i thought that some might find this interesting...
Army hid Tillman's friendly-fire death & 'made up a story' to hype war, mom sez
BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 9:13 AM
WASHINGTON - Pat Tillman's mother charged yesterday that the Army covered up the friendly-fire death of her football star son in a public relations move to boost the war effort.
"That's not a misstep, and that's not an error," Mary Tillman said on NPR News' "Morning Edition." "They made up a story. It was presented on national television. And we believe they did that to promote the war."
In the latest of a series of investigations into Tillman's death, the Army said Monday that four generals and five other officers made "critical errors" in violation of military rules by withholding the truth about how Tillman was killed April 22, 2004, in Afghanistan.
The officers also allowed approval of a Silver Star citation for Tillman that said he was killed while charging the enemy, when he was actually killed by machine-gun fire from members of his own platoon.
"They could have told us the truth," Mary Tillman said. "And if they didn't want to tell us the truth, they could have said that we don't know, we're doing an investigation. But what they did is they made up a story."
The private briefing the Army gave the Tillman family Monday on the latest investigation turned confrontational, Mary Tillman said.
"The meeting was a travesty," she said. "They told us that we were abusive. I mean, we got to the point where we were extremely rude to them, but they weren't - they were just lying."
She said the generals who were criticized in the latest report "are just taking the fall" for their superiors, including then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
"They're not the worst culprits; they were doing a job - and doing something to cover the hides of people up above," she told The Associated Press.
The Army's mishandling of the death of the former Arizona Cardinals defensive back was similar to the public relations fiasco surrounding the capture of Pvt. Jessica Lynch in the early weeks of the Iraq war.
The military allowed reports to circulate that Lynch fought back valiantly when she never fired a shot.
Army hid Tillman's friendly-fire death & 'made up a story' to hype war, mom sez
BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 9:13 AM
WASHINGTON - Pat Tillman's mother charged yesterday that the Army covered up the friendly-fire death of her football star son in a public relations move to boost the war effort.
"That's not a misstep, and that's not an error," Mary Tillman said on NPR News' "Morning Edition." "They made up a story. It was presented on national television. And we believe they did that to promote the war."
In the latest of a series of investigations into Tillman's death, the Army said Monday that four generals and five other officers made "critical errors" in violation of military rules by withholding the truth about how Tillman was killed April 22, 2004, in Afghanistan.
The officers also allowed approval of a Silver Star citation for Tillman that said he was killed while charging the enemy, when he was actually killed by machine-gun fire from members of his own platoon.
"They could have told us the truth," Mary Tillman said. "And if they didn't want to tell us the truth, they could have said that we don't know, we're doing an investigation. But what they did is they made up a story."
The private briefing the Army gave the Tillman family Monday on the latest investigation turned confrontational, Mary Tillman said.
"The meeting was a travesty," she said. "They told us that we were abusive. I mean, we got to the point where we were extremely rude to them, but they weren't - they were just lying."
She said the generals who were criticized in the latest report "are just taking the fall" for their superiors, including then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
"They're not the worst culprits; they were doing a job - and doing something to cover the hides of people up above," she told The Associated Press.
The Army's mishandling of the death of the former Arizona Cardinals defensive back was similar to the public relations fiasco surrounding the capture of Pvt. Jessica Lynch in the early weeks of the Iraq war.
The military allowed reports to circulate that Lynch fought back valiantly when she never fired a shot.
