Marie Tillman, widow of former NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, stepped forward for the first time since her husband was killed by friendly fire. (Mike Wintroath / Associated Press)
Posted on 08/23/2007 5:08:24 AM PDT by radar101
LITTLE ROCK - The widow of Pat Tillman said Wednesday in her first public comments since her husband's death that the country needs "authentic leaders."
Saying that talking about her "best friend" was difficult, Marie Tillman told an audience at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service about the many good qualities of the NFL athlete and Army Ranger.
"Pat was a man with enormous talent. His athletic ability was matched by a deep and complex moral and intellectual side," she said. "He always tried to do the right thing and he was the first to admit when he didn't."
Tillman was cut down April 22, 2004, by bullets fired by his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, not by enemy fire as the military initially claimed. The military said officers knew within hours that Tillman's death was from friendly fire, and violated regulations by not telling his family or the public for five weeks.
Tillman's death attracted worldwide attention because he had walked away from a huge contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, his brother Kevin and other family members maintain that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others must have known more about Tillman's death sooner than they've acknowledged. The family has alleged a cover-up leading to the White House.
But Wednesday, Marie Tillman and brother-in-law Alex Garwood, who together head the Tillman Foundation inspired by his memory, steered clear of discussion about the controversy surrounding his death. They said they were invited by the Clinton School to speak and Marie Tillman said she believed it would be a good forum to discuss the foundation.
She said her husband was dynamic and action-oriented, something needed in private and public life. After the terrorist attacks on the country, he felt compelled to respond despite a lucrative contract with the Cardinals, she said.
"Many things have changed since Pat decided to join the Army. And unfortunately leadership on many levels has come into question," she said. "We are in need of authentic leadership on many levels, social, economic and political."
Marie Tillman offered brief remarks before her brother-in-law took the lectern.
She and Garwood said the foundation was committed to developing leaders among young people. Through its programs at Arizona State and in Tillman's home town of San Jose, Calif., young people work with mentors and focus on solving real-life problems, they said. The college has an undergraduate program on leadership similar to the Clinton School graduate program, Garwood said.
During a congressional hearing Aug. 1, Rumsfeld and three former generals expressed regret with the Pentagon's delay in telling the truth. They took no blame for the violation.
The inquiry came a day after the Army, in the seventh investigation of the Tillman affair, laid most of the blame for the response to Tillman's death on Philip Kensinger, a retired three-star general who led Army special operations forces after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Army censured Kensinger for "a failure of leadership" and accused him of lying to investigators and failing to notify the Tillman family properly. A review panel of four-star generals will decide whether Kensinger should have his rank reduced.
Pat Tillman is a true American patriot and hero.
However, if any of the Army leadership decided to give Pat a silver star KNOWING that he was actually killed by friendly fire and covering it up - they should be busted to privates and dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army.
May God bless Pat Tillman.
Let's see how grateful you are if you are given false reports about your spouse's death.
It doesn't matter how he got killed? I daresay that if it were my wife or son or daughter that had been killed it would matter a great deal to me how it happened.
Believe it or not this administration doesn't handle everything correctly.
Are you reading the tripe you are writing?
The military was right the first time? You do realize don't you that the military said Pat was killed by hostiles the first time, right?
I love the cavalier attitude toward Tillman's widow being shown by people on this thread.
Your two FR posts thusfar make me pretty sure you're a troll.
I meant that he died a hero. Doesn’t matter if it’s friendly fire or enemy. Pat Tillman WAS a hero either way. While I regret the attempt to whitewash the event, he still died a hero and should be remembered as such.
blancadebree
Since Aug 20, 2007
Welcome to FR.
I admire Tillman for what he did and am humbled by his sacrifice... but his activist left-wing family has done nothing but work tirelessly to undermine this fight and I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with the whole damn lot of them. There are 3,000+ other families who also paid the ultimate price in this war. Maybe we could hear from them, too, every once in a while.
“She needs to let it go and move on with her life.”
Easy for you to say.
Hey, I’ve lost loved ones.........she is not unique in that experience.
Baloney. He was no more a hero than anyone else who volunteers to serve his/her country and pays the ultimate price. I just don't buy the proposition that anyone who foresakes a "lucrative way of life" to serve their country deserves any more credit than the kid getting out of high school and joins the military. It demeans the military and service to the country. If anything, it is those who enjoy a "lucrative way of life" who have benefitted the most from living in this country. They should feel a greater sense of obligation.
It is an honor for an individual to serve in the military rather than something the individual confers on the military. The very fact that Pat Tilman's service is considered noteworthy demonstrates how screwed up this country's values have become. Sadly, he is an exception, not the rule.
Stupidest comment I've read on FR in a long time.
IN POLITICS, Timing is everything. The timing of this complaint becoming a media topic causes the “rightness” of their complaint to be obscured by the manner in which it is being employed.
If this were not an attack on the White House she would not be welcome to speak on any college campus.
Amen.
Didn't mean to attack you personally.
Marie Tillman, widow of former NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, stepped forward for the first time since her husband was killed by friendly fire. (Mike Wintroath / Associated Press)
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