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The family of former NFL star Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan, strongly criticized the military Tuesday for obfuscating the story behind Tillman’s death. At a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on “Misleading information from the battlefield,” Tillman’s brother Kevin accused some in the government of using the death as an “opportunity” and exploiting the tragedy for their own ends. “Revealing that Pat’s death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster during a month already swollen with political disasters and a brutal truth that the American public would undoubtedly find unacceptable,” Tillman, who served with his brother, said. As a result, he said, facts were suppressed, evidence was destroyed and a story was concocted that Pat Tillman died a hero’s death at the hands of enemies. The military posthumously awarded him a Silver Star for valor. “Writing a Silver Star award before a single eyewitness account is taken is not a misstep,” Kevin Tillman said Tuesday. “Falsifying soldier witness statements for a Silver Star is not a misstep. These are intentional falsehoods that meet the legal definition for fraud. “Delivering false information at a nationally televised memorial service is not an error in judgment,” he added. “Discarding an investigation that does not fit a preordained conclusion is not an error in judgment. These are deliberate acts of deceit. This is not the perception of concealment. This is concealment.” Ranking Republican Tom Davis (Va.) called Tillman’s case troubling. “Rules and procedures put in place precisely for the purpose of providing timely and accurate information about combat deaths were ignored,” Davis said in his opening remarks. Mary Tillman, the mother of Pat and Kevin, said at the hearing that she believes former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld knew that friendly-fire killed her son. Noting that Pat was “probably the most high-profile individual in the military at the time,” Mrs. Tillman said “the fact that he would be killed by friendly fire and no one would tell Rumsfeld is ludicrous.” She acknowledged, however, that it is her own opinion and not backed up by any evidence. The Tillman family repeatedly asked Congress to investigate further the fratricide and the possibility of a cover-up. Lawmakers pledged to do so. “The bare minimum we owe our soldiers and their families is the truth,” committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said. He criticized that “sensational details and stories were invented” in Tillman’s death and the liberation of Jessica Lynch, who was taken hostage by the Iraqis in the initial phase of the war and also testified. “The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals for heroes, and they don’t need to be told elaborate lies,” Lynch said. |
