Tillman saga

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

The Army last week admitted it mishandled the investigation of the 2004 “friendly fire” death of former pro football player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, but his family isn’t satisfied. A report on the investigation concluded that officers learned immediately after Cpl. Tillman’s death that he was killed by a member of his own platoon, who mistook him for the enemy. The officers withheld that information from Tillman’s family for more than a month, creating “perceptions of concealment,” the report said. Four generals and five lower-ranking officers face “corrective action,” but no charges, in the matter. The Army also upheld its decision to award Tillman a Silver Star, which is given for heroism under enemy fire. The Tillman family said the report perpetuated a “conspiracy” to conceal the facts of Tillman’s shooting. And by awarding Tillman the Silver Star, it said, the Army was “exploiting the death of our beloved Pat as a recruitment poster.”