Pat Tillman Research Paper

Pat Tillman: A Cover-Up at the Highest Level Pat Tillman was a professional football player who left his career to serve his country and paid the ultimate price, only to be exploited by politics. “Pat had it all, intelligence, movie star good looks, a loving wife, athletic prowess, fame. A lucrative and promising career. Who among us could walk away from riches and a job we love?" said Maria Shriver, California's first lady, about Pat Tillman. Instead of pursuing a multi-million dollar paycheck, Pat Tillman decided to serve his country after the devastating attacks of September 11Th, 2001. He was a proven role model who would never compromise his principles for personal gain. The politicians and military leaders of the United States called
him a hero and tried to use him as a poster boy to promote the war in Afghanistan. Tillman refused to be used as a puppet and chose to serve with dignity and honor. Born, Patrick Daniel Tillman, on November 6Th, 1976 in San Jose, California. He was the oldest of three sons born to Mary and Patrick Tillman. Pat and his younger brothers, Kevin and Richard, spent most of their youth reading and were very active. He attended Leland High School and contributed in the team’s victory of the Central Coastal Division 1 Football Championship. Pat Tillman was then awarded the last remaining scholarship to the Arizona State University football team in 1994. Pat Tillman and Marie Ugenti (future Mrs. Pat Tillman), both graduated from Leland High, Marie was voted “best smile”; and Pat was voted “most masculine”. Tillman began playing the linebacker position at Arizona State. He stood five-feet eleven-inches tall, relatively small for a line-baker, but nevertheless, Tillman excelled in his position. During his senior year, Tillman was voted the PAC 10 Defensive player of the year. He majored in marketing and graduated in three and a half years with a 3.84 grade point average. In 1998, Tillman was the 226Th National Football League’s overall draft pick, made by the Arizona Cardinals. He then switched positions to safety and started in ten of sixteen games his rookie season. Pat Tillman then turned down a five years, nine million dollar offer by the St. Louis Rams out of loyalty to the Arizona Cardinals. According to ESPN, in 2000, Tillman finished the season with 155 tackles (120 solo), 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 9 pass deflections and 1 interception for 30 yards (espn.com). In May 2002, eight months after the September 11 attacks and after completing the fifteen remaining games of the 2001 season which followed the attacks, Tillman turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million over three years from the Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army. Tillman finished his career with totals of 238 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3 interceptions for 37 yards, 3 forced fumbles, 2 pass deflections, and 3 fumble recoveries in 60 career games (espn.com). In addition he also had 1 rush attempt for 4 yards and returned 3 kickoffs for 33 yards. Tillman explained his decision in an interview, "My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and a lot of my family has gone and fought in wars. And -- I really haven't done a damn thing, as far as laying myself on the line like that." (cnn.com) Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin, enlisted in the Army at a Denver recruiting station. They signed a three-year commitment, soon after Pat returned from a two-week honeymoon with his wife, Marie, in Bora Bora. Pat and Kevin Tillman, entered basic training in June of 2002. Kevin Tillman gave up a career in professional baseball in order to serve in the Army. They both completed basic training in September of 2002. Then they continued together to complete the Ranger Indoctrination Program and were later assigned to the Second Ranger Battalion in Fort Lewis, Washington. Pat Tillman participated in the initial invasion of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On November 28th, 2003 Pat Tillman graduated from Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. On April 22ND, 2004, at twenty seven years of age, Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Sperah, Afghanistan . He and an Afghan militia solider were shot and killed when one allied group fired upon another in confusion after nearby gunfire was mistakenly believed to be from enemy combatants. Kevin Tillman, in the section split from Pat about quarter-mile down the road, arrived at the scene after his brother was killed. He was put on assignment guarding the area. Kevin was not notified about his brother’s death until thirty minutes later. On March 19, 2007, A CID Report summary stated that: "during their movement through the canyon road, Serial 2 was ambushed and became engaged in a running gun battle with enemy combatants. Serial 1 (Tillman's portion of the platoon) had just passed through the same canyon without incident and were approximately one kilometer ahead of Serial 2. Upon hearing explosions, gunfire, and sporadic radio communication from Serial 2, Serial 1 dismounted their vehicles and moved on foot, to a more advantageous position to provide over watch and fire support for Serial 2's movement out of the ambush." Upon exiting the gorge, and despite attempts by Serial 1 to signal a "friendly position," occupants of the lead vehicle of Serial 2 opened fire on Tillman's position, where he was fatally shot. (militarytimes.com) On April 23, 2004, officials announced the death of Pat Tillman. The White House puts out a statement praising Tillman as "an inspiration both on and off the football field." On May 1, 2004, President Bush comments at 90Th annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner that Tillman’s death "brought home the sorrow that comes with every loss and reminds us of the character of the men and women who serve on our behalf … was modest because he knew there were many like him making their own sacrifice." An autopsy report and photographs by two forensic pathologists in November 2006, concluded that Tillman was most likely killed as a result of fire from a M249 light machine gun (SAW). The M249 uses the same ammunition as the M16 but is capable of a substantially higher rate of fire. The higher rate of fire would have allowed for a competent user to place three bullets within a several-inch target from forty or fifty yards away, even from a moving vehicle. The memorial for Pat Tillman was on May 3, 2004 in