CANTON, Ohio, May 5, 2008
This Gold Star Mom A "Black Sheep"
Peggy Buryj Wants Truth About Friendly Fire Death Of Her Son In Iraq; He Was Shot In Back
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Play CBS Video Video Soldiers Deaths Clouded By Lie Mary Tillman and Peggy Buryj believe the Army is withholding the truth about their sons' deaths by friendly fire. Maggie Rodriguez reports.
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Photo Essay Pat Tillman A look at the former NFL player who died fighting as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.
Much later, they learned he was actually shot in a case of friendly fire.
Pat Tillman's death resulted in a national outpouring of grief. Tributes were paid to his heroic life and his heroic death. But, none of the Army's versions of how he died was true.
And Mary Tillman isn't alone in frustration.
Just two weeks after Pat Tillman lost his life, Army Specialist Jesse Buryj was killed in Iraq.
His mother, Peggy Buryj, was told he died in a humvee accident, protecting his unit as it came under attack.
But months later, Peggy learned her son had been shot in the back.
And the story kept changing.
"He believed in honor, integrity, loyalty, duty," Peggy says. "Where was their loyalty to him, when they weren't telling his parents and his wife what happened to him?"
The final jolt came with the official autopsy report, as Peggy read the words "friendly fire."
"It was like losing him all over again, burying him all over again," she remembers.
Like Mary Tillman, Peggy Buryj is on a mission to find the truth.
From her Canton, Ohio home Monday -- four years to the day her son was killed, Peggy told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez she has "No idea" why the Army "had to lie. There was no good reason in my mind. They should have told the truth from the very beginning. They just made it worse."
On "60 Minutes, Mary Tillman said, "When you're lied to, your brain goes all over the map, and things that aren't really true can appear to be true."
She said later, "This isn't about us, it's about what they've done to the public. This is a public deception."
Peggy says she agrees, and, "What's in your mind is worse than what the truth will ever be. In the wee hours of the morning, your mind goes places you do not want it to go."
Mary Tillman said, at one point, things got so crazy, she actually wondered if her son had been murdered.
Did that ever cross Peggy's mind?
"Oh, yes. (I thought) 'Did they hate him? Did they do it on purpose?' Your mind goes a million different directions when you don't have the truth."
Peggy says the truth may never be known about Jesse's death: "I don't think there is any evidence. They threw away the bullet. There's no proving who shot my son now. There's no proving it. The evidence is gone.
"I would love somebody to take responsibility for my son's death. But I don't think that's ever going to happen, never."
Peggy says she's "a Gold Star mom's worst nightmare," explaining that, "When you're a military family, the idea is that you have complete faith in your leaders and, God forbid, when you lose a son, everything will be handled properly. And I am the painful reminder to them that the military can lie. I think, then, it's hard for them (Gold Star moms) to realize that my story is not like their story. I'm not waving the flag higher and faster, and I'm not going to try to justify the war because my son died in it. This is not about politics and it's not about patriotism. This is -- for me -- just about getting the truth.
"When you hold onto the honor, the loyalty, the dignity, and all that for me has been shattered, so how can I be in with a bunch of gold star families when I'm the black sheep because everything was shattered?"
Peggy says President Bush promised her in 2004 that he'd seek answyersd about Jesse's death, but they've never come, even though he told her, "Sometimes it just takes a phone call from the president."
She showed Early Show cameras Jesee's purple heart, but said, "This is last thing my son gave to me, the last physical thing my son gave to me, but I really don't know (how I feel about it) because they lied so much. My son's blood was not spilt because of the enemy. And I really don't know if he deserved it. And I really don't take comfort with it, because of so many lies surrounding it."
What will to mark today's grim anniversary?
"Me and my daughter, we're going go to the cemetery and visit Jesse. Take him some flowers. Go remember Jess."
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- A Gold Star Mom is the title you receive when someone looses a loved serving their country.
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- And as a final, parting shot, I feel compelled here to address the nature of liberalism, which has developed as a major theme in most of these posts. Contrary to what most social educators will have you believe, a ''liberal'' does not think for itself. Much like the conservative, liberals are content to sit back and swill on the pap fed to them by whichever outlets are most conveniently at hand. The difference between the angry rants of Berkeley professors and the ranting rages of conservative ''theologians'' centers only on their targets. They are both unwilling to think for themselves and they are both seeking to push their will (of course, because it''s RIGHT) on the rest of the populace.
