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2B Daily News – Saturday, September 10, 2011 He spent 13 years in the TILLMAN (Continued from page 1B) and over the finish line. Spectators shed tears. Fam- ily and friends did the same when a video of his feat was posted on the Internet. ''I felt like he left the Cardinals to go take care of Osama bin Laden and his journey was cut short, and I wanted to keep just keep going,'' said Davidson, who spent a year overseas in the Vietnam War during his two active years in the Army. ''Even though his was cut short, my journey was to go on and walk and I'm not going to stop until I'm walking.'' Davidson plans to do G Pat's Run again next year, hopefully without his crutches. ——— len Lacroix and Pat Tillman were part of the team that rescued Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital, served under the same superior officer in the Army Rangers and once talked for seven hours at a military base in Afghanistan in 2004. Lacroix was even wounded the same day Till- man was killed, shot about 30 miles away, so, yeah, he felt a connection to the most famous of Rangers. ''Unbelievable guy, awe- some dude,'' Lacroix said from his office at the Uni- versity of Arizona in Tuc- son. ''It was one of those things where it was what you see is what you get. There was no (nonsense).'' Lacroix is one of 171 Pat Tillman Military Scholars, a program developed by the Pat Tillman Foundation to help servicemen and family members earn degrees or complete certificate pro- grams. Originally set up to han- dle the influx of checks being sent to the Tillman family shortly after Pat's death, the PTF expanded a few years later to pledge $1.25 million to the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State. Once that promise was fulfilled, the foundation shifted focus again, this time to help fill the financial gaps in the GI Bill. PTF has awarded over $4.4 million since its incep- tion seven years ago, $2.2 million going to the Tillman Military Scholars. Lacroix was a good can- didate. Army, including nine work- ing human intelligence for Special Operations, fol- lowed by three more years in civil service intelligence. Lacroix saw action in some of the most dangerous places in the world, includ- ing Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, and spent part of his time as a sniper in war zones. He took shrapnel in Iraq and was shot twice in Afghanistan, including April 22, 2004, the day Till- man was killed. Upon returning to school in 2009, four years after receiving a medical dis- charge, he had a hard time adjusting to campus life, unable to comprehend how the students couldn't follow the simplest of instructions or why the young woman in front of him was crying because she missed her cat while he still had bone frag- ments of his buddy lodged in his arm. Ready to walk away, Lacroix instead wandered into the university's Veter- ans Education and Transi- tion Services, which had opened the semester before. It was a move that may have saved his life. ''Honestly, the first day I walked in here, if someone would have said no to me or it's going to have to wait, I wouldn't be here,'' he said. ''I'd be in a gutter some- where drinking away my disability every month.'' Taking advantage of his scholarship through the PTF, Lacroix helped the VETS center expand, work- ing as the student director in a place where former mili- tary — from Vietnam War veterans to reservists who never saw action — could go to be away from the reg- ular student population, among people like them- selves. An office that saw five veterans a day when it first opened, the VETS center now has 150 or so students filter through daily. Lacroix plans to keep working at the VETS center while at UA, but has a big- ger goal in mind: a former physical therapist aide, he'd like to work at a place where injured soldiers can have their physical and mental wounds healed at the same. ''Every time I got injured, it was always they'd treat body and they'd treat mind, but they'd never treat them both together,'' said Lacroix, who's major- ing in psychology and plans to get his doctorate in phys- T ical therapy. ''Your injuries come as a whole, so your treatment needs to come as a whole — and that's what I want to do.'' ——— he day before last year's New York City Marathon, members of Team Tillman had already had some memorable moments, visiting a firehouse and also NFL headquarters, where they saw Commissioner Roger Goodell's office and a tribute to Tillman by the door. What came next had them ready to run 100 miles, not 26. Gathering in a meeting room with their families at the NFL offices, the 40 members of Team Tillman took turns recounting their decisions to run the marathon. Some were friends of Tillman's or had stories about him to tell, while others had more per- sonal, heartfelt reasons for wanting to run. For more than two hours they took turns talking and crying. ''I wasn't expecting much, but about five min- utes into it, I quickly real- ized it wasn't really a joking matter,'' said former Ari- zona State golfer Pat Moore, who ran his first marathon for Team Tillman last year. ''It was a shock; I wasn't expecting that at all. To see grown men get up and start crying was big, very powerful.'' Team Tillman started five years ago as a fundrais- er for the Pat Tillman Foun- dation, asking runners to raise at least $4,240 each. The team has competed in the past four New York City Marathons, along with the Marine Corps Marathon, and has expand- ed to marathons in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Other athletes, like former baseball player Eric Byrnes, have competed for Team Tillman as individuals in triathlons and other events around the world. The highlights of the New York City Marathon weekend are usually the stories shared and a trip to see a firehouse near the World Trade Center that was damaged during the Sept. 11 attacks. Last year, the group also went to a firehouse in Brooklyn. ''There's not a lot of dry What's