Having spent three years watching the Wizards of Oz in Washington, he

stayed up nights wondering about the uses to which they would be put.  His father … equated uncertainty with disloyalty.  He had chided Fogarty for criticizing those above him, especially Ronald Holcomb, the secretary of defense.  … “God save me from manipulative bureaucrats in polyester-wool suits, button-down collars and power ties, and the kiss-ass officers who let them get away with it.   I don’t need to see my men die because somebody cares more about helping the careers of their fellow madrigal singers over in the White House or the State Department than they do about the troops the compromise and misuse in places like Beirut and the Persian Gulf”

 50                  “Do you know what the troops call him (Secretary of Defense)?  Chicken

Hawk.  Because he didn’t have the guts to serve when there was a war on, and now every time there’s a crisis he wants to send them in”

. . .

40 How lofty it must have been to have burnt with the purity of the Revolution! Before the days of multimillion-dollar election campaigns that brought politicians to their knees before the monied temple of the contributors. Before the time of computerized politics that cause them to await the wisdom of those oracles known as pollsters before they spoke. Or maybe it had been trash from the get-go, myths to feed the public.