Posted on 07/26/2007 5:35:18 PM PDT by leadpenny
33 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.
Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.
The medical examiners' suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Among other information contained in the documents:
• In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."
• Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.
• The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn't recall details of his actions.
• No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene — no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.
The Pentagon and the Bush administration have been criticized in recent months for lying about the circumstances of Tillman's death. The military initially told the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed by enemy fire. Only weeks later did the Pentagon acknowledge he was gunned down by fellow Rangers.
With questions lingering about how high in the Bush administration the deception reached, Congress is preparing for yet another hearing next week.
The Pentagon is separately preparing a new round of punishments, including a stinging demotion of retired Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., 60, according to military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the punishments under consideration have not been made public.
In more than four hours of questioning by the Pentagon inspector general's office in December 2006, Kensinger repeatedly contradicted other officers' testimony, and sometimes his own. He said on some 70 occasions that he did not recall something.
At one point, he said: "You've got me really scared about my brain right now. I'm really having a problem."
Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, who has long suggested that her son was deliberately killed by his comrades, said she is still looking for answers and looks forward to the congressional hearings next week.
"Nothing is going to bring Pat back. It's about justice for Pat and justice for other soldiers. The nation has been deceived," she said.
The documents show that a doctor who autopsied Tillman's body was suspicious of the three gunshot wounds to the forehead. The doctor said he took the unusual step of calling the Army's Human Resources Command and was rebuffed. He then asked an official at the Army's Criminal Investigation Division if the CID would consider opening a criminal case.
"He said he talked to his higher headquarters and they had said no," the doctor testified.
Also according to the documents, investigators pressed officers and soldiers on a question Mrs. Tillman has been asking all along.
"Have you, at any time since this incident occurred back on April 22, 2004, have you ever received any information even rumor that Cpl. Tillman was killed by anybody within his own unit intentionally?" an investigator asked then-Capt. Richard Scott.
Scott, and others who were asked, said they were certain the shooting was accidental.
Investigators also asked soldiers and commanders whether Tillman was disliked, whether anyone was jealous of his celebrity, or if he was considered arrogant. They said Tillman was respected, admired and well-liked.
The documents also shed new light on Tillman's last moments.
It has been widely reported by the AP and others that Spc. Bryan O'Neal, who was at Tillman's side as he was killed, told investigators that Tillman was waving his arms shouting "Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!" again and again.
But the latest documents give a different account from a chaplain who debriefed the entire unit days after Tillman was killed.
The chaplain said that O'Neal told him he was hugging the ground at Tillman's side, "crying out to God, help us. And Tillman says to him, `Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God's not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling ..."
___
Associated Press reporters Scott Lindlaw in Las Vegas and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this story.
You sound like a woman going through the change in life. Are you taking your meds?
Sorry, I haven’t been in a war but I have friends who are in it and I’m a taxpayer who pays her part of the budget, so forgive me if I’m a little self-righteous when I expect some honor out of my generals. This general deserves more than a demotion for his retarded part in this coverup...OK, I understand in a time of war you want to keep mum on bad news, but when the cover is blown, the gig is up...Baldface lying in the face of revealed facts is a bit shameful, and a retarded tactic to say the elast..
now that we’re done blaming the media and the stupid parents for daring to harass the military, can someone explain how those 3 gunshot wounds got into Pat Tillman’s head? I’m no Army medical examiner, but I’m betting he’s seen a lot more combat woudns than I have, and for him to guess that the shooting must have been 10 yards away...well i can understand why Tillmans parents are on the warpath.
Now Put on A Chicken Little costume and start Running around shouting the sky is falling the sky is falling.
>>the seven generals are the only ones
If they were dwarfs, the question of snow white’s input would arise.
I read that same article. From what we know up till now, it would seem that Tillman’s death was a terrible accident. Too much would have to be contrived for this to be an intentional murder-including Tillman’s own actions.
We have been deceived and I’d like to know if the seven generals are the only ones who are part of the deception.
He got fragged.
Are they going to punish the chick that awarded him the Silver Star?
already WAS a conspiracy when a bunch of people tried to cover up the friendly fire incident. Doesn’t take much more to think they would cover a frag. I’m not talking about an assassination plot being handed down by the top brass...if you believe that, you should put on your tin foil hat. Why don’t you use your war experience/knowledge and come up with a reasonable explanation as to how a tight spread of bullets ended up in Tillman’s head, and the military’s report that no other soldiers or gov’t equipment took fire?
It’s very true if you look at the way most people put that into context.
If you are saying one needs to go till the field to help it grow.. of course you have to “help yourself” but that’s not really helping yourself is it.
That’s doing work.. that’s the opposite of lazy.
Helping yourself implys you freely taking what is at your fingertips however you like.
If you think that’s what God wants than you are wrong.
“If you are saying one needs to go till the field to help it grow.. of course you have to “help yourself” but that’s not really helping yourself is it.”
Work is good for you. It builds character, homes, cities, and countries.
“If you think that’s what God wants than you are wrong.”
In this context I don’t see it possible that “help yourself’ meant to take something for free. It was in the context of get off your behind and do something. Not, ‘go down to the store and help yourself to anything you want’.
God’s word says he will not reward laziness but will reward those who work.
I take it you are not familiar with automatic weapons are you? Almost any good quality fully automatic when held properly is capable of leaving that tight a pattern by just giving one short burst. No tin foil hat needed at all
The Army had a public relations bonanza that turned into a public relations nightmare with the incident. They then had an integrity problem when they tried to cover up what happened. Discipline of those responsible for the decisions is appropriate. It can be noted that they had no problem recently going public and punishing Marines newly deployed to Afghanistan who violated the rules of engagement... Maybe it was easier because they were Marines or maybe they learned a lesson.
Proof once again that bad news does not get better with age.
Of course I'm referring to the Army image and not the death of Pat Tillman.
A little off topic, but I wonder what Rumsfeld knew? I'll say straight up that I've never been a big fan of his style. But, a couple of months ago retired MG Bacuba (sp?) gave a talk in California about how his investigation of Abu Grabe did him in. He describe a scene in Rumsfeld's office in which it was obvious to MG Bacuba that Rumsfeld knew the details of what went on there at a time when he - Rumsfeld - was publicly saying he was letting the judicial system work.
There is hardly any doubt in this old military mind that Rumsfeld, Meyers, the SecArmy and the Army Chief of Staff knew the details surrounding Pat Tillman's death, and I don't see the retired three star taking the fall unless they have something else on him.
I don’t think you grasp the phrase that “God helps those who help themselves.”
Call it “hijacked”, call it what you want.. but that phrase is used by people who imply you have to go out in the world and take what’s yours.. regardless of who gets in your way.
“I don’t think you grasp the phrase that “God helps those who help themselves.””
I think I grasp it just fine.
“Call it “hijacked”, call it what you want.. but that phrase is used by people who imply you have to go out in the world and take what’s yours.. regardless of who gets in your way.”
I think you’ve confused the “help themselves” part with “God Helps...”
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