Tillman Tribulations

[marmar]

from The American Prospect:


Tillman Tribulations

Donald Rumsfeld and high-level generals deny a conspiracy surrounding Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan, but their stories have changed so many times, it's hard to take them at their word.

Kay Steiger | August 2, 2007 | web only



Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is one of the many administration officials benefiting from the "I do not recall" defense. On Wednesday, as Congress rushed to finish the summer session before the August break, the House Oversight Committee gathered to question Rumsfeld and three high-level generals about Corporal Patrick Tillman's death.

After more than three years and six separate investigations (the most recent of which concluded Tuesday) within the Army and the Department of Defense, the story that Tillman died as the result of valor against the enemy changed to a story that he was the victim of fratricide. Now, no one is quite sure about the circumstances surrounding Tillman's death. His mother, Mary Tillman, said in an interview with National Public Radio, "They could have told us the truth. And if they didn't want to tell us the truth, they could have said that we don't know, we're doing an investigation. But what they did is they made up a story."

In the latest investigation report released this week, that there's some evidence suggesting that Tillman's death in Afghanistan may not have even been accidental. Army medical examiners said the three bullet holes in his forehead appear to have been fired from an M-16 about 10 feet away. At that distance, it would be nearly impossible to mistake Tillman for anything other than a fellow officer. His fellow soldier, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, is reported to have testified that he heard Tillman say, "Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat fucking Tillman, damn it!" many times during the conflict.

O'Neal recently filed his report of what happened on the ground, but said in a later interview that he didn't recognize several passages upon re-reading it. Someone changed it after he filed the report, he said. Who made the changes, though, has yet to be determined. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=tillman_tribulations

[eridani]

1. There is a timeline from ESPN linked to this article

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tillmantimeline

It might be a start on any timelines anybody else feels like constructing.
One thing I noted was that the events occurred after sunset on April 22, 2004, given as 6:31PM.

Manah, Afghanistan. ... Latitude, 34.0203N, Longitude, 69.6039
Latitude of Los Angeles is 34.052N

Similar latitude to LA, meaning not quite equatorial instant darkness, but no really long twilight period either.