Z.S. Louis

Contributor - Control Alt History

zslouis@proton.me

When Pat Tillman walked away from a lucrative NFL contract to join the US military, he quickly became one of the largest media sensations in the early days of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. Tillman, along with his brother Kevin, were so inspired by the events of 9/11 that they decided to deploy to Middle East and join the War on Terror. However, Pat Tillman’s heroic military endeavors would ultimately become a source of heated debate.

As the media coverage of Tillman roared, the United States military began hyper-focusing on Pat’s story as a potential source for increased recruitment. While then President George Bush was publicly praising Tillman, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also wrote directly to Tillman as well, encouraging the former professional football safety, stating that he was proud of the patriotic act Tillman had committed to. However, behind the scenes, Rumsfeld also silently penned a letter to Secretary of the Army Tom White claiming that it would be of interest to “keep an eye on Tillman” (1).

The absurdity of the Pat Tillman story started almost immediately upon his arrival in Iraq. Tillman’s first mission in the region was none other than the rescue of Jessica Lynch (2). The official narrative at the time, was that United States Army soldier Jessica Lynch had been surrounded by enemy soldiers, and was ultimately captured, tortured, and sexually abused, after a fire fight that resulted in Lynch running out of ammunition(3). While the US media ran the urgency of the prisoner of war story back home, Tillman and his fellow Army Rangers were operating under a stand down directive. It was during this time that many on the ground began to question the decision, stating that they could’ve easily entered the hospital where Jessica Lynch was located (5). It is rumored that Tillman penned his famous journal entry “this war is so fucking illegal” after realizing that the Jessica Lynch standdown was implemented in order to allow time for a camera crew to arrive and film the otherwise easy recovery of Lynch(4).

At the time, the recovery of Lynch was heralded as massive military success, often being referred to in headlines as “Saving Private Lynch” (6), much like the military propaganda film Saving Private Ryan. Tillman’s involvement was mentioned heavily in the mainstream press, which many believe was tied to the directive from Rumsfeld to craft a good story surrounding Pat Tillman.

Years into the war, it was later revealed that the entire Jessica Lynch story was merely a media myth. Jessica Lynch did not participate in an elongated fire fight resulting in capture but rather crashed her vehicle and was recovered and treated by non-military Iraqis operating in Nasiriyah. Jessica Lynch was found to have not been shot, stabbed, or abused, but rather treated for a broken arm and hip. Jessica Lynch testified under oath that much of her story was sensationalized, including the media framing which was handled by public relations firm Hill & Knowlton (7). Hill & Knowlton had previously faced criticism for their involvement in the “babies in incubators” false testimony given before congress which heightened the Gulf War (8).

As Tillman began to realize that the war efforts in the Middle East were not as he expected, his attitude towards serving had changed. Tillman began pursuing an honorable discharge, and had contract offers to return to the NFL. During this time, Tillman wrote many letters, some in particular caught the attention of the military, who had been rumored to have screened much of Tillman’s outward communication (again, allegedly at the direction of Rumsfeld). In some communication, Tillman had expressed a desire to use his NFL status and financial standing to promote anti-war efforts upon his return home. One the more notable desires of Tillman was to meet with Noam Chomsky, who socialist political views often found him opposing American imperialism and non-defensive wars (9).

Tillman and Chomsky would never meet, as Tillman was killed in Spera, Afghanistan in the spring of 2004. An official report was released which disclosed that Tillman engaged in a fire fight with hostile enemy forces, and was ultimately struck fatally from over 200 yards away (10). A fellow Army Ranger recalled that he heard “what sounded like a river flowing” and turned around to find Tillman’s skull practically exploded. Tillman’s brother Kevin was immediately discharged from duty, with clear direction from the US Military to return home and tell the story of his brothers’ heroic death. However, this did not sit well with Kevin, nor his mother Mary.

Mary ultimately reviewed over 3,000 pages of documents surrounding her son’s death and uncovered a slew of details that did not meet the official narrative. Mary began publicly suggesting that her son had been deliberately killed, and that the official report of Pat’s death was yet another media myth. Some of the information that raised alarm bells with the Tillman family was that there were no reports of enemy bullets recovered in the area, there was no damage to any Humvees driven by the Rangers, there was substantial evidence that Tillman may have been shot from as close as 10 yards away, and his uniform, journal, and all belongings, were burned upon the recovery of his body (11) (12).

The Tillman family’s consistent pressure and threat of litigious escalation resulted in the Army preparing a revised report on Pat Tillamn’s death just five weeks after his memorial service. This time, it was reported that Pat Tillman had been killed by friendly fire. The official new narrative of Pat Tillman’s death claims that his platoon had split up, and nearby gunfire was mistaken by one unit as enemy combatants, resulting in friendly fire. Once again, this did not please Mary Tillman, especially after the new report was subjected to Pentagon review and congressional hearings. The hearings proved to be a disaster, as several officers who testified in support of the report contradicted each other during their testimonies, the inability to recall details was recited 70+ times by senior military personnel, it was revealed that the doctor who autopsied Tillman suggested a criminal case be opened, and the claims that Tillman was an arrogant celebrity amongst his peers were debunked (13) (14) (15) (16) (17).

Around the same time as the new reports release, Tillman’s fellow Ranger Bryan O’Neal publicly began speaking on what he witnessed when Pat Tillman was killed. O’Neal claims that as Tillman was being fired upon, he was aware that it was coming from friendly sources and waved his arms screaming that “I’m Pat Tillman”. O’Neal also strangely alleged that some of Tillman’s final words were a slew of anti-religious viewpoints claiming that no God would come and save them (18). Of course, the media and US Army ran with this angle, claiming that the Tillman family was creating a false narrative of their son’s death as a result of an inability to cope with their atheist views, describing Tillman as “nothing but worm dirt” in the mind of his parents (19).

As a result of the six military investigations into the cover up of the death of Pat Tillman, only retired Lieutenant General Philip Kensinger was punished for deceiving officials and how his lies pertained to the publication of the false report. Kensinger’s punishment was a possibility of demotion and a possibility of pension reduction. Kensinger’s pension was ultimately reduced from $9,400 per month, to $8,500(20). Donald Rumsfeld, General John Abizaid, and General Bryan Brown, were cleared of any wrongdoings in the case(21).

Mary and Kevin Tillman continue to reject the official reports on the death of their son and brother. Mary was famously quoted having said “The deception surrounding this case was an insult to the family; but more importantly, [it's] primary purpose was to deceive a whole nation’’ (22).