With Pat Tillman’s 30th birthday coming on Monday, and the Cardinals putting him in their ring of honor this weekend, the Associated Press has dug through a ton of Army evidence about how Pat Tillman was killed.
I actually don’t have a ton to say about it … I don’t feel qualified to speak on the issue, and I’m sure there are others out there who are more knowledgeable and have a deeper sense of outrage than me. But here are snippets of the AP’s findings, from this SI.com article. It’s not a lot of fun to read.
One of the four shooters, Staff Sgt. Trevor Alders, had recently had PRK laser eye surgery. Although he could see two sets of hands “straight up,” his vision was “hazy,” he said. In the absence of “friendly identifying signals,” he assumed Tillman and an allied Afghan — who also was killed — were enemy.
Another, Spc. Steve Elliott, said he was “excited” by the sight of rifles, muzzle flashes and “shapes.” A third, Spc. Stephen Ashpole, said he saw two figures, and just aimed where everyone else was shooting.
Tillman’s platoon had nearly run out of vital supplies, according to one of the shooters. They were down to the water in their CamelBak drinking pouches, and were forced to buy a goat from a local vendor. Delayed supply flights contributed to the hunger, fatigue and possibly misjudgments by platoon members.
A field hospital report says someone tried to jump-start Tillman’s heart with CPR hours after his head had been partly blown off and his corpse wrapped in a poncho; key evidence including Tillman’s body armor and uniform was burned.
Wow.

tony
Still a horrible and tragic story… but at the risk of sounding more callous than usual, is it just me, or do the Cardinals find some way to “officially honor” Pat Tillman every other home game?
November 11, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Stephen
Just another set of government lies that fan the flames of war in ways that can’t be undone. Even if all of the truth comes out about the shameful Tillman affair, no amount of exposing the Pentagon can undo all of the flag-waving (and subsequent pro-war sentiment).
And though I don’t agree fully with the sentiment, I am reminded of this:
http://stream.paranode.com/imc/portland/images/2004/05/287659.gif
November 14, 2006 at 10:32 am