No Criminal Negligence Found in Death of Former NFL Star Tillman in Afghanistan

Fox News ^ | March 26, 2007 | AP

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Investigators probing the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman found no criminal negligence, a government official said Monday, ending a yearlong inquiry into the conduct of the soldiers who opened fire on him in Afghanistan and a possible subsequent cover up.

The Army announced in March 2006 it would open a new investigation into the circumstances of Tillman's death, in response to complaints from the former NFL star's family and congressional representatives that previous probes had left key questions unanswered.

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Fratricide is an ugly reality of war. It has been going since the beginning of armed conflict. Not to take away anything from SPC Tillman's exploits, his motives were noble, he gave up a very promising and lucrative career, and his sacrifice was in the hightest traditions of the US Army but if it were PFC Snuffy Smith from a small one horse town outside of Des Moines IA that got killed on this mission this would most likely have never made the news except for a short paragraph on page 10. Yet his death would have been just as tragic as Tillman's.

[Cricket24]

Exactly!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Everybody knows that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Halliburton and Enron lured Pat Tillman to Afghanistan so they could have him killed and make it look like an accident.

The Rosie O'Donnells and Charlie Sheens of this world won't be fooled for an instant.

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I'm sure Scooter Libby was also somehow involved in this as well. And Alberto Gonzales too.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I forgot about their involvement. Thanks for pointing out my omission.

[SevenMinusOne]

Fratricide is an ugly reality of war. It has been going since the beginning of armed conflict. Not to take away anything from SPC Tillman's exploits, his motives were noble, he gave up a very promising and lucrative career, and his sacrifice was in the hightest traditions of the US Army but if it were PFC Snuffy Smith from a small one horse town outside of Des Moines IA that got killed on this mission this would most likely have never made the news except for a short paragraph on page 10. Yet his death would have been just as tragic as Tillman's.

I agree completely regarding fratricide....The FOG of war along with Mr. Murphy are two intangibles that will always cost good men their lives in combat (reducing the occurrence of such is the true goal)...Regarding Ranger Tillman without question several of these Rangers acted with negligence and a d*mn fine man lost his life because of it.

While another soldier losing his life in the same manner would be no less tragic....I'll agree.....What Pat Tillman gave up (in terms of tangible certainties) goes above and beyond....and is truly different then what most others have done who serve.

This guy was a Stud. A guy you'd serve next to in a heart beat......And what should never be forgotten in all this is that Ranger Tillman was taking the fight to the enemy when this tragic fratricide incident took place. He was leading from the front.

God bless him.

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"While another soldier losing his life in the same manner would be no less tragic....I'll agree.....What Pat Tillman gave up (in terms of tangible certainties) goes above and beyond....and is truly different then what most others have done who serve."

Money, career, etc. are tangibles and fleeting. A person's life is priceless and enduring even when cut short. I saw lots of young kids lose their lives and I would not put a single one of their sacrifices a single notch below Tillman's. What Tillman did was certainly noble and I admire him greatly for it but his death earns him no more respect with the old warrior than any other brave soldier that made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

[Txsleuth]

You are very correct.

My husband watched the report being given...he is a Viet Vet...

He just got up and said that friendly fire happened all of the time in Vietnam.

We both are football fans..and were very excited and proud when Tillman gave up his gig to go to war...and I still am.

I just have to ask myself if my son had been KIA...would I want to see so many generals and other officers taken down by erroneous or even false reporting?? I can't answer that...but, the point you made about Snuffy Smith is a good one.

[DemEater]

His brother had some ugly things to say about the War and by implication President Bush.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/

[Txsleuth]

Great post, DS!!

[SevenMinusOne]

I hear ya -

[Arm_Bears]

Will this brave soldier finally be allowed to rest in peace?

[NYFreeper]

Regarding Ranger Tillman without question several of these Rangers acted with negligence and a d*mn fine man lost his life because of it.

What proof do you have that Tillman lost his life because of these Rangers? Just because he was killed by fratricide doesn't mean the troops he was with at the time acted with negligence. Obviously there was negligence in the reporting after his death.

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From what I have seen and heard Tillman flanked left with another soldier to a small hill to get a better LOS on the diaperheads. This was not communicated to the soldiers in the pass that were being engaged, a critical error but one that could be understandably overlooked when you are coming under heavy fire from multiple directions. Shoot, move, comminicate are the priorities. The soldiers that wound up killing him mistook their fire for unfriendly and returned it with heavy (.50 cal and 7.62 MG) mounted fire. It was a tragic mistake but things like this happen. It's a miracle it does not happen more often. When you are engaged from multiple locations it is sometimes difficult to pick out the cowboys from the injuns, especially from the distances that were involved in this incident.

Not to pick on the Cavalry but two squads from 2nd ACR actually got into a firefight with each other in Zone 17 in Baghdad while I was over there. It took a Little Bird orbiting overhead to tell these knuckleheads to cease fire on each other. Probably the most embarrasing (though gratefully true) thing about this whole thing was in a 20 minute firefight no one got hurt. They caught a double ration of shit over that one. One for getting in a firefight with each other and two for not scoring any hits on the "enemy".

[NYFreeper]

Right, that's basically the story I read about too. Still, I wouldn't say that they were negligent to cause Tillman's death during the firefight. $hit happens, especially in war.