Prince Harry's The Perfect Fit For Pat Tillman Award, Past Recipient Says

TMZ

Prince Harry's a humble, stand-up guy who blends in as just another fellow veteran, making him deserving of the Pat Tillman Award for Service ... a former recipient tells us amid the outrage over ESPN's decision to honor the royal.

Transcript

00:00I know you're a big supporter of giving this award, which was bestowed on you to Prince

00:09Harry.

00:10Make the case.

00:11I look at, you know, Prince Harry and I see someone who I see as deserving.

00:14You know, here's a man that served his country, served alongside me and my fellow Americans

00:20in Afghanistan.

00:21You know, he chose a dangerous job flying Apache helicopters and, you know, let's put

00:26it out there.

00:27I mean, he's a royal prince, right?

00:29There's a hundred different things that Prince Harry could have done with his life after

00:33his service in the British Armed Forces.

00:36But he's chosen to dedicate a big portion of his post-military life to helping his fellow

00:41veterans and not just veterans in the UK, but veterans around the world who served as

00:44part of our alliance through his effort at the Invictus Games.

00:47And I know, you know, hundreds of military veterans from the United States that have

00:52participated in the Invictus Games and who have come away, you know, feeling more empowered,

00:57more fulfilled, a higher sense of purpose.

00:59You mentioned that you know some people who participated in the Invictus Games, but any

01:03of them have any interactions with Prince Harry?

01:06And did they walk away with a feeling about the man as opposed to just the games?

01:10I have spoken with people that have interacted with Prince Harry in the past and they all

01:14say the same thing.

01:15He's a humble person who, you know, doesn't come off as anything other than, you know,

01:21another fellow veteran.

01:22You know, he wants to sit there and he wants to swap the war stories.

01:24He wants to make sure that, you know, people are taking care of one another.

01:29There was never any sort of air of superiority or anything about him, as was reported to

01:34me from people that interacted.

01:36He is a controversial figure in the United States.

01:39What you're saying is you can separate that from the good work that he does.

01:43I hope what is not controversial is the service that he has given to his country and to our

01:48alliance.

01:49And I hope what's not controversial is the work that he's done to support military veterans

01:52in his time since.

01:54And so, from my perspective, again, I think this is someone who has used his celebrity

01:59to advance a cause that is near and dear to my heart.

02:01And what better way, what better person to honor than that?

Category

Transcript

Recommended