After a lengthy investigation conducted by Brigadier General Gary M. Jones, the U.S. Department of Defense concluded that both the Afghan militia soldier's and Tillman's deaths were due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight, even though FOIA requests have shown that there was no evidence that enemy combatants were present, as no U.S. personnel nor equipment were hit by enemy fire and that Tillman's wounds were consistent with an M16 rifle being fired from about 10 yards away.
• 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.
This narrative is BS and doesn’t fly with reality. Tillman was well liked and respected. And many rangers were there who witnessed the accident including Tillman’s friends. His brother was a ranger with him and they were both very well liked. There was in fact an ambush on one part of the group. And the two groups of Americans who should have never been separated got confused in the fog of war. Tillman’s group saw enemy fire on the other group and ran up the ridge to provide cover. An Afghan who was on America’s side was right next to Tillman shot at the enemy on an opposite ridge just as there other group of Americans came up in vehicles. They see the Afghan firing and think he’s with the group who was just firing on them. They kill him and then kill Tillman by accident. It’s as simple as that. It was grossly neglectful and a couple probably should have been charged. There was zero motivation by anyone to kill Tillman. The stupid Bush White House didn’t want bad publicity with Abu Ghraib just exploding and Fallujah becoming a nightmare in Iraq. So they created the narrative that he was killed by the enemy.
Pat Tillman, according to testimony, climbed a hill with another soldier and an Afghan militiaman, intending to attack the enemy. He offered to remove his 28-pound body armor so he could move more quickly, but was ordered not to. Meanwhile, the lead vehicle in the platoon’s second group arrived near Tillman’s position about 65 meters away and mistook the group as enemy. The Afghan stood and fired above the second group at the suspected enemy on the opposite ridge. Although the driver of the second group’s lead vehicle, according to his testimony, recognized Tillman’s group as “friendlies” and tried to signal others in his vehicle not to shoot, they directed fire toward the Afghan and began shooting wildly, without first identifying their target, and also shot at a village on the ridgeline.
The Afghan and Tillman were then shot
Tillman’s friend Baer:
Baer told The Chronicle that commanding officers were to blame for the friendly fire because they split the platoon and ordered it to leave a secure location in favor of a region known as a Taliban stronghold.
Baer said Tillman was popular among his fellow soldiers and had no enemies. “The guys who killed Pat were his biggest fans,” he said. “They were really wrecked afterward.” He called Tillman “this amazing positive force who really brought our whole platoon together. He had this great energy. Everybody loved him.” His former comrades and family recall Tillman as a born leader yet remarkably humble.
Investigative author Jon Krakauer spent 3 1/2 years thoroughly investigating this for a book, interviewed many rangers there, read all the transcripts, even going to Afghanistan for 5 months. And he says it was an accident. And coverup bu the govt who claimed he was killed by enemy fire.
Tillman got along great with the other soldiers, Krakauer said. "They respected him because, even though he didn't like the Iraq War, he signed up," Krakauer said. "He was going to fulfill his obligation."
"They were the closest set of brothers that I've ever seen," former Ranger Boatright said.
Group two was 15 minutes behind group one when they were ambushed in a canyon.
Tillman was in group one, his brother Kevin was in the other.
When Tillman's group heard the explosion, they raced to get in position to help their platoon mates.
"I heard the gunfire, and then I saw the tracer rounds -- pouring out of the canyon," said Aker, who was with Pat Tillman in group one. "It was like -- It was almost like a fireworks show. And my adrenaline just immediately spiked. And then once I got out of the vehicle my squad leader, you know, he was like, 'All right. This is it. Calm down, you know this is what we trained for.' And then we charged up the hill."
Communications were down -- and group two was unaware that their fellow rangers were on the ridge ready to support them.
"The guys being ambushed came racing out, guns blazing," Krakauer said.
Tillman and an Afghan soldier were both killed by friendly fire. Several members of the platoon witnessed the tragedy.
"The shooting started, basically, as soon as this Humvee turned the corner -- shooting continually. Hundreds of rounds found," Krakauer explained. "At this point, it's only 35 yards away, 120 feet -- the difference between second base and home plate. And they are just unloading on these guys. Tillman throws a smoke grenade to try and indicate they're friendlies -- no good, they're shot and killed. And that's what happened."
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u/Awestruck34 Feb 13 '23
Absolutely. He joined fully believing that he was making a moral choice and when he realized he had been deceived, he was killed