Army Clamped Down After Tillman's Death

[lord_casek]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6574662,00.html

 

 

Friday April 20, 2007 9:46 PM

AP Photo FX103, FX104, FX106, FX102

By SCOTT LINDLAW

Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Within hours of Pat Tillman's death, the Army went into information-lockdown mode, cutting off phone and Internet connections at a base in Afghanistan, posting guards on a wounded platoon mate, and ordering a sergeant to burn Tillman's uniform.

New investigative documents reviewed by The Associated Press describe how the military sealed off information about Tillman's death from all but a small ring of soldiers. Officers quietly passed their suspicion of friendly fire up the chain to the highest ranks of the military, but the truth did not reach Tillman's family for five weeks.

The clampdown, and the misinformation issued by the military, lie at the heart of a burgeoning congressional investigation.

``We want to find out how this happened,'' said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House oversight committee, which has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday. ``Was it the result of incompetence, miscommunication or a deliberate strategy?''

It is also a central issue as the Army weighs punishments against nine officers, including four generals, faulted in the latest Pentagon report on the case of the NFL star-turned-soldier. Military offocials said those recommendations could come in the next several weeks.

It is well known by now that the circumstances of Tillman's April 22, 2004, death were kept from his family and the American public; the Army maintained he was cut down by enemy bullets in an ambush, even though many soldiers knew he was mistakenly killed by his own comrades. The nearly 1,100 pages of documents released last month at the conclusion of the Army Criminal Investigation Command's probe reveal the mechanics of how the Army contained the information.

For example, the day after Tillman died, Spc. Jade Lane lay in a hospital bed in Afghanistan, recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by the same fellow Rangers who had shot at Tillman. Amid his shock and grief, Lane noticed guards were posted on him.

``I thought it was strange,'' Lane recalled. Later, he said, he learned the reason for their presence: The news media were sniffing around, and Lane's superiors ``did not want anyone talking to us,'' he said.

Inside Forward Operating Base Salerno, near Khowst, Afghanistan, a soldier heard the dreaded call come across the radio: ``KIAs.'' There were two killed in action, one allied Afghan fighter and one Army Ranger, identified only by his code name.

The soldier checked a roster and discovered the fallen American was Tillman. He rounded up four others and broke the news but withheld Tillman's name.

Had this soldier wanted to share the news outside the tactical operations center, it would have been difficult. ``The phones and Internet had been cut off, to prevent anyone from talking about the incident,'' he told investigators.

Nearby on the same base, a staff sergeant was in his tent when a captain walked in and told him to burn Tillman's bloody clothing.

``He wanted me alone to burn what was in the bag to prevent security violations, leaks and rumors,'' the staff sergeant testified. The superior ``put a lock on communications'' in the tent, he testified. Other Army officers said this was probably a directive to the staff sergeant to keep the conversation to himself.

Then he left the staff sergeant to his work: placing Tillman's uniform, socks, gloves and body armor into a 55-gallon drum and burning them.

Several Army officers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan said pulling the plug on base phones and e-mail was routine after a soldier died. The practice was meant to ensure the family was notified through official channels, said Army Maj. Todd Breasseale, chief spokesman for ground forces in Iraq until last August.

But the truth was quickly becoming evident to a small group of soldiers with direct access to the evidence.

Two other sergeants who examined Tillman's vest noticed the bullet holes appeared to be from 5.56-caliber bullets - signature American ammunition. An awful realization dawned on the sergeants, whose names, like those of others who testified in the investigation, were deleted from the recently released testimony.

``At this time was when I had realized Tillman may have been killed by friendly fire,'' one of them said.

The other sergeant, who was higher-ranking, told him to ``keep quiet and let the investigators do their job,'' the subordinate sergeant testified. He was not to go ``informing unit members that Spc. Tillman was killed by friendly fire.''

This was the same reason top-ranking officers cited in trying to explain why they waited to tell the Tillman family: They wanted to have the definitive investigation results. Army regulations, however, dictate that the next of kin be informed of additional information about a service member's death as it becomes available.

Then-Col. James C. Nixon, Tillman's regimental commander, ordered an investigation but directed that the information gathered be shared with as few people as possible until the results were finalized, acting Defense Department Inspector General Thomas Gimble found in a separate probe also completed last month.

Nixon, now a brigadier general and director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, said that he was not aware of all regulations governing such a case, and that his missteps were unintentional.

Among the top brass at the Pentagon, Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, a now-retired three-star general in charge of special operations, represented the Army at Tillman's memorial service almost two weeks after the soldier's death. ``He decided to withhold notification from family members until all facts concerning the incident could be verified,'' Gimble found.

