# Followup to Tillman's tragic death



## bossi (6 Dec 2004)

What a tragedy - This seems to be a textbook example of somebody paying with his life, for somebody else's mistakes ...


U.S. football star killed by Rangers
AFGHANISTAN PATROL ENDED IN MULTIPLE ERRORS
By AP

THE LAST minutes of Pat Tillman's life were a horror of misdirected machinegun fire and signals to firing colleagues that were misunderstood as hostile acts, according to an account published yesterdayof the death of the NFL player-turned-soldier. It took the U.S. Army a month to change the record to show that Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who gave up a $3.6 million US contract to become an Army Ranger, was killed last April not by Afghan guerrillas but by his Ranger colleagues. 

Even then, the statement by Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr. gave few specifics of the corporal's death and implied he was trying to suppress enemy fire when he "probably died as a result of friendly fire." 

The Washington Post published yesterday what it described as the first full telling of how and why Tillman died. The newspaper said it had access to "dozens of witness statements, e-mails, investigation findings, logbooks, maps and photographs." 

A series of mishaps and missteps began the chain of events that resulted in Tillman's death in Afghanistan. A Humvee broke down and his platoon split up, the Post said. 

The segment of the platoon with Tillman -- called Serial One -- passed through a canyon and was near its north rim. The other segment, Serial Two, changed its plans because of poor roads and followed the same route into the canyon. It came under fire from Afghan Taliban fighters. 

Men in Serial One heard an explosion that preceded the attack, and Tillman and two other fire team leaders were ordered to head toward the attackers, the Post said. The canyon's walls prevented them from radioing their positions to their colleagues, just as Serial Two had not radioed its change in plans. 

Tillman's group moved toward the north-south ridge to face the canyon. 

"As they pulled alongside the ridge, the gunners poured an undisciplined barrage of hundreds of rounds into the area Tillman and other members of Serial One had taken up positions," the Post said Army investigators concluded. 

Under fire, Tillman and almost a dozen others on the ridge "shouted, they waved their arms, and they screamed some more," the Post said. 

"Then Tillman 'came up with the idea to let a smoke grenade go.' As its thick smoke unfurled, 'This stopped the friendly contact for a few moments,' " a Ranger was quoted as saying. 

Assuming the friendly fire had stopped, the Ranger said, he and his comrades emerged. 

"Suddenly, he saw the attacking Humvee move into 'a better position to fire on us.' He heard a new machinegun burst and hit the ground, praying, as Pat Tillman fell," the Post reported. 

The Ranger said Tillman repeatedly screamed out his name and shouted for the shooting to stop, the Post said. He and others waved their arms, only attracting more fire. Tillman was shot repeatedly by rifles, finally succumbing to the machine gun. 

Eventually, one member of Tillman's platoon received formal administrative charges. Four others, including an officer, were discharged from the Rangers but not from the Army.


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## Freight_Train (6 Dec 2004)

If anyone is interested, they can vote for Tillman for the SI Sportsman of the year here - http://sisoy.secondthought.com/


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## bossi (6 Dec 2004)

Oh, God - I just read part one of the Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35717-2004Dec4.html?

Please read it - it's the least we can do for Tillman's sacrifice, or any fallen warrior for that matter.


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## bossi (7 Dec 2004)

This should be mandatory reading:



> *Army Spun Tale Around Ill-Fated Mission *
> 
> By Steve Coll, Washington Post Staff Writer
> Monday, December 6, 2004; Page A01
> ...


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