The Tragedy of Pat Tillman
By Larry Johnson on September 6, 2010 at 10:24 PM in Current Affairs
Angry, grieving mothers are not rational or logical. Pat Tillman’s mom fits in that category. So does Cindy Sheehan. I cannot begin to imagine the pain felt by a woman who loses their son (or daughter) in a war. They are entitled to vent their anger. But that does not mean they are right.
The mythology surrounding the sad death of Pat Tillman in the mountains of Afghanista is back in the news with a new movie by Amir Bar-Lev called “The Tillman Story”. Folks on the left are convinced that Tillman was murdered because he opposed “the war.” Which war is irrelevant, but in the leftist meme Tillman got whacked because he had soured on the Bush war on terror and his fellow soldiers knew it and did the dirty deed.
For those on the right Tillman was an iconic hero. Lord knows that the Bush White House, the Rumsfeld Pentagon and the media in general seized on Tillman’s death to promote the concept of hero. Tillman was the poster child for the warrior who eschewed fame and fortune and laid down his life for his nation. At least that was the story.
But here’s what really happened.
Pat was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004. Only folks who have never been in combat insist that Pat’s death was deliberate and intentional. But shit happens in war, particularly when you have inexperienced combat leaders in the field, imperfect communications and fading daylight. When you are in the field you do not get to operate by the same safety procedures and precautions that govern a firing range. Tillman’s death was an accident.
The subsequent exploitation of Tillman’s death was not an accident. Unfortunately, General Stan McChrystal catches alot of blame for this exploitation. I think it is unfair. Yes, it is true that McChrystal signed off on the Silver Star recommendation for Tillman even though he believed there was growing evidence that Pat died from bullets fired by his fellow soldiers. But there was an innocent explanation–McChrystal actually thought at the time he was sparing the family and hoped the honor of the award would ease their pain. He was wrong and naive.
The record shows that McChrystal warned his superiors that the “facts” about Tillman’s death were troubling:
On April 29, Major General Stanley McChrystal — commander of the task force that the Rangers served in Afghanistan, and head of the most secretive joint-service force in the US military — sent a memo to John Abizaid, telling him to warn everyone all the way to Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush, an investigation “will find that it is highly possible Cpl. Tillman was killed by friendly fire… I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country’s leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Cpl. Tillman’s death become public.”
I remember the day when Tillman was killed. I was working on a military exercise at Fort Bragg. When the news came in everyone was stunned and saddened. I realize that those opposed to the war like to think of Stan McChrystal as a Neanderthal. But I have yet to meet a soldier who served under McChrystal and actually knew the man who does not lionize him. Why? McChrystal cared more for his troops than he did his own promotion possibilities. That’s why Stan spent so much time on the frontlines. The same cannot be said of General David Petraeus. As I have written before, he was known while he was a cadet at West Point as the kind of guy who would marry the Superintendant’s daughter in order to advance his career. Guess what? He did.
At the time of Tillman’s death most of McChrystal’s attention was consumed by the growing insurgency in Iraq. Afghanistan had become a second tier priority. But he was not in a position to dictate the allocation of military resources. The ones truly responsible for exploiting Pat Tillman’s death for purely crass political reasons occupied the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs and the White House. But history is not fair. I fear that McChrystal will become the convenient, easy scapegoat.
None of this brings Pat Tillman back to life. He’s dead and buried. The war in Afghanistan continues. More than likely there will be more friendly fire incidents and more grieving, angry mothers. None of this diminishes the honor that Pat Tillman deserves. He did sacrifice a material life in a cause he believed to be just and honorable. It also is true he had become disillusioned. His dream had not panned out. He was still enough of a professional to try to finish out his commitment. That fairy tale, sadly, ended and ended tragically. More than six years have passed since his death and the casualties from this incident continue to pile up.
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