Pat Tillman

=Ahead of the 2018 NFL regular season, Nike released an <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8Tiz7vVzkfEJ_tlCbFK8YW4fGNBgDWdLuDj0YL8HB73RWV081SW_WopXd8lcpvrC4RA&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=36&v=1434">ad</a> featuring numerous athletes overcoming incredible obstacles. The ad, starring and narrated by Colin Kaepernick, implores athletes to dream big and accomplish their goals, culminating with a dramatic shot of Kaepernick saying “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”In the following days, the ad racked up tens of millions of views, hundreds of thousands of engagements, and much attention in the national political conversation. Many applauded Nike for supporting Kaepernick. However, right-wing politicians and right-wing media figures <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7zQgA_lKgFY2qUmWqav0z4TypRK1RscfrFcb5uzhcXE26G3-65SzoUObFXgvK77B4A7UVY8WVjZFx-whQp1Mv41mkEb7EX_MXtzPdbqRktn6eq3M9xRTZKgH9sExMn3OhXhV78hLcJ0FPb-hrNXeoUpZQGAI5vjdmDNitCGLMMNN&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=37&v=1434">exploited the ad</a> by comparing Kaepernick to Pat Tillman, an NFL player who quit the league to enlist in the Army after 9/11 and was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman, however, was actually a critic of the Iraq War, reportedly describing it as “fucking illegal.” His biographer <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=GjwzQmjoNJNKZ7-eUAZR_PA_nNH0Da_jCJ3Safw4xOtL575pTc8lstvdFD-qIJrUhY5sfa0AgNpIySNFIp0-NmHwyK98WJUrXyN1ABHPuApdOpA3n6n-7ZQ_0xmfZwC1fSFg2kk4XQJpHsI93FKAIqIKh3ppSNpNazFoMWuuG17XAO8mxYZWGWHxxaFmj_eLaTFN3bD1QgmL4JTxvCIdsA&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=38&v=1434">said</a>that Tillman "would be the first to kneel." (There is a long history of <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=oGkNRIpNU-65tzHrfmdwrzxenBHEkyQ-5uVCNzvQGKCOtuU2G0al3qB5LKHuKVoRTT_AGobLVKpzQBFKNKJgcQ&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=39&v=1434">the military</a> and <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=kS7qqMPznSL98ll8n1Lt7JgEE6YpHqe1MZ0egMur3-o0GDgjdzBokktvsT41b4UFnOxoYmYe5LJ_4VmnCfaZjH0LyU9nLWlApH_syz1GzokOPQqwJbh2X9pjHs-cHtdl&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=40&v=1434">conservatives</a> trying to hijack Tillman's story.)All of this didn’t matter to right-wing media and their audiences. Memes superimposing the Nike logo and “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” slogan on images of Tillman went viral, and Fox News even promoted the Kaepernick / Tillman comparison on air.The right-wing reactions to the Nike ad also included Republican representatives <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8Tk3-y-w1DqtTG7aaTlRwViSLdS7HWIGjOtmZEnOOA7Ndfs5kuBQ3tsoE7zeaXCenUw&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=41&v=1434">voicing their outrage</a> at Nike for choosing Kaepernick to be a face of the brand, Fox News promoting a Nike <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8Timcc77XTSK4EVsH9RfpLdROffkCG7B0_Rf_X5IZMSHs-nrAElDaM2-paE8gdbYkCQ&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=42&v=1434">boycott</a>, and Lou Dobbs <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=2FK9LC41lDtL6kGGxRiiM_t3zOAPAJ48qv5DAuQu8XZn6G-K1jO2uIfH9fjjbYnyjs_IH3iBUmKASF5y_Zzl9aa2sfXbl5r3y4XWQVcRRlw&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=43&v=1434">stating</a> that Kaepernick is an “anti-American activist.”NFL protests continue to be <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7zQgA_lKgFY2qUmWqav0z4TypRK1RscfrFcb5uzhcXE26G3-65SzoUObFXgvK77B4A7UVY8WVjZFx-whQp1Mv41mkEb7EX_MXtzPdbqRktn6eq3M9xRTZKgH9sExMn3OhXhV78hLcJ0FPb-hrNXeoUpZQGAI5vjdmDNitCGLMMNN&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=44&v=1434">a polarizing issue</a> in the national conversation leading up to the midterms. Members of Congress and national media figures continue to misrepresent the purpose of the NFL protests, even as countless athletes have <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=GQ96LxW7tJscudkL8mlwNzVEKXk7dMDJzwJlfbbiiRZH0z41mzeOMm2Fb1l9Pg5d&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=99weekly&n=45&v=1434">spoken at length</a> about their motivations to fight racial injustice and end police brutality.=ref intercept
no (few) lnx, pix
The   NFL, THE MILITARY, AND THE HIJACKING OF PAT TILLMAN’S STORYRyan DevereauxSeptember 28 2017, 6:31 a.m.AS PART OF HIS ongoing crusade targeting black athletes, President Donald Trump shared a tweet Monday morning from one of his supporters. It included an image of Pat Tillman, the former NFL safety-turned-U.S. Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan in the spring of 2004. “NFLplayer PatTillman joined U.S. Army in 2002. He was killed in action 2004. He fought 4our country/freedom. #StandForOurAnthem #BoycottNFL,” wrote @jayMAGA45.
The intent of the president’s retweet was clear: Trump was co-signing a suggestion that Tillman was a true patriot, unlike those who have chosen to kneel during the national anthem, and that those protests dishonor his legacy.
 FILE Cpl. Pat Tillman is seen in a this 2003 file photo provided by Photography Plus. Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.  (AP Photo/Photography Plus via Williamson Stealth Media Solutions, FILE) Cpl. Pat Tillman in a 2003 photo. Photo: Photography Plus via Williamson Stealth Media Solutions/APIt’s easy to understand why Tillman would make an attractive figure to Trump and his base. His Army photo reflects an image of a certain type of all-American hero: chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, white skin. But simply looking at Tillman’s photo and the superficial facts of his tale is to miss everything important about his life, his death, and what came after. Tillman’s is indeed an all-American story, it’s just not the kind that Trump and his supporters want it to be.Few episodes of the post-9/11 era have called down more disgrace upon the military than its handling of Tillman’s death and its treatment of his family in their search for answers. The most comprehensive documentation of those events can be found in three accounts: two books, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman,” written by Tillman’s mother, Mary, and “Where Men Win Glory,” by Jon Krakauer; as well as a 2006 story by Gary Smith for Sports Illustrated. Together, they offer an invaluable corrective to the simplistic depictions of Tillman, revealing a complex person and charting the ways in which officials at the highest levels of U.S. government sought to capitalize off his life and death.
Tillman was 25 years old when he joined the Army, placing him on the older side of military enlistees but on the decidedly younger side of life. His decision was born out of the conclusion that his comfortable existence in the U.S. made little sense in the months after 9/11; he wanted meaning, he wanted to do something that mattered, and he wanted to continue a lifelong project of placing himself in challenging situations. Along with his brother Kevin, Tillman chose to enlist. It was the same decision thousands of other young people of his generation made in the aftermath of 9/11. Both of the Tillman boys were, by all accounts, independent-minded free thinkers who enjoyed good books and good debates — chest-pounding jocks they were not. And, like many others who chose to come to the nation’s defense following 9/11, their worldview would evolve as they saw George W. Bush’s Global War on Terrorism up close.
pat-tillman-nfl-donald-trump-2-1506536573Pat Tillman of the Arizona Cardinals during an NFL football game in Tempe, Ariz., on Dec. 9, 2001. Photo: Donald Miralle/Allsport/Getty ImagesWHAT SET TILLMAN apart was what he left behind: a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals. The ties between the U.S. military and the NFL run deep, with the Department of Defense giving millions of taxpayer dollars to the NFL in recent years for various campaigns for recruitment and to support the troops. Tillman vowed that he would do no interviews once his enlistment became public, and he stuck to it. That did not stop the public — and the Bush administration — from seizing on his story. No matter how much he intended to stay under the radar, Tillman became a living, breathing symbol of honor, sacrifice, and the symbiotic relationship between the military and the NFL.