the Municipal Rose Garden in San Jose, California. Nearly 2,000 people, including Rangers and Army officials, attended the service and it was televised live by ESPN. About an hour before the memorial service, Navy SEAL Steve White, a friend of Tillman was asked to read the tale of Tillman’s heroic acts and what he did to be honored with Silver Star at the ceremony. White was briefed with a false story by a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. Tillman's family was not informed that he was killed by friendly fire until weeks after his memorial service. At the request of Tillman’s family, Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones was tasked by Sen. John McCain, with preparing a full report on the incident. Jones reveals in an article in The Washington Post, that in the days immediately following Tillman's death, Army investigators were aware that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire and shot three times in the head. Jones reported that senior Army commanders, including Gen. John Abizaid, at the time Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), knew of this fact within days of the shooting but nevertheless approved the awarding of the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and a posthumous promotion. (The Washington Post, 2005) Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was notified within a day that Tillman was a victim of friendly fire. McChrystal was then put in charge of the paperwork to award Tillman a posthumous Silver Star for valor. On April 28, 2004, six days after Tillman's death, McChrystal approved a final draft of the Silver Star recommendation and submitted it to the acting Secretary of the Army, even though the medal recommendation deliberately omitted any mention of friendly fire, included the phrase "in the line of devastating enemy fire", and was accompanied by fabricated witness statements. On April 29, McChrystal sent an urgent P4 (confidential) memo warning senior government members and White House officials not to quote the medal recommendation in any statements written for President Bush because it "might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Corporal Tillman's death become public." (Associated Press, Aug. 4, 2007) According to Jones, several members of Tillman's unit burned his body armor and uniform in an attempt to hide the fact that he was killed by friendly fire. The reason given by the soldiers for burning the body armor was because it was covered in blood and was considered a "bio-hazard." According to Jon Krakauer, author of Where men win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Tillman’s notebook in which he recorded his thoughts on Afghanistan was also burned. Seven soldiers were given administrative reprimands for their actions, the most serious of which were for dereliction of duty and failing to exercise sound judgment and fire discipline in combat operations. According to Jon Krakauer, Tillman did not want to be used for propaganda purposes. He spoke to friends and was expected to go public about his opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war, after his military discharge. The destruction of evidence linked to Tillman's death, including his personal journal, led his mother to speculate that he was assassinated. A doctor who examined Tillman's body after his death wrote, "The medical evidence did not match up with the scenario as described," (usatoday.com) also noting that the wound entrances appeared as though he had been shot with an M16 rifle from fewer than 10 yards (9 m) away. (sfgate.com) These wounds suggest murder. There has never been evidence of enemy fire found on the scene, and no members of Tillman's group were hit during the incident by enemy fire. On March 4, 2006, the U.S. Defense Department Inspector General directed the Army to open a criminal investigation of Tillman's death. The Army's Criminal Investigative Division would determine if Tillman's death was the result of negligent homicide. On March 26, 2007, the Pentagon released their report on the events surrounding Tillman's death and cover-up. The report reads in part: “…we emphasize that all investigators established the basic facts of CPL Tillman's death – that it was caused by friendly fire, that the occupants of one vehicle in CPL Tillman's platoon were responsible, and that circumstances on the ground caused those occupants to misidentify friendly forces as hostile. None of the investigations suggested that CPL Tillman's death was anything other than accidental. Our review, as well as the investigation recently completed by Army CID, obtained no evidence contrary to those key findings.” (defense.gov) The last soldier to see Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. On April 24, 2007, O’Neal was warned by his battalion commander Lt. Col. Jeff Bailey, not to divulge that a fellow soldier killed Tillman. Bailey ordered O'Neal to keep the information in particular from fellow soldier Kevin Tillman, who was in the convoy traveling behind his brother at the time of the incident. (cnn.com) After Pat Tillman’s untimely death, there have been several memorials and tributes created in his honor.
The Pat Tillman Foundation was established by his family. The Lincoln Law School of San Jose has established the Pat Tillman Scholarship in honor of Tillman. On Sunday, September 19, 2004, all teams of the NFL wore a memorial decal on their helmets in honor of Pat Tillman. A memorial to Pat Tillman was created at Sun Devil Stadium, where he played football for the Sun Devils and the Cardinals. The Cardinals retired his number 40, and Arizona State did the same for the number 42 he wore with the Sun Devils. The Cardinals have named the plaza surrounding their University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza. On November 12, 2006, during a Cardinals game versus the Cowboys, a bronze statue was revealed in his honor. Arizona State also named the entryway to Sun Devil Stadium the "Pat Tillman Memorial Tunnel" and made a "PT-42" patch that they place on the neck of their uniforms a permanent feature. Pat Tillman's high school, Leland High School in San Jose, renamed its football field after him. In 2004, the NFL donated $250,000 to the United Service Organizations to build a USO center in Afghanistan, in memory of Tillman. A highway bypass completed in October 2010 around the Hoover Dam has a bridge bearing Tillman's
name.

“Pat Tillman loved the game of Football, yet he loved America even more.” - George W. Bush