Pat Tillman Documentary Stirring Controversy

AOL ^ | Aug. 13 , 2010 | Kathryn Yao

[woofie]

An R-rated letter from Pat Tillman's father to a general and a battle over an R-rating are among the controversies brewing in anticipation of the Aug. 20 release of "The Tillman Story."

The documentary is based on the death of the Arizona Cardinals safety turned Army Ranger, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Last week, Mary Tillman, Pat Tillman's mother, wrote a commentary for the Los Angeles Times, speaking out about Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, her son's death, fallen soldiers and President Barack Obama. Among other things, she emphasizes that the government should have looked into McChrystal's record a year ago and that her son is not who everyone thinks or says he is. She wrote: "Pat is not more important or special than any of the others who have fought in these wars, but the truth of what happened to Pat -- and to every soldier who has died -- is important. The truth shines a light on systematic corruption, incompetence and lack of accountability in the military and in government." The Weinstein Co., which is releasing the film, also gave The Huffington Post two letters by Tillman's father that hadn't been publicly released. They were written during the investigation into Tillman's death. The letters were addressed to Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones (who was in charge of the investigation) and the Senate Armed Services Committee. In a nutshell, Tillman's father said, "F--- you ... and yours."

Thursday, The company lost an appeal to lower the R rating the Classification and Rating Administration gave. CARA, an organization under the Motion Picture Association of America, said the R rating still stands due to "language."

[skeeter]

How can we know it was an accidental death unless they get all the answers.

What business is it of your's?

[csmusaret]

McChrystal admitted to a US Senate hearing that “he didn’t read the citation carefully enough”. Given the effort his entire command took to cover up the friendly fire aspect of Tillman’s death, I find that excuse to feeble to believe. Everybody involved knew by the next day how Tillman had died, including the Commanding General. They tried to get some favorable publicity out of Tillman, and they got caught. Unfortunately they didn’t pay.

[csmusaret]

That is nonsense.

[skeeter]

Ok, sure.

[True_Kon]

I want to make sure American Hero died due to an accident and wasn’t murdered to keep him quiet.

I would think that would be business of every patriotic American.

[Cribb]

Re: "... the worse part of this war is that like Vietnam and in some cases Korea a lot of our men and women are directly killed because of political intervention."

I find the statement as written, without elaboration, to be highly offensive - like yellow jurnalism - done by one hiding behind an alias, especially by one who probably was never involved in such wars in the first place. If you were, you would have done a better job in the preperation of your comment.

[skeeter]

You need rest.

[Hildy]

I know this is conjecture, but I can’t help but think that Pat Tillman would be mortified with what they’ve done in his name. That’s just my opinion. He was a hero and a very brave man and somehow, by keeping this going, have taken that legacy away from him.

[Leisler]

"Lying by a General Officer about the circumstances surrounding the death of one of his soldiers is the scandal here. McChrystal signed a Silver Star citation for Tillman that stated he was killed by hostile fire. He knew that was not true when he signed it, and he participated in the cover up of the truth.

Correct. It was untrue, and a fabrication, and stupid.

McChrystal should have been cashiered on the spot. That he was not is beyond scandalous.

Bump.

[True_Kon]

You are right. My personal view is that he died in confusion, and worst incidents have happenned.

Eisenhower once sent heavy bombers, who bombed too close to Allied lines accidentally, and hundereds and thousands perished. So this happens in war.

I think because administration was underpressure due to Abu Gharib, they decided a fabricated heroic story would be good for the War Effort.

Problem is that Pat or his family didn’t want that. Hence the controversey.

[skeeter]

Based on the way Tillman behaved leading up to his death I'm sure youre right.

Its too bad many of us get caught up in this discussion as well - its not only unproductive its corrosive...

[LeonardFMason]

I feel sorry for the Tillman’s. Having said that, what are they hoping to accomplish in going on and on about this?

Pat Tillman was killed by accident. He is not the first, or last soldier, who has died by “friendly” fire. The facts, the real facts, about what happened got lost in the maze and beauracracy of military/civilian command. Some in the chain of command screwed up royally. Everyone knows this. They should be ashamed, embarrassed and held accountable.

What is the goal of the Tillmans and the Weinsteins(Massive Hollywood liberals) in putting this film together? Let me guess. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld hatched a plot to use the death of an NFL star to promote the war. Is that it? Is that what this is all about? With the WOT in its infancy, with operations going on hot and heavy, the death of one soldier, even a soldier named Pat Tillman must have been one of ten thousand considerations occupying the minds of those in command. Until it came to light that the death of an NFL star would draw massive media coverage, I am sure it was treated like the death of any other soldier. The emails urging caution in talking about his death seem normal enough.

Whatever the facts truly are, and they will probably not be in this film, enough already.

Pat Tillman gave his life for his country. He left the popular and lucrative world of the NFL to fight for his country. He left the comfort of the USA and lived, fought, and died in Afghanistan. Those are the facts that should be remembered.

[skeeter]

How many letters do you suppose were mailed to parents of American KIA by friendly fire in WWII saying 'your son was killed by a short round after advancing a little too quickly'?

Or were grieving parents typically 'lied to' and told their son died in the finest traditions of the service?

[Future Snake Eater]

He also volunteered to stand up in the middle of machine gun fire to wave off panicky gunners. NOT a smart move.

[texmexis best]

I think what you will find out if all the truth comes out is that Pat Tillman did something that was bad judgement and was shot accidently because they thought he was the enemy. Soldiers who die under those circumstances, and it is not as uncommon as you might think, are officially killed while serving heroically.

As far as I know no parent has ever received a letter that said anything different when their soldier died.

One General has been demoted and there may be others that will get the same treatment due to this code of honor. I think that they are protecting Pat Tillman’s reputation and they are doing a fine job of it.

Hats off to the US Army.

[Kimberly GG]

“Believing the general intended to cover-up for any other reason than to prevent additional pain to the family or the blow to public morale........was scandalous.”

If it were your son, you’d be ok with being lied to by the General under certain conditions?

[Terabitten]

Sergeant Major - here's the best graphic I've been able to find about his death. The incident itself is a great demonstration of why movement to contact with one unit in contact is damn dangerous to everyone involved. The platoon split into two groups (listed as Serial 1 and Serial 2 in the graphic) and didn't have commo with each other. Bottom line was that one element was in contact and the other element tried to link up with no coordination. Never a good plan.

What happened afterwards is, I agree, unexcusable.

[Jane Austen]

I would not be.

[Terabitten]

Or were grieving parents typically 'lied to' and told their son died in the finest traditions of the service?

That was actually my initial thought when I first heard Tillman's story. I figured he was probably with the assault element executing the react to contact drill, but either didn't flank far enough out, or didn't give the lift/shift fire signal, and ended up taking friendly fire from the support element. Turns out it was a platoon operation, with the platoon split into two sections. The two sections didn't have any commo with each other, but when one got into contact, the other section (the section Tillman was in) tried to link up with them without any coordination. That's a recipe for ugly if there's ever one.

[fr_freak]

But grief does strange things, and “making sense” is not one of the ‘stages of grief.”...
I don’t think the family “dishonors” Tillman. Nothing can dishonor his service to his country.

Once upon a time, a test of someone's character was how they handled adversity. Now, we excuse any behavior if that person is experiencing grief or hardship.

Nothing can dishonor Tillman's service in the eyes of the country and the military, but his family show him a lack of respect as a man and an American when they go on like they appear to be doing (assuming that the habitually-lying media isn't stirring things up and exaggerating statements...again).