Because you are a dumb ass?
Did you ID your target? A big white guy in desert camo with American weapons is probably not Taliban.
Did you have any situational awareness where the rest of your platoon was before you opened fired?
And PS - the unit was not even under enemy fire when this incident happened.
2banana - OEF Veteran.
Just saying... That might be harsh given the circumstances. From what I remember reading at the time Tillman came over a ridge with a one or two others, they weren’t ordered to so it was not like this was coordinated at any level. The guys that shot were very exposed looking at gunmen taking a position on a hill above them.
Look I do no not fault the Rangers for shooting Pat Tillman.
Unfortunately that happens in combat.
General Patton was notorious for killing his own guys in a race to get into Germany. I did not even know that until I spoke to two different WWII veterans (at different times in my life) that both told me that. Both combat vets did not like the General at all. That’s why they nick named him old blood and guts.
Anyhow, I did not care for the Feds lying (once again) about the incident.
I feel awful for Pat and all the Rangers involved.
I agree. After reading Krakauer’s Where Men Win Glory, I sure got the impression that this was much worse than simply “fog of war” confusion. It was a complete fustercluck.
You might want to check the after action reports. Tillman was operating with an Afghani in local garb. They were, IIRC, attempting to get eyes on some Taliban who stopped the tail-end of their convoy. The gunners took the Afghani-ally and Tillman under fire.
What’s the range on a Ma-Deuce? It’s considerable. You’d need binoculars to ID the targets among the rocks above the convoy. And if they spotted the Afghani first...