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December 05, 2004
The Death Of Pat Tillman
In Sunday's Washington Post, reporter Steve Coll has reconstructed the events in and around the firefight where Pat Tillman, ex-NFL defensive back turned Army Ranger, lost his life in the mountains of Afghanistan. Using a combination of official sources, as well as interviews with some surviving members of Tillman's unit, Coll paints a harrowing picture of an operation gone wrong, ending with a group of overeager and inexperienced Rangers wildly firing their weapons to escape an ambush -- killing Tillman in the process: Tillman and nearly a dozen other Rangers on the ridge tried everything they could: They shouted, they waved their arms, and they screamed some more. But according to Coll, it would be another five weeks before the Army informed any member of Tillman's family -- including his brother Kevin who served in the same unit -- that he died as the result of friendly fire. In Part II, set to run in Monday's newspaper, Coll promises to detail how the Army tried to cover up the details of Tillman's death, and exaggerate his exploits on the battlefield. UPDATE: Whatever other details might emergy, Petrified Truth gets it right: Deaths by friendly fire are an all-too-common occurence in the proverbial "fog of war." So too is the human tendency to avoid public admission of error and failure. Neither detract from the honor of Pat Tillman's courage and sacrifice. Indeed. And one of the SportsProphets plans a fitting tribute. Other Links: Donate to the Pat Tillman Foundation. Buy a Pat Tillman Jersey. Proceeds to benefit his foundation. UPDATE: Here's Phil Carter from Intel Dump: Covering up incidents of friendly fire, as opposed to extensively AAR'ing them, only ensures they will continue to happen again -- and that unit after unit will relearn the same deadly lessons. FYI: The Post generally posts articles to its online site anywhere from 10:30 p.m. to Midnight. I'll check in around then for Part II.
Eric
12:01 AM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: Commentsthe human tendency to avoid public admission of error and failure So the Army gets a pass because its tendencies can be personified? No one would in their right mind would argue this detracts from Tillman's reputation. Posted by: at December 6, 2004 06:32 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |