Pat Tilman former NFL player who went to Afghanistan last year had been killed by friendly fire from his fellow Rangers. Investigators knew within
days, but decided not to inform Tilman's family or the public of an act of "gross negligence" until weeks after the nationally televised memorial
service. Soldiers who had been with Tilman said that they immediately reported that other Rangers in a Humvee opened fire with high powered weapons on
Afghan Militia Forces working with the Rangers. Without a pause they turned there guns on Tilman who was waving his arms and releasing smoke grenades
to signal to his unit he was not the enemy.
www.truthout.org
Army Withheld Details About Tillman's Death
A new Army report on the death shows that top Army officials, including the theater commander, Gen. John P. Abizaid, were told that Tillman's death
was fratricide days before the service.
Soldiers on the scene said they were immediately sure Tillman was killed by a barrage of American bullets as he took shelter behind a large boulder
during a twilight firefight along a narrow canyon road near the Pakistani border, according to nearly 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and
investigative reports obtained by The Washington Post.
The documents also show that officers made erroneous initial reports that Tillman was killed by enemy fire, destroyed critical evidence and initially
concealed the truth from Tillman's brother, also an Army Ranger, who was near the attack on April 22, 2004, but did not witness it.
Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones prepared the report in response to questions from Tillman's family and from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz). Jones concluded
that there was no official reluctance to report the truth but that "nothing has contributed more to an atmosphere of suspicion by the family than the
failure to tell the family that Cpl. Pat Tillman's death was the result of suspected friendly fire, as soon as that information became known within
military channels."
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Well it’s sad to get capped by your own men, but accidents happen. What bothers me about this story is the Army not telling his family immediately,
I feel the Army tried to us his death to gain propaganda points from American citizens, to tug at there heart strings.
Related News Links:
Army Withheld Details About Tillman's Death From the
Washington Post
Report: Army Knew Details of Tillman Death From the
Washington Post
U.S. military lied about Tillman’s death Unknown News (from the Washington Post)
[edit on 4/5/2005 by Sauron]