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- Ah, Element51 . . . if you had ever been in the military you would have a very different opinion. Points and rebuttals:
"our military has done a fantastic job under the circumstances"
- our military leadership has done a terrible job in Iraq. Unfortunately, the liberal military leaders that were nutured by the Clintons are unwilling to take the temporary measures that are required to keep the Iraqi populace safe. See, they will be ''unpopular'' if they do so.
"we are all, (us liberals) very proud of [the military]"
- Oh my goodness. This comment deserves only: "Bwah-hah-hah-haaaaah".
"Clinton just continued those policies."
- Clinton did a great deal more than merely continuing cutbacks. Rather than let the military leadership of the time handle their own affairs, the Clintin administration was very active in the Pentagon, encouragig promotion lists, and assembling other lists of military officers to attend their ''seminars''.
But it is ever the liberal way to speak first, before researching. It feels good to SAY you have beig cojones (doesn''t it?), but the fact is that the liberal mind rarely tends be focused or disciplined enough to DO SOMETHING with it''s imagined strength. It''s a shame, as there are some very fine minds wasting away in many liberal areas. Feh. - Reply to this comment
- "And I''''m also sick and tired of you buttweisels throwing around the word "liberal" like it was something coated with *****. The word simply means that we are willing to listen and think for ourselves instead of having to listen to Limbaugh and Hannity and be told what to think." Posted by Element51
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Well said!!!!! - Reply to this comment
- More terrorist propaganda by the news media. Do you really think it''''''''s easy to tell how people get killed in battle? The news media don''''''''t care. They will use any personal tragedy for their own sick ends.
Posted by Neo267 at 08:04 PM : May 05, 2008
Hey Neo, it sounds like you''re describing Cheney. The man who told the puppet what to do.
Did I miss something? Is Mrs. Tillman the media?
God forbid anyone who expresses their true feelings in this country - especially if it''s damaging to the Lush Bimbaugh kool-aid drinkers. - Reply to this comment
- The Bush administration is built of lies.
They started with 935 lies to bring us into war.
As Harry Powell said, "A liar is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord."
George W Bush and his entire administration are abominations in the eyes of the Lord." - Reply to this comment
- dmw1167....This has nothing to do with Tillman''s football career or his volunteering for service knowing that danger was involved. This is a clear cut case of the current administration using this man''s death to prop up sagging support for their war. They did the same thing with Jessica Lynch. And I''m sick and tired of you neocon jaggoffs not having the guts to admit that your great liar in chief is a gutless coward who lies out his arse to the American people. And I hate to break it to you but he is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on. Remember the sign on Truman''s desk that read, "THE BUCK STOPS HERE". And I''m also sick and tired of you buttweisels throwing around the word "liberal" like it was something coated with *****. The word simply means that we are willing to listen and think for ourselves instead of having to listen to Limbaugh and Hannity and be told what to think. No one has any way of knowing what the next administration will bring. You think you do but unless you are able to see the future you have no more idea than any one else. You better hope that whoever gets in can at least tell the American people the truth instead of a bunch of lies. It''s time for the truth...we''re grown up enough to handle it.
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- "I am sick and tired of all the liberal a** holes trying to blame President Bush for everything, this only shows your ignorance. He has done a lot of things wrong (my opinion only)but he cannot control every thing that goes on. Wait until you get a democratic president and see what happens." Posted by dmw1167
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Bush started this war. It had nothing to do with 9/11. Everything bad associated with Iraq is his fault. He is responsible for every death, for every no bid contract and for destroying our country to keep that horrible mistake afloat. It IS George Bush''s fault! - Reply to this comment
- War is not a video game and our government and military knows we are all expendable under the notion of patriotism...Game Over!
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- His Buddies hated him.. He was too perfect, too handsome, too rich, and had too much attention paid to him because of his NFL status. Men are jealous ****** too. They killed him, plain and simple.
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Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy 
