‘They Were Lying’

Soldier: Army ordered me not to tell truth about Tillman
POSTED: 10:39 a.m. EDT, April 25, 2007

The last soldier to see Army Ranger Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge -- especially to the Tillman family -- that a fellow soldier killed Tillman.

O'Neal particularly wanted to tell fellow soldier Kevin Tillman, who was in the convoy traveling behind his brother at the time of the 2004 incident in Afghanistan.

"I wanted right off the bat to let the family know what had happened, especially Kevin, because I worked with him in a platoon and I knew that he an...

Soldier: Army ordered me not to tell truth about Tillman
POSTED: 10:39 a.m. EDT, April 25, 2007

The last soldier to see Army Ranger Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge -- especially to the Tillman family -- that a fellow soldier killed Tillman.

O'Neal particularly wanted to tell fellow soldier Kevin Tillman, who was in the convoy traveling behind his brother at the time of the 2004 incident in Afghanistan.

"I wanted right off the bat to let the family know what had happened, especially Kevin, because I worked with him in a platoon and I knew that he and the family all needed to know what had happened," O'Neal testified. "I was quite appalled that when I was actually able to speak with Kevin, I was ordered not to tell him."

Asked who gave him the order, O'Neal replied that it came from his battalion commander, then-Lt. Col. Jeff Bailey.

That's the bastard responsible. He probably got promotion.

Secrets and lies - how war heroes returned to haunt Pentagon
Thursday, 26 April 2007

THE PAT TILLMAN STORY
The fiction
Tillman, a corporal in the elite Army Rangers, was killed on 22 April 2004, when his unit was attacked in an ambush near the village of Sperah in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. He was said to have been killed by enemy fire in the incident, in which an Afghan militia soldier was killed, and two other Rangers injured. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valour, on the basis of a falsified citation. Ge...

Secrets and lies - how war heroes returned to haunt Pentagon
Thursday, 26 April 2007

THE PAT TILLMAN STORY
The fiction
Tillman, a corporal in the elite Army Rangers, was killed on 22 April 2004, when his unit was attacked in an ambush near the village of Sperah in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. He was said to have been killed by enemy fire in the incident, in which an Afghan militia soldier was killed, and two other Rangers injured. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valour, on the basis of a falsified citation. George Bush called him a "national inspiration".

The facts
Tillman's unit was split into two groups as it moved through a canyon on a search mission for al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters. Tillman was assigned to the advance unit, but it was the second, trailing unit that came under attack. Tillman tried to chase off the attackers. He was killed in chaotic firing by the second unit - even though the driver of its lead vehicle later testified he recognised Tillman as a "friendly" and tried to signal to his colleagues to cease fire.