Tillman enlisted expecting to join the fight against Al Qaeda and the effort to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Instead, he was sent to Iraq. All available evidence indicates that Tillman loathed the Iraq War. A voracious reader who consumed many of the world’s great religious texts even though he considered himself an atheist, Tillman was a student of history and formed his own opinions. Shortly after arriving in the country, he confided in his brother and their friend Russell Baer that he thought the invasion and occupation were “fucking illegal.” He had loose plans to meet with Massachusetts Institute of Technology linguist and antiwar intellectual Noam Chomsky once he got out of the military. Still, as much as Tillman resented the Bush administration’s war of aggression, he refused to walk away from the military until his commitments were met, even after conversations between the NFL and the Defense Department presented an opportunity to do so.
pat-tillman-nfl-donald-trump-lynch-1506536592 This photo released by the U.S. Army shows former Iraqi POW Jessica Lynch receiving the Purple Heart Medal on July 21, 2003, at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Photo: Sean M. Brennan/AFP/Getty ImagesEarly on in their deployment, Tillman and his brother were called upon to join a quick reaction force providing back-up for the rescue of Jessica Lynch. The 19-year-old private’s capture and rescue was one of the most famous and widely reported stories of the early stages of the Iraq War. It was also an egregious exercise in official lies and government propaganda. In an account fed to the Washington Post and regurgitated far and wide, the American public was told that Lynch engaged in a “fight to the death” with Iraqi forces before being overrun and thrown into the darkest depths of Iraqi captivity. While it was true that Iraqi forces ambushed the convoy Lynch was part of, and that 11 American troops lost their lives, many of the events described in the sensational account did not actually transpire. Iraqis on the ground had in fact worked, at great personal risk, to return the young private back to the Americans once she was taken captive. And while she had indeed suffered substantial physical and emotional trauma as a result of the ordeal, Lynch herself blasted the fabrications about her experience in testimony before Congress in 2007. “I’m still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were legendary,” she said.
Tillman was right about the larger dynamics surrounding Lynch’s rescue. The pattern would repeat itself the following year — this time with him at the center.In his journal, Tillman observed that the build-up of forces around the Lynch rescue suggested “a big Public Relations stunt.” He was right about the larger dynamics surrounding Lynch’s rescue, that the truth of what happened on the ground during the ordeal would be distorted to present the American public with a more inspiring story. He had no way of knowing, however, that the pattern would repeat itself the following year — this time with him at the center.
SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 3:  Richard Tillman, the brother of  Cpl. Pat Tillman, raises a toast with a glass of Guiness, as he speaks at a memorial service for his Tillman, who was killed in action in Afghanistan April 22, 2004, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden May 3, 2004 in San Jose, California.  Tillman turned down a lucrative NFL contract to serve with as a US Army Ranger.  (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)Richard Tillman, the brother of Pat Tillman, raises a toast as he speaks at a memorial service for his brother on May 3, 2004, in San Jose, Calif. Photo: David Paul Morris/Getty ImagesTILLMAN AND HIS BROTHER landed in Afghanistan on April 8, 2004. They were halfway through their commitment to the Army; the end was in sight. Then, on April 22, Tillman was killed in the province of Khost, along Afghanistan’s eastern border. The NFL player-turned-national hero was awarded the Silver Star two weeks later, and his memorial service was broadcast on national television. The military provided a Navy SEAL whom the Tillman brothers had befriended with a narrative to read to mourners. It described how Tillman charged up a ridgeline, braving enemy fire, and died defending his fellow soldiers — a fittingly heroic end for the man who had become a symbol of honor and sacrifice for a country at war. But it wasn’t quite true.