your FAVORITE Tehama County "Hidden Gem?" A swimming hole, favorite hike, park site, fishing spot, Sunday drive, thing to do with kids? Share yours with us. If we use it in the October edition of eyes,'' said Ryan Cronk, a real estate developer from Indianapolis who will run in his fifth straight New York Marathon for Team Tillman this year despite having no prior ties to Till- man. ''Some people's sto- ries are more personal, some completely revolve around Pat and everyone runs for different reasons, but they're all running for MCT file photo Tillman had become a standout safety with the Arizona Cardinals. S the same cause: the founda- tion and veterans.'' ——— amson Szakacsy was a Tillman Scholar at Arizona State before gradu- ating with a degree in reli- gious studies this year. Upbeat, introspective, focused on life's big ques- tions, he's more like a Till- man kindred spirit than a Tillman scholar. An athlete, philosopher and musician, Szakacsy doesn't see life as some- thing to wander through. It's more of a pursuit of greatness, which, to him, means getting joy by giving it to others. ''At the core, Pat brought out the best in people and to bring out the best part of people, you have to address the best part of people and hold people up,'' Szakacsy said. ''Even as you're doing that, you have to be aware of yourself, you have to know yourself. I feel like where I parallel Pat and even people like Christ and Ghandi, they were people who really knew them- selves. We're all connected in this thing and when you know you are, you know who everyone is.'' Szakacsy's awareness allowed him to make a dif- ficult decision: Like Till- man, he walked away from his athletic career. With a year of eligibility left, he decided to pass up $100* Just for sharing your local shopping and media preferences! Take the Pulse Research survey online only at: You'll receive a $25 Gift Certificate good at the Tehama County business of your choice. Send to tehamamag@redbluffdailynews.com Before 9-15-11 www.pulseresearch.com/redbluffdailynews Do it today – Survey will end when enough surveys are completed. *$100 gift certificates will be awarded to four individuals selected at random from among those completing the survey. Those selected may choose any store or business in Tehama County at which to redeem their gift certificate. Individual survey responses will not be shared with any third party. D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY Win WinWin Win You could playing for Arizona State's football team this season to pursue other interests. He was stuck as the third-string quarterback after having two shoulder surgeries and wanted to focus energy on his music, on immersing himself in other cultures and on helping others, par- ticularly the impoverished people of the Apache reser- vation, whom he has grown close to since being intro- duced the chief last year. The news came as no surprise to those who know him. ''I admire guys who say 'I don't want to play any- more because I want to go and do this', guys that you know that decision is thought about for a very long time,'' Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson said. ''I know Sam's thought about that before he made that decision. He's an amazing, amazing person.'' Szakacsy's outlook has helped him, and his family, cope with the death of his sister. A vibrant 17-year-old, Hannah developed an infec- tion this spring that turned into congestive heart fail- ure. Despite numerous surgeries that left her scarred all over, she died on July 30, devastating Sam- son but giving him a deeper understanding of life. ''To me, it was a gift — a painful gift, but a gift nonetheless,'' Szakacsy said. ''That's the way I am I living. It's still hard, it's still human, it's still fresh, it's still pain, but everything will be OK.'' ——— n life, those close to Tillman say he never accepted acceptable. He constantly pushed the boundaries, physically and mentally, always look- ing for a way better himself. He also expected the same effort from his friends, fam- ily, even people he had just met, never letting them just skate by when he was around. Now, in death, Tillman still has that do-your-best influence over people, is still driving them to strive for more. ''He didn't necessarily encourage people verbally, but through the way he lived his life,'' said Marie Tillman, who lives in Chicago and will release a memoir next June. ''For the people around him, his friends and family, the peo- ple he encountered through- out his football career, he had such a drive, such a desire to improve himself that people just sort of saw that and just wanted to be the same way.'' Tillman was 27 when he died. His spirit carries on in those he touched. ——— Pat Tillman Foundation: http://www.pattillmanfound ation.org/ Online: Vogelsong's a giant factor SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Playing winter ball last year in Venezuela, Ryan Vogelsong pulled aside teammate Guillermo Rodriguez and asked him to place an important call to the Giants. Rodriguez had an international cell phone plan, and another key connection: the number for Bobby Evans, the Giants vice president of baseball operations. ''I said, 'Do me a favor and call the Giants and let them know I got an offer from the Dodgers, and I don't want to wear Dodger Blue,''' Vogelsong recalled Friday. ''About three hours later we had a deal in place. I couldn't see myself being a Dodger. And I'm sure glad it happened the way it happened.'' Indeed, Vogelsong has revived his career this season in San Francisco. The journeyman right-hander became an unlikely All-Star and among the most reliable pitchers for the reigning World Series champions — at age 34, no less. ENTERTAINMENT Saturday, September 10th at Tehama Family Fitness Center 9:30 am Zumba and U-Jam Party 10:00 am - Fun Run 10:00 am-1:00 pm Kids Zone water play area 10:30 am Tehama's Strongest Man Competition Tehama Family Fitness Center 2498 South Main St., Red Bluff 528-8656 www.tehamafamilyfitness.com