Ranger Tillman 'probably' killed by friendly fire, Army says

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Pat Tillman probably was killed by friendly fire while leading his team of Army Rangers up a hill during a firefight in Afghanistan last month, the U.S. Army said Saturday.

Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million NFL contract to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Previous military statements suggested he was killed April 22 under enemy fire.

"While there was no one specific finding of fault, the investigation results indicate that Cpl. Tillman probably died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces," Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensington Jr. said at the Army Special Operations Command.

Kensington said the firefight took place in "very severe and constricted terrain in impaired light" with 10 to 12 enemy combatants firing on U.S. forces.

An Afghan military official told The Associated Press on Saturday that Tillman died because of a "misunderstanding" when two mixed groups of American and Afghan soldiers began firing wildly in the confusion following an explosion.

The Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also contradicted U.S. reports that the American soldiers had come under enemy fire.

Kensington, who heads Army Special Forces, took no questions Saturday morning after reading the brief statement.

When Tillman was awarded the Silver Star, the Army said he was killed after his platoon was split into two sections for what officials called a ground assault convoy. Tillman was in charge of the lead group.

His group was safely out of the area when the trailing group came under mortar and small arms fire, according to the Army, and he ordered them to return.

"Through the firing, Tillman's voice was heard issuing fire commands to take the fight to the enemy on the dominating high ground," the award announcement said. "Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their fires diminished.

"As a result of his leadership and his team's efforts, the platoon trail section was able to maneuver through the ambush to positions of safety without a single casualty," the announcement said.

Tillman, a member of the elite Ranger unit since 2002, was posthumously promoted from specialist to corporal and also awarded a Purple Heart.

"The result of this investigation in no way diminished the bravery and sacrifice displayed by Cpl. Tillman," said Kensington, who heads Army Special Forces.

A woman who answered the phone late Friday at the home of Tillman's uncle said the family would have no immediate comment.

At a memorial service in his hometown of San Jose, Calif., this month Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called him "a most honorable man."

"While many of us will be blessed to live a longer life, few of us will ever live a better one," McCain, who spent 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said at Tillman's memorial service.

The friendly fire account was first reported by the Arizona Republic and The Argus of Fremont (Calif.) on Saturday.

"It does seem pretty clear that he was killed by friendly fire," Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Republic. Franks said his panel was alerted to the information by the Army's Legislative Liaison Office.

The Afghan official told the AP that two groups of soldiers had drifted some distance apart during the operation in the remote Spera district of Khost province, close to the Pakistani border.

"Suddenly the sound of a mine explosion was heard somewhere between the two groups and the Americans in one group started firing," the official said, citing an account given to him by an Afghan fighter who was part of that group, not Tillman's.

"Nobody knew what it was -- a mine, a remote-controlled bomb -- or what was going on, or if enemy forces were firing. The situation was very confusing," the official said.

"As the result of this firing, that American was killed and three Afghan soldiers were injured. It was a misunderstanding and afterwards they realized that it was a mine that had exploded and there were no enemy forces."

Tillman's platoon was in the area as part of an effort called Operation Mountain Storm, in which they were charged with rooting out Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

The Arizona Cardinals safety became the first NFL player to die in combat since the Vietnam War. He was one of about 100 U.S. soldiers to have been killed in Afghanistan since the United States invaded in 2001.

No greater love hath this...than a man lay down his life for his friends

Sgt. Pat Tillman walked away from a $3.5 million NFL contract in 2002 to join the US Army Rangers, leaving
both his career and his new bride behind. He and his brother Kevin, (who walked away from a minor-league
baseball career) served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After leaving Iraq, both men returned to the States for special elite training, before being sent back to
Afghanistan, where the brothers served in the same platoon. Sgt. Tillman was killed while with his unit, part
of the 75th Ranger Regiment, hunting for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in southeastern Afghanistan. He was
twenty-seven years old.

Pat Tillman was unique in that he embodied all that is good about America -- and his life stands in stark
contrast to the ravings of politicians like Charley Rangel or John Kerry, who claim the military is unfair.

Rangel is attempting to have the government reinstate the draft, claiming the all-volunteer force is
disproportionately poor and consists mainly of minorities. According to Rangel, the only way to get guys like
Pat Tillman into uniform is to draft them. The only ones currently serving, following Rangel's line of thinking,
are those Americans too poor, too disadvantaged and too stupid to get real jobs.

Then there are guys like John Kerry who, if given the authority of the White House, would turn it over to the
United Nations. In John Kerry's world, Sgt. Tillman would have died under the command of the organization
that propped up Saddam Hussein for a dozen years in order to loot Iraq's oil wealth.

But Sgt. Tillman didn't join the US Army Rangers to serve the United Nations -- Tillman gave his life for his
COUNTRY, not for some universalist supra-national debating society whose interests almost always are at
odds with what is good for America. Tillman wasn't a member of the dregs of Rangel's society, he was the
cream of America's youth.

Sgt Tillman was an American -- a real American. He wasn't the kind of guy to talk out both sides of his
mouth. He knew what needed to be done and he did it. Tillman is representative of an America that baffles
the liberals.

Former Reagan speechwriter and Wall Street Journal Opinion columist Peggy Noonan summed it up, writing
in 2002, "As the Vietnam-era song said, "Something's happening here." And what it is may be exactly clear.
Some very talented young men, and women, are joining the armed forces in order to help their country
because, apparently, they love it. After what our society and culture have been through and become the past
30 years or so, you wouldn't be sure that we would still be making their kind, but we are."

As the comedian Mort Sahl likes to say, "We live in the worst political system in the world -- except for all the
others."

Pat Tillman died defending that system. But it goes beyond that. He joined the Army without expectation or
agenda beyond doing what he believed to be the right thing. He was besieged by interview requests from all
manner of media, for obvious reasons.

Tillman turned down all requests. He joined the Army to defend his country, not exploit his fame.

Sgt. Tillman lived for his country. And he died for it. Despite idiots like Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton who
keep talking about 'quagmires' and 'another Vietnam' America is still capable of producing heroes like Sgt.
Pat Tillman.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Semper Fi

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