Tillman had, in fact, charged up a hill in an effort to defend the men he served with, including his brother. He was not, however, killed by the enemy. Within hours, the military knew Tillman was killed by his fellow soldiers, brought down by three bullets to the head let loose during spasms of wildly irresponsible but deliberate shooting. “I’m Pat fucking Tillman!” he had screamed, in a failed effort to stop the incoming fire. Gary Smith, in his account for Sports Illustrated, noted that, for the men on the ground, the gravity of what had happened sunk in quickly: “America’s most renowned soldier was dead, and they had killed him.”
Manhunting in the Hindu Kush: U.S. Special Operations Missions in Afghanistan And The Hidden Toll On Afghan LivesRelated CoverageManhunting in the Hindu Kush: U.S. Special Operations Missions in Afghanistan And The Hidden Toll On Afghan LivesThe episode unfolded at a particularly bad moment for the Bush administration. The week before Tillman was killed, the Pentagon’s top officials learned of an upcoming “60 Minutes” story detailing torture at an American-run detention facility in Iraq called Abu Ghraib. Meanwhile, in Fallujah, the military’s campaign to take the Iraqi city from jihadis was falling apart. And, as U.S. casualties in the Iraq War hit a record high, the president’s approval rating tanked. In Tillman’s death, powerful officials saw an opportunity to spin a yarn of heroic sacrifice, rather than an obligation to tell the truth. Brig. Gen. Howard Yellen would later tell investigators that the view among the chain of command was that Tillman’s death was like a “steak dinner,” albeit delivered on a “garbage can cover.”
The military’s initial investigation, filed days after the incident, which described acts of “gross negligence” and called for the Army Criminal Investigation Command to determine whether shots were fired with “criminal intent,” was buried. In an echo of the Lynch episode, the Bush administration and the U.S. military shamelessly ran with the fabricated account of Tillman’s death. In the hours after Tillman was killed, his uniform and personal effects were destroyed, meaning key forensic evidence — of what many men in his platoon knew was a case of fratricide — was lost. Tillman’s fellow soldiers were told to keep quiet, including in their conversations with his brother Kevin, who was on the mission but at a different location when the fatal shots were fired. Right away, the military lied to Tillman’s parents, initially telling the family that an enemy combatant killed their son as he stepped out of a vehicle. The military kept the truth from them through Tillman’s memorial service, allowing the SEAL who cared for Tillman and his brother to unknowingly describe to the entire country a sequence of events with even more embellishment.
Kevin Tillman, left, brother of former NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly-fire in Afghanistan, his mother Mary Tillman, center, and former Iraq POW Jessica Lynch, right, are sworn in prior to testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)From left, Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman; Mary Tillman, his mother; and former Iraq POW Jessica Lynch are sworn in prior to testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Capitol Hill on April 24, 2007. Photo: Susan Walsh/APTILLMAN HAD MADE it clear that he did not want a military funeral. He was cremated instead. “Pat’s a fucking champion and always will be,” his baby brother Richard said at the service. “Just make no mistake, he’d want me to say this: He’s not with God. He’s fucking dead. He’s not religious. So thanks for your thoughts, but he’s fucking dead.” Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, an Army officer tapped to lead one of the early investigations into the incident, was apparently so profoundly unsettled by the Tillmans’ lack of religion that he, at one point, suggested their absence of faith was the reason they couldn’t come to terms with Pat’s death. “I’m not really sure what they believe or how they can get their head around death,” Kauzlarich told investigators in a follow-up inquiry in 2004. “So, in my personal opinion, sir, that is why I don’t think they’ll ever be satisfied.”