Kensinger denied that he knew on the day of the memorial service that friendly fire was suspected. But investigators dismissed his claim as not credible and Kensinger could be punished under military law for making false official statements.

Congressional investigators will try to determine how high up the chain of command the information lockdown went. The Army delivered several thousand pages of new documents on Thursday, military officials said.

Gen. John Abizaid, then chief of Central Command, in charge of all American forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, testified that he did not learn of the likelihood of friendly fire until sometime between May 6 and May 13 - two or three weeks after Tillman died - because he was traveling in the Middle East.

And a lieutenant colonel testified that he delayed briefing Central Command lawyers until more than a month after Tillman had died, in part because he feared leaks and did not want to be blamed as the source.

But Abizaid visited Afghanistan within a week of Tillman's death and spoke to Tillman's platoon leader, then-Lt. David Uthlaut. Uthlaut has testified he did not suspect friendly fire until later.

Abizaid's trip to Afghanistan was not examined by Gimble's investigators, according to spokesman Gary Comerford.

Abizaid had no immediate comment.

The new testimony and other documents do not identify who, if anyone, orchestrated the clampdown. Nor do they address whether there was a concerted effort to conceal the truth about the best-known casualty in the war on terrorism.

Gimble said last month he found no evidence of such a cover-up. But when asked by a reporter whether he probed why the Army had not told the family in a timely fashion, Gimble said no.

One soldier carried a particularly heavy burden of secrecy.

Ranger Spc. Russell Baer had witnessed Rangers shooting at Rangers. Afterward, he was directed to travel from Afghanistan to the United States with his friend Kevin Tillman. But he was ordered not to tell Pat Tillman's brother and fellow Ranger that friendly fire was the likely cause of the former football player's death.

He kept the secret, fearing he did not know the whole story. But in a personal protest, Baer later went AWOL and was demoted as punishment.

``I lost respect for the people in charge of me,'' Baer testified in an earlier Tillman investigation. He had gleaned ``part of the puzzle'' of Tillman's death, but lamented that ``I couldn't tell them about it.''

Five investigations and three years later, that information gap is what's driving the congressional probe, which is also looking into misinformation surrounding the capture and rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch in Iraq.

[shitting]

America, fuck yeah!

[lord_casek]

fragged?

[Theo Huxtable.]

Thank God the truth is finally coming out.

However from what I heard from other Rangers at the time, he was not killed accidentally.

I'm glad to be out of the military, but I still haven't found my footing.

Too many people with god-complexes and no way out without ruining the rest of your life.

The military is the only opportunity for alot of poor people.

 

agreed -- about the military and the kinds of people in it.

 

i never did know much about this story. it was always sketchy.

 

from what one person said on here a while back, who is in the service, that according to guys that were in the same company as tillman, was that he was not well liked. i forgot what 12oz member it was that said this, maybe i'll do a search. but he said tillman was an asshole. probably real gung ho and shit. makes me wonder if that dislike and contempt for him (and perhaps jealousy, being that he was an nfl draftee) is was what got him killed.

[Juan Fuentes]

already posted this video,but it is related to this thread,so here have a look anyways.

 

[fermentor666]

That sounds like a nasty rumor, that he was purposely killed because guys didn't like him. Plus, it wouldn't explain why Lane got clipped.

[lord_casek]

it's called "fragging" fermentor. happened alot in vietnam

[tango 24]

that is completely fucked up

[Stereotype V.0002]

Thank God the truth is finally coming out.

However from what I heard from other Rangers at the time, he was not killed accidentally.

I'm glad to be out of the military, but I still haven't found my footing.

Too many people with god-complexes and no way out without ruining the rest of your life.

The military is the only opportunity for alot of poor people.

 

If this is who I think it is, I remember the long gay melo-dramatic posts about “choosing the assault rifle” and how you came from a “long line of badasses”, and how terrible it is that you had no choice to join the military because you were poor and for some reason this also made you volunteer for RIP, you made before on your previous username. And it was pretty apparent then that you were full of shit. Also made me wonder how a batt boy could post online all day every day. Do you go by the name Jesse MacBeth at all?

 

I don’t know if anyone else saw the Sports Illustrated special on it, or the episode of sports center that detailed how it went down, but they had every soldier who was there who is no longer AD discuss it. He was on the ridge with an RTO, who he had taking cover behind a rock while he tried to signal for them to cease fire. If there was some foul shit, which I find hard to believe in the first place, his brother who was in the same company especially or atleast some of the people involved would come forward, there is no reason not to (excluding the vast republican/jew/new world order hit squad that would come kill them.) He was also well liked by everyone in his platoon by all accounts, if he wasn’t he would have been RFSed. Furthermore I think the “gung ho” shit etc isn’t likely, Tillman wasn’t a republican or right wing by any stretch of the imagination.

