Doctors Suspicious Of Tillman Bullet Holes

(AP)  U.S. Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former professional football player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"The medical evidence did not match up with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

The Pentagon and the administration of President George W. Bush have been criticized in recent months for lying about the circumstances of Tillman's death. The military initially told the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed by enemy fire. Only weeks later did the Pentagon acknowledge he was gunned down by fellow Rangers.

Ultimately, the Defense Department did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.

The medical examiners' suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

A news video that aired on Thursday's CBS Evening News on the Pat Tillman investigation erroneously included a picture of ret. Brigadier Gen. Gary Lee Jones. Gen. Gary Lee Jones is not connected in any way to the Tillman investigation. CBS News regrets the error.

Among other information contained in the documents:

• In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."
  
  
• Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.
  
  
• The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and could not recall details of his actions.
  
  
• No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene — no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.

With questions lingering about how high in the Bush administration the deception reached, Congress is preparing for yet another hearing next week.

The Pentagon is separately preparing a new round of punishments, including a stinging demotion of retired Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., 60, according to military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the punishments under consideration have not been made public.

In more than four hours of questioning by the Pentagon inspector general's office in December 2006, Kensinger repeatedly contradicted other officers' testimony, and sometimes his own. He said on some 70 occasions that he did not recall something.

At one point, he said: "You've got me really scared about my brain right now. I'm really having a problem."

Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, who has long suggested that her son was deliberately killed by his comrades, said she is still looking for answers.

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[randalds]

Posted by oldpilot954 at 04:49 PM : Jul 28, 2007

I believe it's always better to know the truth about how a loved one died. Always. A lie is worse because they never hold up. The truth always leaks out.

[coffeehead-2009]

%u2018Never would have called me %u201Csniveling%u201D%u2019
The chaplain told investigators that O%u2019Neal said Tillman was harsh in his last moments, snapping, %u2019Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God%u2019s not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling ...%u201D

%u201CHe never would have called me %u2018sniveling,%u201D%u2019 O%u2019Neal said. %u201CI don%u2019t remember ever speaking to this chaplain, and I find this characterization of Pat really upsetting. He never once degraded me. He%u2019s the only person I ever worked for who didn%u2019t degrade anyone. He wasn%u2019t that sort of person.%u201D

The chaplain%u2019s name is blacked out in the documents.

[coffeehead-2009]

Two days later and the NEW lie and coverup is yet to be covered. Portraying Tilman as arrogant and demoting him from poster boy to villian? Very telling - for those journalist who know how to report without a propaganda script.


*response from the "sniveling" comrade*


%u201CI thought I was praying to myself, but I guess he heard me,%u201D Sgt. Bryan O%u2019Neal recalled in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press. %u201CHe said something like, %u2019Hey, O%u2019Neal, why are you praying? God can%u2019t help us now.%u201D%u2019

Tillman%u2019s intent, O%u2019Neal said, was to %u201Cmore or less put my mind straight about what was going on at the moment.%u201D

[jdubs63]

oldpilot954..very kind words

[oldpilot954]

I don't agree with a cover-up but I also wonder if the family would have really felt better if the Army had told the truth. "He stood up in front of a firing M-16 and got his brains blown out for nothing!" Yeah that ought to fill them with warm fuzzy feelings! Instead someone said "Let's make him look like a hero!" and it's costing them their career. I do not excuse lying but there are two sides of the story.

[undermyboot]

** NO evidence of enemy fire in area
** Shots fired from M-16
** Shots fired from 10 yards away
** Three rounds hit in nearly the same location
** Perfect shots to the forehead
** Evidence of confrontation with other soldier minutes before
** Internal Army effort to stop criminal investigation
** Multi-level command effort to spin a fake story
** Obvious political motivation to hide truth and pump up the war

And there are people who think that "cover up" is just paranoid anti-Bush fantasy? 23% of Americans have an IQ of less than 92. 23% of Americans still believe Bush... ROFLMFAO

[phil-in-fin]

"It is apparent the that ONLY way any answers or justice becomes worth in this country, is by how much cash you have to fight to get the answers, and election to the few who actually end up running this country. SICK AND SAD."
Posted by OldThought at 03:03 AM

Didn't Americans already fight a war with England to overthrow a similar paradigm?

Seems that things have gone full circle ... and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do it ... not even an election ...

[homespunlady]

There was a scandal at one of the Academies due to discrimination concerning "professed devout Christians" getting privileges based on their beliefs and cadets of other beliefs being "punished" with implications it was because of their beliefs. The military addressed it and has worked on changing that. For the first time they've allowed a Wiccan symbol to be placed on the tombstone of those of that belief in military cemeteries. Ironic it's a star similar to what's on our nation's flag.
There's a rising problem with the quality of recruits. For the left, yes the less gullible or less DESPERATE don't enlist.
Unfortunately, the military is often the last resort of naive and financially desperate people that are reassured they won't face danger.
I don't know how many times I've heard reassurances that they'll be going to "the Green Zone".
Like Tillman, they later face "recalls" and "extended enlistments" that are BACK DOOR DRAFTS well after those people should have left active service and they believed they were done.

The ONLY ex-serviceman that really DESERVES to be recalled because he shirked his duty and skipped when he should have been flying missions in Vietnam is the one that believes he's ABOVE THE LAW. Unfortunately he resides in the Whitehouse.

[phil-in-fin]

"There will be hell to pay for the execution of hero Pat Tillman."
Posted by GunOwnerDan

I rather doubt it ...

What hasn't Bush and his cronies done?

Can they be accountable for EVERYTHING that have done?

If accountability ever takes place, this Tillman story, though it looks large for the family, is small compared to everything else they have done ...

[Netterz]

Sadest part of all of this, is that if he wasnt a celebrity of sort, would this have gained all the attention, and noteriety that it has? If he had been just an average joe on the planet..nothing would have ever come of it. I dont think it has ANYTHING to do with it being a Dem issue, or a Rep issue. This country would be better off disolving BOTH parties, and by going on the person who is most QUALIFIED for these positions. It is apparent the that ONLY way any answers or justice becomes worth in this country, is by how much cash you have to fight to get the answers, and election to the few who actually end up running this country. SICK AND SAD.