Sierra Blogging Post Archives

You've probably heard of Pat Tillman - he was the Arizona State and Arizona Cardinals football star who was killed by friendly fire in Iraq just days before he was set to return home.

You probably haven't heard of his friend Rory Fanning, who's been walking across America to raise money for the Pat Tillman Memorial Foundation.

Fanning has been walking 20 miles per day for the past seven months - 3,000 miles in total. He's walking from Virginia Beach, VA to Huntington Beach, CA in memory of his good friend, someone he says was "full of potential."


"All the crises and all the problems that we have right now, they would not be an issue if we made more decisions like Pat," Fanning said. "It was just so obvious how much potential he had. Maybe the millions of us, collectively, can live up to that potential."

Fanning calls the walk the "best thing he's ever done" and says that even though he had to quit his job that "no paycheck in the world could equal the amount of satisfaction he's gotten during the walk."

He hopes to raise the amount of money - $3.6 million - that Tillman gave up in an Arizona Cardinals contract to join the Army Rangers.

"My hope is 1.8 million people donate $2," Fanning said. "Then it kills two birds with one stone. It raises awareness of Pat's sacrifice, and I think it would be an amazing national statement to give the $3.6 million he gave up (back) to the Tillman Foundation."

What a great tribute. Good luck, Rory!