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| Iraq |
| Officials: 9 to be held to account on Tillman |
| 2007-03-24 |
| Not being a warrior, I know nothing of the feelings of Tillman's fellow warriors, but something deep down inside tells me, he wanted nothing of this.... is there such a thing as maybe he understands what happened to him, just happens? Were it some other corporal, would this amount of punishment be rendered? I don't know. His choices and his life... led so quietly by him in his choices and his desire to be kept out of the limelight... But, I'm not a warrior, and I have no knowledge of the feelings about this by you warriors. Is this right? Is a punishment needed? I understand the taking responsibilty of your men, and value that as a virture to be admired, more so when it is actually put into practice as we are witnessing by our armed services. And giving all this, his college roommate, another NFL player, just shipped out with Marines, with Tillman telling him to stay in the NFL long enough to get his retirement. Knowing what he knows about Tillman's death, he still became a warrior. Do any of them deserve this? Or, is this a normal occurrence with a happening such as this, and it only enters into our news media because of who he is. (And, I just have to add, his death story so fits into the media's story of our war) I'm needing a little help. Thanks in advance. WASHINGTON - A Pentagon investigation will recommend that nine officers, including up to four generals, be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, senior defense officials said Friday. The Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of errors and inappropriate conduct as the military probed the former football star’s death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official. The official, who like the others requested anonymity because the Army has not publicly released the information, said it appears senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on April 22, 2004, when Tillman, a corporal, was killed by members of his own platoon. Dozens of soldiers — those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby — knew within minutes or hours that his death was fratricide. Even so, the Army persisted in telling Tillman’s family he was killed in a conventional ambush, including at his nationally televised memorial service 11 days later. It was five weeks before his family was told the truth, a delay the Army has blamed on procedural mistakes. Tillman’s father, Pat, said Friday he had no intention of commenting on the inspector general’s report until he had heard the Army’s entire briefing on Monday and had analyzed it. Tillman’s case drew worldwide attention in part because he had turned down a multimillion-dollar contract to play defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals in order to join the Army Rangers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. To date, the Army has punished seven people, but no one was court-martialed. Four soldiers received relatively minor punishments under military law, ranging from written reprimands to expulsion from the Rangers. One had his pay reduced and was effectively forced out of the Army. The latest investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command that knowledge went. Officers from the rank of colonel and up will be blamed in the report, according to one officer who has been informed of the findings. According to the officials, the report will not make charges or suggest punishments, but it will recommend the Army look at holding the nine officers accountable. Army plans to ‘take appropriate actions’ One defense official said it appears the inspector general will not conclude there was an orchestrated cover-up in the investigation. The Army, which requested the inspector general review last year, said in a statement released Friday that it “plans to take appropriate actions after receiving the inspector general’s report.” The commander of Tillman’s 75th Ranger Regiment was Col. James C. Nixon. Last year he was named director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. Nixon knew within about two days that Tillman’s death was fratricide, another officer involved in the investigations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The inspector general is expected to release its report Monday, and also speak to Tillman’s family about the results of the investigation. Also to be released Monday is a report by the Army Criminal Investigation Command, which will focus on whether a crime, such as negligent homicide, was committed when Tillman’s own men shot him. One defense official said it appears the investigation did not find any criminal intent in the shooting. Previous investigations of the case have focused on the facts of the incident and sought to answer questions of whether it was a fratricide. The report’s findings were first reported on Friday by CBS News. Tillman died in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, along the Pakistan border, after his platoon was ordered to split into two groups and one of the units began firing. Tillman and an Afghan with him were killed. Since the incident, the Army has moved to improve the notification procedures and now requires an officer to review initial casualty information and verify that the families have been told the best, accurate information. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #10 Tillman was a warrior and a good ranger, no question. Soldiers die from friendly fire, a sad fact of life. Combat is confusing, frightening, and in combat things like this happen. I just don't understand why the commanders allowed a questionable version out before they got to the bottom of it. By allowing a half truth out allows the left to tear at our integrity. If they knew it was frat, accidental or not, and the commanders covered it up they deserve to get hammered for their actions. Good bad or otherwise we only have our integrity as commanders and no matter the outcome integrity can never be compromised. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2007-03-24 22:12 |
| #9 Vietnam was a war run from the rear, lest we forget. Indeed, Besoeker. That was the lesson I thought we had finally learned. I've got nothing against those not on the front line, many find their way forward in due time, but they until they've been there and done that they should not be allowed to call the shots on these matters. Well said, all. RIP, Pat. |
