Unmaking an American Myth
Awash as we are in mass-media memorializations of 9/11, all tied in propagandistic fashion to the never-ending War on Terror, it’s surprising to find a mass-market sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, providing one of the most incisive and subversive takes on the construction of national identity, myth, and memory.
In an extraordinary article titled Remember His Name, which appeared in the September 11, 2006 issue of SI, Gary Smith recounts the life of death of Pat Tillman, the iconoclastic football player, Army Ranger, and thrill-seeker who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
Smith sets out to breathe life and personality back into the myth of Pat Tillman. He also provides a story about a story, a cautionary tale about the ways in which the political need to make Pat Tillman’s death fit the imperial narrative of martial sacrifice demeaned the ideals for which the man himself strived.
Thanks to the members of his family, who have refused to be silenced by military brass, most of us have known the truth behind Tillman’s death for some time. But what makes this piece remarkable is its ability to convey that truth — and Tillman’s fiercely independent personality — to a wider audience. As Smith points out in the last paragraphs of the story, facing Tillman’s death, and his life, honestly is about the least we can do to honor his service.
Although the piece is in some ways apolitical, its implications are obvious. The piece casts deserved blame on the Bush Administration and the U.S. military for their repeated cover-ups of the real cause of Tillman’s death, but also points toward larger problems with our political speech that have been very much on view in recent days during our nation’s remembrances of 9/11.
If Pat Tillman’s story teaches us anything, it’s that the symbols being used so callously by politicians of all stripes — but most often and most callously by the current administration — to promote war and extend political power represent a contemptible misuse of human lives that borders, in the end, on fascist propaganda. Whether the subjects at hand are Pat Tillman, Private Lynch, or the victims of the 9/11 attacks, we need to find a way to deconstruct the political mythology driving our country deeper into this endless, losing war.
This article, in a mass-market sports magazine, is a start. But there is a long way to go.
