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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See all 55 Comments"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.
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Well said!!!!!
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.
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."
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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!
Posted by blondchic at 08:43 PM : May 05, 2008
I made my point clear, you didn''t. I phrased mine so there was no misunderstanding. I am neither brainwased nor brainless. please go back and read what was ''said''.
Posted by Neo267 at 08:04 PM : May 05, 2008
AMEN TO THAT............
Posted by blondchic at 07:41 PM : May 05, 2008
What you just said is that Our military is nothing but a bunch of ''lowlifes'' that can''t make it in the ''real world''. please don''t ever tell them who you are, you might not like the results.
Was the military honest with America about Jessica Lynch? No, they invented a story that she herself said was a lie.
Were they honest with America or Pat Tillman''s family? No, again a huge lie!
The Pentagram is in the business of exploiting people''s patriotism and killing people. Why would anyone believe them in the first place?
Very bad deal, but there again this is war we are talking about and they are scared for their life as well.
And there is no doubt that some of those killed are killed on purpose. In other words MURDERED.
It happened in Viet Nam and was know as Fraging. It happened in World War-II, and will continue to happen as long as we have War%u2019s around the earth.
This business of the military not coming clean up front is crazy. Because it just makes matters worse for them and for the families of the dead soldier. In these kind of cases the question as to WHO fired the fatal shot or threw the grenade is never known.
Truth doesn''t matter to the neocons, public perception does.
In other words, it''s all about conning the public.
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