Four weeks after the memorial service, Kevin Tillman’s sergeant pulled him aside at their stateside base and told him his brother had been killed by friendly fire. Their mother, Mary, got the news from a reporter calling her for comment. The military withheld key facts from the Tillman family even as it admitted the broad stokes of his death. It would take four years of digging, led chiefly by Mary; seven official investigations; and two congressional hearings before some semblance of the truth surrounding Tillman’s death was pried from the government. More than 2,000 pages of testimony released to the Associated Press in 2007 revealed that “Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory emails for keeping criminal investigators at bay,” and that the close proximity of the bullet holes in Tillman’s forehead had raised serious questions from medical examiners as to the Army’s version of events. “An alternative narrative had to be constructed,” Kevin Tillman told lawmakers in a hearing that year — the same hearing where Jessica Lynch described how the government twisted her experience for its own benefit. “After the truth of Pat’s death was partially revealed,” Tillman’s brother said before the House committee, “Pat was no longer of use as a sales asset and became strictly the Army’s problem.”
Working tirelessly for years in the evenings, Mary Tillman pieced together what happened to her son.“They were now left with the task of briefing our family and answering our questions,” Kevin went on to say. “With any luck, our family would sink quietly into our grief, and the whole unsavory episode would be swept under the rug. However, they miscalculated our family’s reaction. Through the amazing strength and perseverance of my mother, the most amazing woman on earth, our family has managed to have multiple investigations conducted. However, while each investigation gathered more information, the mountain of evidence was never used to arrive at an honest or even sensible conclusion.” Working tirelessly for years in the evenings, after coming home from her job as a special education teacher, Mary Tillman pieced together what happened to her son, pouring the shocking findings into her book. “They attached themselves to his virtue and then threw him under the bus,” she told Sports Illustrated. “They had no regard for him as a person. He’d hate to be used for a lie. I don’t care if they put a bullet through my head in the middle of the night. I’m not stopping.”
Tillman’s mother laid much of the blame for the cover-up at the feet of Donald Rumsfeld, Bush’s secretary of defense at the time. Rumsfeld had taken an early interest in the compelling story of the young football star who became an Army Ranger. In a 2008 interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Mary explained that Rumsfeld “had written Pat a letter when he enlisted, thanking him for enlisting, so Pat was in his radar.” Tillman said it was “ludicrous to think” that Rumsfeld, a well-known micromanager with a keen interest in special operations units, wouldn’t have been immediately notified of her son’s fratricide. “Heads would have rolled if they didn’t tell Rumsfeld,” she said.
“I don’t recall when I was told and I don’t recall who told me,” Rumsfeld had said of the episode before Congress in 2007. “I know that I would not engage in a cover-up.”
WASHINGTON - AUGUST 01:  Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the combat fratricide of NFL star and US Army Ranger Pat Tillman on Capitol Hill August 1, 2007 in Washington, DC. The hearing was titled "The Tillman Fratricide: What the Leadership of the Defense Department Knew." Tillman's family was originally told that he was killed by the enemy during combat in Afghanistan. It was later revealed that he was killed in a "friendly-fire" accident by his fellow Rangers.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the combat fratricide of Pat Tillman, on Aug. 1, 2007, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRUMSFELD WASN’T THE ONLY senior Pentagon figure involved in the events following Tillman’s death. At the time, the now-retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal headed the famed Joint Special Operations Command, running the most secretive Pentagon’s efforts in Afghanistan — including Tillman’s Army Rangers platoon. Seven days after Tillman was killed, amid the mounting evidence of fratricide, McChrystal sent a memo up the chain of command as a heads-up to the president and other senior officials who might make speeches about the incident.
“I felt it was essential you receive this information as soon as we detected it,” McChrystal wrote, “in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country’s leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Corporal Tillman’s death become public.”
The “if” at the end of the general’s statement was particularly concerning to the Tillman family, in part because subsequent investigations revealed that McChrystal was well-aware of the fact that Tillman’s death was a case of fratricide when he sent the memo. Krakauer, in his book, described McChrystal going to “extraordinary lengths to prevent the Tillman family from learning the truth about how Pat died.” Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2009, McChrystal told lawmakers, “We failed the family.” He added, “It was not intentional.”
