May 15, 2008

Mary Tillman to speak at Women in Leadership

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Mary Tillman will be the guest speaker at the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Com-merce’s sixth annual Women in Leadership evening Wednesday, May 21 at the San Jose Marriott.

Mary Tillman

The Almaden Valley school teacher and now author follows a distinguished lineup of local women speakers who have made a difference for other women including Olympic ice skating gold medal winner Peggy Fleming, who is also a breast cancer survivor, and Santa Clara County District Attorney, and also an Almaden resident, Delores Carr, who is the county’s first woman DA and only the second woman tin California to hold that office.

“We chose Mary Tillman to speak because she was thrust into the spotlight and rose to the occasion,” said Pat Dando, Chamber president and CEO. Tillman’s newly published book, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk, My Tribute to Pat Tillman” was released early this month.

Tillman spoke to the Times last week about her current life and her book. The mother of slain Army Ranger and Arizona Cardinal football player, Pat Tillman, she said she wrote the book for two reasons; “I wanted the reading public to know the Pat I knew because he’s sort of been turned into a caricature. I also think the public deserves to know what kind of lies and deceptions we’ve been living under for the past four years,” she said.

In addition, and throughout the interview, Tillman noted that she finds it important to let people know that “Pat’s not the only one this has happened to, it’s happened to others too. Pat allows us to have a voice and we would be negligent not to use it. In so many ways, we are fortunate, we have a responsibility to other families [who don’t have the celebrity] to discuss what happened.”

When Pat Tillman was killed in April 2004, officials initially told the family he was killed in action by the enemy during a shootout in a narrow canyon. That story however, became one of several different stories, which all are in the book. The Tillman family, all of whom value their privacy, decided to find out the exact truth. It turns out Pat was killed by friendly fire.

“Most likely the soldiers just lost control,” Mary Tillman said. “They were close enough to see what was going on, but they were definitely scared. They felt they were being ambushed and that was magnified by the canyon walls. Their adrenaline was pumped up and there are indications they got out of the vehicle and shot the Afghani soldier,” she said.

The book is a means to get at the truth, she added. “There’s a lot more deception in this administration and there’s no accountability.” But she’s just as upset about the nation’s population, which she notes has “no outrage. People go about their business. It started after 9-11 when the president told everyone to go shopping.”

And, she notes that it has continued, citing the case of Valerie Pflame, the outing of an undercover CIA agent. The American people didn’t react, she said.

A congressional committee still is questioning people about what the White House and the Pentagon knew. “But it’s clear the administration doesn’t leave paper trails and people are not talking on the record.

Mary Tillman’s newly published book, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk, My Tribute to Pat Tillman” was released early this month.

“The book is a way to present what happened and let the public know. We present our side and let the reader know. The Army was deceptive to the nation not just to us. It was a worldwide deception. They used Pat as a propaganda tool to deflect what was happening at Abu Grabbe and because April 2004 was the worst month [at that time] for casualties, Pat’s death is a disaster and the Army wasn’t willing to admit that his own men killed him.”

Tillman also answered questions about the Army and its treatment of the family. In the book she describes one particular colonel, Ralph Kauzlarich, who complained that the family would not be going through this if they were Christians. “He was agitated that we kept asking questions, he gave an interview to ESPN’s Mike Fish stating that we can’t get over Pat’s death because we aren’t Christians,” she said.

But aside from the lies and deceit, the book tells about Pat Tillman the man and the boy. It tells stories about Pat and his brothers Kevin and Richard, growing up and introduces us to the real man, who could talk a blue streak—words a family paper cannot use—but was a very kind, gentle and above all honest man. Just as important, the book shows us how Pat grew up in Almaden.

Interspersed between the Tillman family’s struggle to get at the truth are stories about Pat’s life, including a very sweet one about him catching a fish with his hands. The book also talks about his brothers and how close the three were, as well as Pat’s first meeting with the woman who would become his high school sweetheart and future wife, Marie Ugenti, and their wedding.

And there are lots of scenes of Almaden in the book. “I can’t say enough about the people in Almaden and the remarkable support they have given all of us. They are careful and vigilant about our privacy. Every year they hang flags to honor Pat and they have even built a monument to him. I can say the same thing about Bret Harte. Everyone at the school, administration, parents and students have been absolutely supportive,” she said.

Mary Tillman’s speech at the Women in Leadership dinner is one of several appearances she will make next week. She also will speak to the Commonwealth Club of California, and on Thursday, May 22, will be at Barnes & Noble in San Jose to sign books.

But the dinner is one of the highlights of her week. It’s also an evening that will recognize women who go to school full time, have a job and still manage to volunteer their time. This year the chamber will honor four women with grants of $3,000 each.

Allstate Insurance, Bank of America—which is purchasing Tillman’s book for all those attending—and Garden City Restaurant and Casino, are dinner sponsors. In its first years, the evening was called Poker and Pedicures and was held to raise money for the chamber’s community education foundation.

There will be a networking session from 5:30 to 6:30 with no host cocktails and prizes from American Airlines, Cordevalle, A Rosewood Resort and Westfield Valley Fair.

The dinner is $75 per person and begins at 6:30 followed by the program. To make a reservation, contact www.sjchamber.com. You must register to attend; everyone is welcome.