| Posted by: Nero Shuper3237 2007-03-24 14:50 |
| #8 The sad thing is that it was "investigated" period. The commander's report should have stood and the lawyers and Inspector Generals should have steered clear of it. Pentagon risk- averse (not on my watch) senior officers are to blame. Not the Rangers, not the people in the theater of operations. Vietnam was a war run from the rear, lest we forget. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-03-24 14:10 |
| #7 hey shit happens, The platoon on orders split into two groups. Add to that there was Talibs or A-Q fire, a Narrow canyon and a Humvee broke down. As always events with lots of people and machines in a combat zone are fluid. Even though this is a CNN link I think the various versions sound reasonable. Likny RIP Pat |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-24 14:00 |
| #6 this was a top down problem, hell they were watching the whole scenario unfold on the satelite , there's something that still smells in Denmark. |
| Posted by: George Grolurong3861 2007-03-24 11:43 |
| #5 Sometimes it's the right thing to do... Years later, Tom Doniphon dies, after leading a lonely secluded life, having loved Hallie from a distance to the end. Stoddard has told the story to the local newspaper editor, who refuses to publish it. "When the legend becomes fact," he says, "print the legend." Especially in time of war. See Colin Kelly... In times of crisis and doubt, heroes offer hope and certitude. In the fog of the war's first days, a 26-year-old Florida farm boy provided a stirring measure of bravery to an America desperate for a hero: Colin Purdie Kelly, Jr. For the duration, editorial writers and war bond promoters summoned Americans to cherish his name and deed. Today, he is virtually unknown to anyone under age 70. In the afterglow of Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces targeted the biggest prize in Southeast Asia, the Philippines. A series of land and aerial assaults quickly overwhelmed U.S. installations, deflating Gen. MacArthur's reputation and deepening American pessimism. What happened on that fateful December day became embedded in military lore and popular culture. More than one movie script adapted the storyline, even as the story changed. As Americans drank their morning coffee (soon to be rationed, along with the sugar that once came from the Philippines), they read the first Associated Press account of Kelly ordering his crew to parachute from a burning plane and how he piloted "his craft straight down at the enemy and released a stick of high explosives almost into the mouths of flaming Japanese guns." Incredibly, Kelly saved his crew and then sank a Japanese battleship by ramming it with his plane The New York Times solemnized the moment and deed: "And the Philippines are producing something more powerful than victory itself, tradition. The tradition of Colin Kelly, who destroyed the Haruna . . |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-24 11:10 |
| #4 Coincidentally, The History Channel did a segment on Shootout about this very thing last night. According to them, there was a patrol of Rangers caught in the valley so Tilman, another Ranger, and an Afghan Ally managed to move ahead and yp the mountain. They ingageged the machine gun firing on the Rangers and that allowed one the leading vehicle to move out of the kill zone. The Rangers on the vehicle saw movement on the ridgeline, determined it was an Afghani, and opened fire thinking he was a combatant. He was killed. Tillman then stood up and began shouting to the Rangers but tehy couldn't hear du to the noise of their own weapons. Tillman then popped a smoke grenade and the firing stopped as the Rangers thought it was smoke from a mortar round. Tillman and the other Ranger, who was not identified in the story, then stood up and tried to signal again that they were friendlies. The Rangers in the vehicle the re-opened fire and Yillman was hit. The other Ranger was unwounded. What these Officers are accused of is trying to hide the fact he was killed due to friendly fire. His family wants the Rangers involved charged with involuntary manslaughter which is ludicrous and, unless they get a really anti-military Judge, won't go anywhere. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-24 10:58 |
| #3 My guess is Tillman did something a bit 'wrong' (against procedure, ill-advised, something) and got himself killed. Since he was a heroic figure nobody wanted to tarnish his image - or the reflection it had cast on the Army - so they let a more 'honorable' story go on how he was killed (sort of like that woman soldier who was captured & rescued in the early days of Iraq.) Those who knew probably figured it would be easier on everybody that way. Ordinarily they would have been correct. These are not ordinary times. Someone who did not like the Army got wind of the actual story and pushed for 'truth'. Other Army officers tried to control information flow and damage, but that only made it worse. So here we are. Honorable careers wrecked. Army image tarnished. Genuine hero (life, if not battlefield) abused. Family's comforting illusion destroyed. Who 'wins' this exercise? The haters of the military. And to some degree, our enemies. And don't give me the 'it needs to come out so we can prevent these friendly fire accidents in the future' - I am confident all that analysis was done anyway, but with public details 'sanitized.' |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-24 10:53 |
| #2 From what I heard, Tillman took a patrol group up on a ridge. Shots were fired and a second patrol group assumed it was an ambush from above and launched some volleys. In World War 2 Burma, RAF bombers were pulled out of the front line fight after it was found they were killing more of their own than Japs. |
| Posted by: Sneaze 2007-03-24 07:26 |
| #1 Sherry, it was a tangled web they wove. No one had the guts to tell the truth to Tillman's family until the lie was being questioned. Let this be a lesson to them. Rangers are a pretty tight group, I doubt anyone of them feels good about friendly fire casualties (as opposed to fratricide, which infers a fragging). Tillman, RIP. My hat's off to the talented who choose think of others before themselves. |
| Posted by: Xenophon 2007-03-24 01:13 |