In the wake of his death, Tillman’s wife and high school sweetheart, Marie, set up a foundation in his name — the Pat Tillman Foundation — to support veterans and their spouses with academic scholarships. On Monday, she issued a statement about the president’s invocation of her late husband’s name. “Pat’s service, along with that of every man and woman’s service, should never be politicized in a way that divides us,” she wrote. “The very action of self-expression and the freedom to speak from one’s heart — no matter those views — is what Pat and so many other Americans have given their lives for. Even if they didn’t always agree with those views.” Marie’s statement went on: “It is my sincere hope that our leaders both understand and learn from the lessons of Pat’s life and death, and also those of so many other brave Americans.”
There is an irony in suggesting Tillman’s legacy is somehow desecrated by protests that take place during the national anthem because those protests are said to insult the military, when it was that same military, the NFL’s longtime ally, that did so much actual damage to Tillman’s legacy after his death. There has been no shortage of commentary on what Tillman would or would not do in the current moment. During his time as a football player, he both stood outside his teammates’ traditional pre-game prayer circles — a reflection of his deeply held atheism — and also described, in no uncertain terms, his reverence for the symbolism of the flag. Whatever action he would take, there’s every reason to believe that Tillman would follow his heart and his convictions if faced with the protests rippling through the sports world right now. Unfortunately, the public will never know for sure, because Tillman died on a hill in Afghanistan 13 years ago, in war that continues to this day.
He was 27 years old. [pix of statue]==https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112816210
<div id="storytext" class="storytext storylocation linkLocation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 140.094px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left; min-height: 120px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">latest book from Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air and Into The Wild, focuses on the life and tragic death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, who left a lucrative contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the U.S. Army Rangers.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Krakauer talks to NPR's Melissa Block about his investigation into Tillman's death by friendly fire — and the Army's subsequent effort to cover up the circumstances of that death.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A Spray Of Bullets<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">At least half the members of a platoon traveling through Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, had never been in a firefight before. But on this day, the enemy attacked. In response, the American soldiers sprayed thousands of rounds from their machine guns, M4s and grenade launchers.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Not far away was Tillman, accompanied by another American soldier and an Afghan militia fighter, who had been firing his weapon at the opposite canyon wall, where he suspected enemy fighters could be. When, from a distance, the leader of one of the U.S. platoon's Humvees saw the Afghan militia fighter, he reacted.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"He testified that the [Afghan] guy had on an American uniform, but in the panic of the moment, he reflexively put the guy in the sights of his M4 and put seven rounds into his chest," Krakauer says. The shots by the leader of Humvee were followed by a spray of bullets from the rest of his men. It was an attack that ended in Tillman's death.<aside id="ad-backstage-wrap" aria-label="advertisement" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" font-style="font-style" inherit="inherit" font-variant-ligatures="font-variant-ligatures" font-variant-caps="font-variant-caps" font-weight="font-weight">
What happened next was an effort by the government to suppress the circumstances of Tillman's death.An Army Cover-Up<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"Within hours, certainly, and probably less, the Ranger regiment — officers, high-ranking officers back in the States — were conspiring to cover this up," Krakauer says.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">A recommendation to award Tillman with a Silver Star medal, one of the U.S. military's highest honors, immediately began moving through the Army ranks — something that is not done for deaths by friendly fire, Krakauer says.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">And, says Krakauer, "when a soldier is killed in combat, you should put his uniform, his weapon, everything — anything that can be considered forensic evidence should be sent back to the States with the body, so the medical examiners could determine the cause of death. In the case of Tillman, none of that happened."<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Tillman's uniform and body armor were burned, says Krakauer, and his weapon, helmet, even a part of his brain, which fell to the ground after the attack, disappeared. Army officials told the medical examiners that Tillman had been killed by the Taliban — and they stuck by this story when they reported the death to his family.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">"The Army intentionally lied," Krakauer says. "They just broke regulation after regulation."<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">One soldier, Russell Baer, was sent back to the United States with instructions not to reveal to the Tillman family that their son had been killed by friendly fire.