May 26, 2005

Pat Tillman’s parents criticize Army’s handling
of information on son’s death by friendly fire

Washington (UPI) — The parents of Pat Tillman, a Leland grad and NFL player who became a U.S. Army Ranger, say they feel they will never get the full story of their son’s April 22, 2004 death.

Pat Tillman

A football player for the Arizona Cardinals, Tillman joined the Army Rangers with his brother after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. After a tour in Iraq, he was sent to Afghanistan in spring 2004, to hunt for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.

Tillman was originally reported killed in a barrage of gunfire; however, later it was disclosed the gunfire came from his own men, who had mistaken him for the enemy.

“Pat had high ideals about the country; that’s why he did what he did,” Mary Tillman told the Washington Post.

“The military let him down. The administration let him down. ... The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting.”

There have been military investigations that have offered differing accounts of Tillman’s death.

“In the case of the death of Corp. Patrick Tillman, the Army made mistakes in reporting the circumstances of his death to the family,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, an Army spokesman.