US Army Cpl. Pat Tillman – A Hero with a Sad and Confusing Legacy

Pat Tillman was an inspiring American hero. This brave young man walked away from a professional football career in order to serve his country and countrymen in the wake of 9/11.

Pat Tillman subsequently died in Afghanistan in April of 2004. The army notified the family about 5 weeks later that his death was a result of friendly fire. The loss of a brave American military man or woman in combat is always heartbreaking. The thought that some die as a result of friendly fire is particularly difficult to understand and to deal with.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Tillman family. They must be special people to raise someone like Pat Tillman. I cannot begin to understand the level of their grief. To make this situation even more tragic, as I understand it, the army fumbled a couple of attempts to investigate this incident and may have even lied to the family about how their hero died. How much can a family take?

Now the army has completed an in-depth investigation and has concluded one thing:

1. Pat Tillman’s death was a horrible, tragic accident that resulted from the “fog of war”.

What I don’t currently understand is the Tillman family’s continued refusal to accept these findings. The family today said; "The briefing we just received was shamefully unacceptable," the family said in a statement issued from their home in San Jose, where Pat Tillman grew up. "Our family is therefore compelled to continue our (pursuit of) the full truth about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death and the so-called 'missteps' and 'deficiencies' of Pat's unit, the Army, the Department of Defense, and this administration."

What is it that the family wants to hear? What is the apparently only explanation that they will accept? What if the truth is something different? Does the family think this was something other than a tragic accident?

As someone with combat experience, the “fog of war” premise is so absolutely understandable that it is hard for me to imagine why someone might question it. Combat is the most confusing situation that a human being will ever find themselves in. And just as things get as out-of-hand as they possibly can get, that is when instantaneous life and death decisions and actions are most critical. Those decisions and actions always include rifle fire, grenades, mortars, machine gun fire, close air support, artillery and armor. It is with good reason that the final stage of a desperate defense is known as the “mad moment”.

Through it all, people are moving. Some move on orders, some move on their own. Some fail to move, even when ordered. Keeping track of where everyone is can be impossible. Add to all this the fear and excitement, the adrenaline rush and the different ways these factors affect different people, and it’s a wonder that it doesn’t happen more often than it does.

As I understand it, Pat Tillman’s platoon split into two units to accomplish some task. One part of the unit came across the other part and mistook them for enemy troops. Pat Tillman happened to be in a position with an Afghanistan soldier. Pat Tillman was killed by small arms fire, possibly while trying to signal his friends that he was one of them. How tragic is that! Tragic for Pat Tillman, tragic for his family, tragic for those who mistook him for an enemy combatant, and tragic for our nation because we need men like Pat Tillman.

The investigation just completed deals only with the events surrounding Pat Tillman’s death. It does not address the many blunders and possible cover-up that took place afterwards. So what is it that the Tillman family finds “shamefully unacceptable”?

As I see it, the army is guilty of covering up this tragic accident. The question is why? I can only imagine that it was to save the family from the additional grief of knowing that Pat Tillman was the victim of an accident. The army apparently went so far as to promote him and to award him the silver star, rather than tell the family the truly heartbreaking details of his death.

It’s hard for me to get truly angry at anyone over this situation. That apparently isn’t so for Pat Tillman’s family though and they are sure to find willing participants in congress who will take advantage of this tragedy to soak in the spotlight for a time.