Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer (Audio)

I am a huge fan of the true story.  Memoirs, true crime, the expose...they are often stranger than fiction.  I have also been disturbingly drawn to 9/11 books as well, although most of the ones I've read were pre-blogging.  I know that it seems a little gloomy and twisted, but my intellectual side really wants to understand how something like that could have happened.  I have to analyze the rational, factual side of that event to make peace with the emotional side I guess.  


So when Jenners reviewed this book on audio, I thought "bingo".  I knew enough about the story that I knew I'd get really mad when I read it, but sometimes that is good for the adrenaline and the bored soul.  It had the right mix of everything I enjoy in a book:  a story about a fascinating person (Pat Tillman), some more 9/11 facts to make my blood boil, and a well-written and well-researched book by a guy known for his investigative non-fiction.  


Pat Tillman is a guy that anybody would be interested in reading about.  Always a kid on the smaller side of athletic, he was single-minded and determined not to let that stop him, and ended up playing NFL football for the Arizona Cardinals.  He was an adrenaline junkie, loved to hike or dive off tall cliffs.  He yearned to read, and pushed himself to a higher level of learning.  He married his high school sweetheart, was fiercely loyal to his family and friends, and was known as a guy that would always do the right thing.  For that reason, against all logic, he walked away from his lucrative football career after 9/11 to join the Army.  He wanted to make a difference, to fight for his country.  He did not want glory, he wanted to do something that mattered, and to go his own way.  This is the way he'd always lived his life.

But soon after entering the Army and making the ultimate sacrifice, he became disenchanted with the military.  He saw what was happening there from the inside...the waste, the disorganization, the political maneuvering, the lack of sound decisions.  Ultimately, Tillman was killed by friendly fire...something that unfortunately is a part of war.  

What the government chose to do with this tragedy, however, is at the heart of the story.  They covered up, and in some cases flat-out lied, about Tillman's cause of death, then immediately awarded him with a medal of honor before an official investigation to divert attention from the Charlie Foxtrot (military slang for "cluster f**k") that resulted in Tillman's death.  A media circus then ensued, in honor of Tillman, presumably to distract the public's attention from a variety of other public relations disasters including the Jessica Lynch rescue and Abu Ghraib. 

Interwoven with Tillman's story is a detailed history of the birth of Taliban, Bin Laden's rise to power, the US's involvement in Afghanistan and resulting conflicts, and the progression of violence that climaxed on 9/11. Upon this examination of the timeline and the imminent threat, it seems like an attack was a foregone conclusion.  Yet the Bush Administration didn't want to be bothered with the warning signs.  (For another excellent and well-documented read about the events that led to 9/11, put your hands on "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright.  There is more there than your sensibilities would ever want to know or may want to handle.) 

Once 9/11 did occur, however, it was all hands on deck to manipulate and misdirect information for their own purposes, both with the overall war against terrorism and on a smaller level, Pat Tillman.  Swallowing this much toxic spew in one novel is enough to make one ill, but as Americans that live with these facts and events as part of our lives, we owe it to ourselves to be educated.

A side note on the format of this review:  Normally, I put together a short synopsis then offer my thoughts on the book.  I tried here, but was unable to keep my opinions separated from the facts.  As a human being, this story leveled me and deeply disturbed me.  I could not for even a few sentences appear impartial.  


A few words about the audio production:  This audio was narrated by the famous and revered and oft-crushed-upon Scott Brick.  The guy knows his way around a recording studio, and you will see his name on many audiobooks.  He had DONE IT ALL.  When it comes to male voice-crushes, however, I'll just stick with Robin Sachs or Simon Vance. 


5 out of 5 stars