Tillman mom: Account of death may not be true

Mary Tillman, mother of NFL star-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman, testifies before the Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill in 2007. In "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman," Mary Tillman charts her family's efforts to cut through misleading official accounts of how her son died in Afghanistan.


Tillman mom: Account of death may not be true
By Scott Lindlaw and Martha Mendoza - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 13, 2008 7:18:02 EDT

SAN FRANCISCO — The mother of a former professional football player who died while serving in the Army Rangers suspects the military’s account of how fellow soldiers shot and killed her son in Afghanistan is still not the true story, four years later, according to her new book.

The Army told the family and public that Pat Tillman died in an enemy ambush April 22, 2004. The military knew within hours that friendly fire was involved but waited five weeks before disclosing it, in violation of military regulations.

The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported on the investigation into Tillman’s death, but lawmakers granted Mary Tillman access to uncensored versions of some documents that were not available to journalists.

“Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman,” just issued by Modern Times books, is based on her review of those documents and charts the Tillman family’s efforts to cut through misleading official accounts of how the former football player died. Tillman had walked away from a contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

Citing documents and eyewitness accounts, Mrs. Tillman says she strongly suspects the men who shot her son stepped out of a Humvee to aim carefully at him. They were not, as official accounts have asserted, speeding by on a bumpy mountain road. The shooters denied this.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_tillmanbook_051208/

I haven't believed this story from the beginning. Since they have admitted lying why would anyone believe any of the accounts. Too many lies and too much cover up for it to be anything but murder.

Or at least that is what I think

3 shots to the head @ less than 10 yds ... (one burst from a M-16)

The question is: What did he know? I have heard speculation, but have not heard anything that caught fire...

but it seems hard to believe that a personal vendetta would be covered-up and whole story lines developed by the chain of command for a "personal" murder. To me, it seems more plausible that it was "business" of some sort (maybe the opium trade?), but without a real investigation there is only speculation...