Facing Up To The Tragedy Of War

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Facing Up To The Tragedy Of War

Editorial
NY Times
May 24, 2005

One of the euphemisms of war is "friendly fire," reflecting the sad truth that in the frenzy of combat, a soldier can be killed by his comrades in arms. But there is an even sadder truth about the death of Cpl. Pat Tillman, the young patriot who after 9/11 renounced a millionaire's career as a football player to enlist in the Army Rangers and defend his country. It turns out the Army knew within days that misdirected gunfire from American forces took Corporal Tillman's life in Afghanistan last year. Yet a hero's death tale was concocted and the truth suppressed until weeks after a nationally televised memorial service had grievously misled the corporal's family and his countrymen.

Even days before the patriotism-drenched ceremony, when top Army brass knew the combat death was fratricide, the officials kept the sorry secret and pursued a misbegotten public relations strategy that portrayed the dead corporal as storming an enemy stronghold and rallying his compatriots as he was shot down. A lengthy Pentagon investigation, reported by The Washington Post, later found that his death resulted from "gross negligence" by fellow Rangers who fired in confusion on the corporal as he tried to signal he was not the enemy. Investigators found that commanders hushed the truth and soldiers destroyed evidence in burning the corporal's blood-soaked battle gear.

"We didn't want the world finding out what actually happened," one soldier sheepishly admitted to investigators, according to The Post's report on the findings.

Understandably, Corporal Tillman's parents feel doubly cheated in the loss of their son and the abuse of the truth. "They blew up their poster boy," his father, Patrick Tillman Sr., bitterly told The Post, concluding that the Army was worried about crimping recruitment. Mary Tillman now mourns her son as having been betrayed by the military he so loyally joined. "The truth may be painful, but it's the truth," Mrs. Tillman said. She touched on another of the running tragedies of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - the temptation toward propaganda when only truth can serve the nation.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company