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">After attending the funeral, Krakauer says, "He was so upset at having to lie to Pat's mother that Russell Baer went AWOL."<div id="res112817034" class="bucketwrap image medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 40px 15px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: right; width: 330.781px; clear: right; overflow: hidden;"><div class="imagewrap" data-crop-type="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative;"><div class="enlarge-options" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><button class="enlargebtn" style="text-align: left; user-select: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-appearance: none; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; text-indent: -999em; cursor: pointer; display: block; position: absolute; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; height: 27px; width: 27px; background-image: url(" media.npr.org="media.npr.org" chrome="chrome" icon_enlarge.png="icon_enlarge.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" no-repeat="no-repeat" font-style="font-style" italic="italic" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden">Enlarge this image</button></div></div><div class="credit-caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="caption-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="caption" aria-label="Image caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; width: 300.781px; background: 0px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 55.7em;">
</div></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">New Details<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Though the death of Pat Tillman, and the subsequent congressional inquiry into it, has been covered closely by the news media, Krakauer says there are many details that have yet to be exposed.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">The author uncovers several new aspects of the story by combing through the more than 4,000 pages of documents related to the government's investigation of Tillman's death, and conversations with his fellow soldiers.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;">Krakauer points out that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, now the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, signed off on the Silver Star recommendation, even though he knew that Tillman's death was a result of friendly fire. In confirmation hearings earlier this year, McChrystal acknowledged that the Army had failed the Tillman family, and he apologized for his part in that. But he maintained that he "didn't see any activities by anyone to deceive," and that he "absolutely" believed that Tillman earned the Silver Star.

...Prologue

Homo sapiens first coalesced into tribes, war has been part of the human condition. Inevitably, warring societies portray their campaigns as virtuous struggles, and present their fallen warriors as heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for a noble cause. But death by so-called friendly fire, which is an inescapable aspect of armed conflict in the modern era, doesn't conform to this mythic narrative. It strips away war's heroic veneer to reveal what lies beneath. It's an unsettling reminder that barbarism, senseless violence, and random death are commonplace even in the most "just" and "honorable" of wars. Consequently, and unsurprisingly, when soldiers accidentally kill one of their own, there is tremendous reluctance to confront the truth within the ranks of the military. There is an overwhelming inclination to keep the unsavory particulars hidden from public view, to pretend the calamity never occurred. Thus it has always been, and probably always will be. As Aeschylus, the exalted Greek tragedian, noted in the fifth century b.c., "In war, truth is the first casualty."<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" font-style="font-style" inherit="inherit" font-variant-ligatures="font-variant-ligatures" font-variant-caps="font-variant-caps" font-weight="font-weight">Among the several thousand pages of documents generated by military investigators, some baffling testimony emerged from the Ranger who is believed to have fired the bullets that ended Tillman's life. In a sworn statement, this soldier explained that while shooting a ten-round burst from his machine gun at the hillside where Tillman and O'Neal were positioned, he "identified two sets of arms straight up" through the scope of his weapon. "I saw the arms waving," he acknowledged, "but I didn't think they were trying to signal a cease-fire." So he pulled the trigger again and sprayed them with another ten-round burst. How was one supposed to make sense of this?When Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, his Ranger regiment responded with a chorus of prevarication and disavowal. A cynical cover-up sanctioned at the highest levels of government, followed by a series of inept official investigations, cast a cloud of bewilderment and shame over the tragedy, compounding the heartbreak of Tillman's death.</a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Or this: in July 2007, the Associated Press published an article reporting that the Navy pathologist who performed Tillman's autopsy testified that the forensic evidence indicated Tillman had been shot three times in the head from a distance of thirty-five feet or less. The article prompted widespread speculation on the Internet and in the mainstream press that he had been deliberately murdered.</a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Many other details about the fatal firefight that found their way into the public domain were similarly perplexing. Perhaps the greatest mystery, however, surrounded not the circumstances of Tillman's death but the essential facts of his life. Before he enlisted, Tillman was familiar to sports aficionados as an undersized, overachieving football player whose virtuosity in the defensive backfield was spellbinding. But during the four years he spent in the NFL, Tillman played for the Arizona Cardinals — a mediocre small-market team that was seldom in the limelight — so his name wasn't widely recognized beyond the realm of hard-core football fans.