Remember Pat Tillman? this Pat Tillman:
Ann Coulter, who called him “an American original — virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be.” His May 3, 2004, memorial in San Jose drew 3,500 people and was nationally televised.
I am sure we all remember that Pat Tillman…
But don’t forget about this Pat Tillman:
FAMILY DEMANDS THE TRUTH
New inquiry may expose events that led to Pat Tillman’s deathMary Tillman said a friend of Pat’s even arranged a private meeting with Chomsky, the antiwar author, to take place after his return from Afghanistan — a meeting prevented by his death. She said that although he supported the Afghan war, believing it justified by the Sept. 11 attacks, “Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war.”
Baer, who served with Tillman for more than a year in Iraq and Afghanistan, told one anecdote that took place during the March 2003 invasion as the Rangers moved up through southern Iraq.
“I can see it like a movie screen,” Baer said. “We were outside of (a city in southern Iraq) watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an old air base, me, Kevin and Pat, we weren’t in the fight right then. We were talking. And Pat said, `You know, this war is so f– illegal.’ And we all said, `Yeah.’ That’s who he was. He totally was against Bush.”
Another soldier in the platoon, who asked not to be identified, said Pat urged him to vote for Bush’s Democratic opponent in the 2004 election, Sen. John Kerry.
It seems that not only was Pat Tillman a patriotic fellow, but he was also a flaming liberal… (At least, by the right wing spin machine’s standards)
Will this ever put some more twists in the panties of the many right wing pundits that count him among their heroes. (Not that I think you should over-politicize someones death, like the bushies tried to…)
And the cover up of his death is covered quite well in the article. Go! Read! Come back all the wiser!
And remember that Ann Coulter will always hold a special place in her heart for those manly Liberals she idolizes… Liberals like you!
I just finished reading it and . . . words fail.
I had no idea that Pat was such an interesting and thoughtful person – his “media persona” has been twisted beyond all recognition to anyone who actually knew him, it seems.
And the article lays out the details of how he died and the coverup that followed.
It is almost like reading REAL NEWS!
He really seems like an extremely well rounded guy that just got screwed for being a little too quick to trust the bush mis-administration with his patriotism.
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Pat kept a journal, writing in it regularly
Yet other Tillman family members are less reluctant to show Tillman’s unique character, which was more complex than the public image of a gung-ho patriotic warrior. He started keeping a journal at 16 and continued the practice on the battlefield, writing in it regularly.
His journal was lost immediately after his deathMary Tillman said a friend of Pat’s even arranged a private meeting with Chomsky, the antiwar author, to take place after his return from Afghanistan — a meeting prevented by his death. She said that although he supported the Afghan war, believing it justified by the Sept. 11 attacks, “Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war.”
“You know, this war is so f– illegal”
“I can see it like a movie screen,” Baer said. “We were outside of (a city in southern Iraq) watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an old air base, me, Kevin and Pat, we weren’t in the fight right then. We were talking. And Pat said, `You know, this war is so f– illegal.’ And we all said, `Yeah.’ That’s who he was. He totally was against Bush.”
Another soldier in the platoon, who asked not to be identified, said Pat urged him to vote for Bush’s Democratic opponent in the 2004 election, Sen. John Kerry.
Classic novels in their down time
Tillman subscribed to the Economist magazine, and a fellow soldier said Tillman created a makeshift base library of classic novels so his platoon mates would have literature to read in their down time. He even brought gourmet coffee to brew for his platoon in the field in Afghanistan.
Baer said Tillman was popular among his fellow soldiers and had no enemies. “The guys who killed Pat were his biggest fans,” he said. “They were really wrecked afterward.” He called Tillman “this amazing positive force who really brought our whole platoon together.
Body armor buried evidence
A soldier who on April 23 burned Tillman’s bullet riddled body armor — which would have been evidence in a friendly-fire investigation — testified that he did so because there was no doubt it was friendly fire that killed Tillman. Two days later, Tillman’s uniform and vest also were burned because they were soaked in blood and considered a biohazard. Tillman’s uniform also was burned.
Did his “biggest fans” burn his diary too?
What an awful tale from Afghanistan. Was Kevin Tillman part of the second group?
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Makes you wonder? I had thought about it when I read that the brothers were split into the seperate groups. (The forward group, and the one that stayed with the Humvve.
It is conceivable that Kevin Tillman may have been part of the group that shot his brother.
I know it was a HUGE mistake created by some horific decisions by the chain of command that turned into a friendly fire incident. It would be hard enough to look at your battle buddies knowing that some of them had accidentilly killed your Brother, but can you imagine if you had to bear the burden of having shot your own brother?
not only this, but the fact that there is a cover up of this whole ordeal. This is what is so bad…