achtungbaby
12-06-2004, 02:23 PM
Account of Tillman's Killing Is Challenged
Local Afghans counter the Pentagon's already amended explanation of the ex-athlete's death.
By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer
SPERA, Afghanistan — Pat Tillman died in the dark between two black boulders, halfway up a canyon wall, just below the mud farmhouse of Zamir Jan. To Jan, Tillman was just another American stranger. But to millions of people a world away, who watched Tillman give up a lucrative professional football contract to fight for his country, his death was an American tragedy.
At first, Pentagon officials said Tillman was killed by enemy fire. A month later, they said it was friendly fire, triggered by an enemy ambush. Today, more than seven months after Tillman died, even that amended Pentagon conclusion is contradicted by Afghans who were there the night of April 22.
Afghan police and militia commanders here, along with local residents like Jan, say U.S. Army Rangers overreacted to an explosion — either a land mine or roadside bomb — and fired wildly at Tillman and other Rangers. They say there is no evidence that insurgents opened fire in the remote canyon where Tillman was raked by gunfire from a section of his own Ranger platoon.
Tillman's parents say the military has deceived them and stonewalled their attempts to find out how their son died. Although the Tillmans believe the Rangers who shot their son had been fired on by insurgents, they also say the Pentagon has tried to cover up deadly mistakes and negligence that night.
"I'm disgusted by things that have happened with the Pentagon since my son's death. I don't trust them one bit," Mary Tillman said in a telephone interview last week from her home in San Jose.
Mary Tillman accused the military of burning her son's uniform and gear in an attempt to cover up the circumstances of his death. She said her son Kevin, a Ranger in the same platoon as Pat Tillman that night, was ordered to guard the shooting scene but was not told until later that his brother had been killed.
It was not until weeks later, Mary Tillman said, that the family learned that Pat had been killed by his fellow Rangers. Pat and Kevin Tillman both were members of 2nd Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, which was part of an elite group of U.S. forces seeking "high value" Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Pakistani border.
Tillman's father, Patrick Tillman, said in a separate interview Friday that the family has been frustrated by what he described as deception and inconsistent statements by the Pentagon.
"The investigation is a lie," he said. "It's insulting to Pat."
As a result of the family's complaints, an Army officer said Sunday, the Pentagon is reviewing its investigation of Tillman's death, completed in May. An official with U.S. Central Command said military legal officers are reviewing the investigative report because of "inconsistencies" in the official account. A Freedom of Information Act request filed July 6 by The Times, requesting the investigative report and other documents, has not been fulfilled.
Lawrence DiRita, a Pentagon spokesman, said Sunday that family members in friendly-fire cases "are often anguished … and we certainly understand that." Telephone messages left Sunday with public affairs officers at the Army Special Operations Command were not returned.
The Pentagon first said Tillman had been killed by insurgents who had ambushed his patrol, triggering an intense firefight in which he had fired on the enemy.
A month later, on May 29, the military said Tillman had died "as a probable result of friendly fire" from fellow Rangers during the chaos of a nighttime ambush by a dozen insurgents firing automatic rifles and mortars. The Pentagon said the new conclusion was reached after additional investigation, even though Rangers on the scene knew right away that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire.
On Friday, a spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command said the investigation had concluded that there had been an enemy ambush April 22.
full story (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-tillman6dec06,1,6998859.story)
Local Afghans counter the Pentagon's already amended explanation of the ex-athlete's death.
By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer
SPERA, Afghanistan — Pat Tillman died in the dark between two black boulders, halfway up a canyon wall, just below the mud farmhouse of Zamir Jan. To Jan, Tillman was just another American stranger. But to millions of people a world away, who watched Tillman give up a lucrative professional football contract to fight for his country, his death was an American tragedy.
At first, Pentagon officials said Tillman was killed by enemy fire. A month later, they said it was friendly fire, triggered by an enemy ambush. Today, more than seven months after Tillman died, even that amended Pentagon conclusion is contradicted by Afghans who were there the night of April 22.
Afghan police and militia commanders here, along with local residents like Jan, say U.S. Army Rangers overreacted to an explosion — either a land mine or roadside bomb — and fired wildly at Tillman and other Rangers. They say there is no evidence that insurgents opened fire in the remote canyon where Tillman was raked by gunfire from a section of his own Ranger platoon.
Tillman's parents say the military has deceived them and stonewalled their attempts to find out how their son died. Although the Tillmans believe the Rangers who shot their son had been fired on by insurgents, they also say the Pentagon has tried to cover up deadly mistakes and negligence that night.
"I'm disgusted by things that have happened with the Pentagon since my son's death. I don't trust them one bit," Mary Tillman said in a telephone interview last week from her home in San Jose.
Mary Tillman accused the military of burning her son's uniform and gear in an attempt to cover up the circumstances of his death. She said her son Kevin, a Ranger in the same platoon as Pat Tillman that night, was ordered to guard the shooting scene but was not told until later that his brother had been killed.
It was not until weeks later, Mary Tillman said, that the family learned that Pat had been killed by his fellow Rangers. Pat and Kevin Tillman both were members of 2nd Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, which was part of an elite group of U.S. forces seeking "high value" Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Pakistani border.
Tillman's father, Patrick Tillman, said in a separate interview Friday that the family has been frustrated by what he described as deception and inconsistent statements by the Pentagon.
"The investigation is a lie," he said. "It's insulting to Pat."
As a result of the family's complaints, an Army officer said Sunday, the Pentagon is reviewing its investigation of Tillman's death, completed in May. An official with U.S. Central Command said military legal officers are reviewing the investigative report because of "inconsistencies" in the official account. A Freedom of Information Act request filed July 6 by The Times, requesting the investigative report and other documents, has not been fulfilled.
Lawrence DiRita, a Pentagon spokesman, said Sunday that family members in friendly-fire cases "are often anguished … and we certainly understand that." Telephone messages left Sunday with public affairs officers at the Army Special Operations Command were not returned.
The Pentagon first said Tillman had been killed by insurgents who had ambushed his patrol, triggering an intense firefight in which he had fired on the enemy.
A month later, on May 29, the military said Tillman had died "as a probable result of friendly fire" from fellow Rangers during the chaos of a nighttime ambush by a dozen insurgents firing automatic rifles and mortars. The Pentagon said the new conclusion was reached after additional investigation, even though Rangers on the scene knew right away that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire.
On Friday, a spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command said the investigation had concluded that there had been an enemy ambush April 22.
full story (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-tillman6dec06,1,6998859.story)