</a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Although it wasn't Tillman's intention, when he left the Cardinals to join the Army he was transformed overnight into an icon of post-9/11 patriotism. Seizing the opportunity to capitalize on his celebrity, the Bush administration endeavored to use his name and image to promote what it had christened the Global War on Terror. Tillman abhorred this role. As soon as he decided to enlist, he stopped talking to the press altogether, although his silence did nothing to squelch America's fascination with the football star who traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL for boot camp and a bad haircut. Following his death on the battlefield, the public's interest in Tillman shot through the roof. The posthumous media frenzy shed little light on who he really was, however. The intricate mosaic of personal history that defined his existence was obscured by the blizzard of hype.</a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Unencumbered by biographical insight, people felt emboldened to invent all manner of personae for Tillman after his passing. Most of these renderings were based on little more than rumor and fantasy. The right-wing harridan Ann Coulter claimed him as an exemplar of Republican political values. The left-wing editorial cartoonist Ted Rall denigrated him in a four-panel comic strip as an "idiot" who joined the Army to "kill Arabs."</a><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.17647em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 680px; position: static; float: none; width: auto;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Neither Coulter nor Rall had any idea what motivated Pat Tillman. Beyond his family and a small circle of close friends, few people did.</a></aside></div><div id="supplementarycontent" class="supplementarycontent storylocation linkLocation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 140.094px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="container small" id="con112818157" previewtitle="Related NPR Stories" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 27px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: right;"><h3 class="conheader" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 22px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><a name="112815381" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Related NPR Stories</a></h3><div id="res112818173" class="bucketwrap internallink simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 15px 20px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: none; max-width: none; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; background: 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90203500" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" templates="templates" story.php="story.php" storyid="90203500" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: none; max-width: none; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; background: 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12420939" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" templates="templates" story.php="story.php" storyid="12420939" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 14px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; float: left; background: url(" media.npr.org="media.npr.org" chrome="chrome" news="news" bullet_5x5.png="bullet_5x5.png" left="left" px="px" no-repeat="no-repeat">Ex-Defense Head Rumsfeld Testifies About Tillman</a><span class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2px 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left;">Aug. 1, 2007</div></div><div id="res112818177" class="bucketwrap internallink simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 15px 20px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: none; max-width: none; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; background: 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9151817" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" templates="templates" story.php="story.php" storyid="9151817" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 14px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; float: left; background: url(" media.npr.org="media.npr.org" chrome="chrome" news="news" bullet_5x5.png="bullet_5x5.png" left="left" px="px" no-repeat="no-repeat">Tillman Probe Hits Army For Mishandling Details</a><span class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2px 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left;">March 27, 2007</div></div><div id="res112818179" class="bucketwrap internallink simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 15px 20px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; float: none; width: auto; clear: none; max-width: none; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket simple" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; background: 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9145472" data-metrics="{" category="category" story="story" to="to" action="action" click="Click" internal="Internal" link="Link" label="label" https="https" www.npr.org="www.npr.org" templates="templates" story.php="story.php" storyid="9145472" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 14px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; float: left; background: url(" media.npr.org="media.npr.org" chrome="chrome" news="news" bullet_5x5.png="bullet_5x5.png" left="left" px="px" no-repeat="no-repeat">Pentagon Report Cites Errors After Tillman's Death</a></div></div></div></div>===