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'They blew up their poster boy'

Pat Tillman inspired the country after 9/11, giving up his professional football career to fight terrorism as an Army Ranger. But that sacrifice apparently wasn't enough for the Army. It misled the public about Tillman's friendly fire death as it exploited the false version to mass market patriotism. This fraud dishonored a fallen soldier and deepened his family's anguish.

Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004 in what the Army first claimed was a heroic assault on a hilly nest amid a storm of enemy fire. Yet according to the most recent investigation, the Army had determined almost immediately that Tillman was killed accidentally by his own men. Some later burned his uniform and body armor. Within days of the incident, according to the Washington Post, top Army officials were told the death was by friendly fire, but the Army waited for weeks to disclose the real story, after a public memorial service burnished the mythical firefight.

The irony of it all is that Tillman never sought acclaim for leaving professional football. He was motivated by ideals and a love of his country, his family said - an obvious contrast with Army officials who tried to sugarcoat a reckless accident. In an interview with the Post, Tillman's parents said the Army's "lies" have made it harder for them to accept their son's death. "They realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out," Patrick Tillman Sr. told the Post. "They blew up their poster boy." His family had to replay Tillman's final moments and digest how a selfless soldier had been used. Pat Tillman and his parents deserved better.

[Last modified May 25, 2005, 00:39:15]