[Stereotype V.0002]

I also realize I'm wasting my time saying any of that to the people on here who think poisoned pet food is a illuminati conspiracy to take over the oil in Michigan and steal your brainwaves. The leadership obviously fucked the situation up royally by trying to play Tillman’s death into something it wasn’t (considering the negative press the Military was getting at the time with Abu Ghraib etc), and that lends itself to be interpreted as a conspiracy by someone who likes to see the world as such.

[Juan Fuentes]

yeah stereotype u are wasting your time,everytime u come here its to whine and judge other people,no one will take u serious,making other people feel bad is what u like doing,so u feel good.

looks like u might have narcissistic personality disorder,i know someone very close to me that has this,and its horrible.the disagreement to everything,judging and mocking to feel good,thinking all the others are stereotypes and u are the only one who is unique,special,perfect.

dont lie to yourself,because thats one of the symptoms of this personality disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

here the wikipedia for it.

[Dawood]

Juan, stereotype is a govt. agent planted here to infect the minds of unsuspecting 12 oz.ers

It's all a plot to pull the wooly mammoth over our opticules. I say we ban him, blackball him, ridicule , tar and feather him. Stereotype is Bush.

[fermentor666]

I also realize I'm wasting my time saying any of that to the people on here who think poisoned pet food is a illuminati conspiracy to take over the oil in Michigan and steal your brainwaves. The leadership obviously fucked the situation up royally by trying to play Tillman’s death into something it wasn’t (considering the negative press the Military was getting at the time with Abu Ghraib etc), and that lends itself to be interpreted as a conspiracy by someone who likes to see the world as such.

 

 

No, thank you for bringing something that dispelled the whole intentional murder thing. casek, where did you hear about Americans "fragging" other Americans in Vietnam? "Fragging" means blowing someone up, fellow soldier or enemy.

[lord_casek]

No, thank you for bringing something that dispelled the whole intentional murder thing. casek, where did you hear about Americans "fragging" other Americans in Vietnam? "Fragging" means blowing someone up, fellow soldier or enemy.

 

 

i was in 'nam...

 

 

ok, i wasn't, but i do know vets.

 

doesn't always mean "blowing someone up"

 

 

Fragging. When one American killed another American, usually a superior officer or an NCO, the term "fragging" came into use. Although the term simply meant that a fragmentation grenade was used in the murder, it later became an all encompassing term for such an action. It is known that "fraggings" did occur during Vietnam, but the precise number is uncertain.

[fermentor666]

Well, that's not enough proof to convince me. Used in the context of Quake, "fragging" means killing someone, anyone.

[Smart]

Here's the first paragraph of an article from Wirednews.com:

 

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.

 

Here's a link to the full 2 page article.

Army Bloggers

[lord_casek]

Well, that's not enough proof to convince me. Used in the context of Quake, "fragging" means killing someone, anyone.

 

yeah. i think quake when i think "fragging"

[WORDISM45]

Well, that's not enough proof to convince me. Used in the context of Quake, "fragging" means killing someone, anyone.

 

i'm not sure if you're joking or you actually haven't heard of fragging before but it's pretty common terminology for killing a superior

[Theo Huxtable.]

i was wondering if fermentor was joking too, but yes fragging definitely happened in vietnam. it originally referred to using fragmentation grenades, usually on a seargant or an officer who was being a dick and treating his people like shit. then it just became to be known as killing a fellow soldier by any means (shooting, stabbed, etc.).

[shitting]

I thought you could "frag" anyone ? like enemy soldiers, civilians etc

[nbamlbballer]

My uncle got discharged for fragging civilians, he said he was high and thought they were a colony of gigantic ants, war is messed up man.

[WORDISM45]

My uncle got discharged for fragging civilians, he said he was high and thought they were a colony of gigantic ants, war is messed up man.

your uncle sounds like a responsible human being who should definitely be trusted with a firearm [/sarcasm]

[lord_casek]

Tillman was murdered.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3958728.html

[Juan Fuentes]

AP is "official" ,so that means I CAN BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you world!

[lord_casek]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2956053

[lord_casek]

awesome.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Kucinich_grills_Rumsfeld_at_Tillman_coverup_0801.html

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

That clip is awesome.

 

Seriously did Rumsfeld do anything for the DOD? Or did he just sit behind a desk, collect a check. Then sit back and deny any knowledge of anything, seriously anything.