Pat Tillman probably killed by friendly fire.

Posted by Les on Saturday, May 29, 2004 at 01:33 PM. Read 500 times. Tags:
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Yahoo! News - Army: Friendly Fire Likely Killed Tillman

According to an Army investigation, Tillman was shot to death on April 22 after a U.S. soldier mistakenly fired on a friendly Afghan soldier in Tillman’s unit, and other U.S. soldiers then fired in the same direction.

Initial reports by the Army had suggested that Tillman was killed by enemy gunfire when he led his team to help another group of ambushed soldiers.

“While there was no one specific finding of fault, the investigation results indicate that Cpl. Tillman probably died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces,” Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr. said in a brief statement to reporters at the Army Special Operations Command.

Kensinger said the firefight took place in “very severe and constricted terrain with impaired light” with 10 to 12 enemy combatants firing on U.S. forces.

But an Afghan military official told The Associated Press on Saturday that Tillman died because of a “misunderstanding” when two mixed groups of American and Afghan soldiers began firing wildly in the confusion following a land mine explosion.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Afghan official said, “(There) were no enemy forces” present when Tillman died.

Aint that a bitch? Story speaks for itself.

Thanks to Neodromos for sending it along.

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Joel United States Posted on 05/29/2004 at 03:32 PM

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Man, that’s awful. I mean what the hell happened?

Neodromos United States Posted on 05/29/2004 at 08:33 PM

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Cases of friendly fire are common enough but the real tragedy is why they aren’t covered more often by the news media. In general, friendly fire incidents are the product of inexperienced soldiers in combat. They tend to suffer from high levels of combat fatigue and simply cannot handle the stress so they tend to snap in the field. All this belies something even more disturbing though, the lack of combat-hardened soldiers within our military. Any historian knows that soldiers who have faced heavy combat for a period of over six to eight months tend to handle stress better when under pressure. It is no surprise with so many “green” soldiers in combat today there are also a great number of friendly fire accidents.

VernR United States Posted on 05/30/2004 at 11:18 AM

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I recall having seen stories on friendly fire incidents all along. The one where we bombed the Canadians, of couse, got more coverage than the rest. Has the coverage been disproportionate? I couldn’t say.

The divisions that we mobilized in World War II trained together for many months, some up to two years, before they went into action in Europe. I would say that they were pretty well on their way to being hardened after about a month. (If I recall, the 82nd came off the line a month or two after D-Day and they were certainly ready for Market Garden.)

One of the problems that faced our combat tested units was the integration of replacements, a problem that Steven Ambrose covered in Citizen Soldier. (I’m failure sure of the cite. I know it wasn’t in D-Day.) Has todays Army worked this out? Hopefully we won’t have to find out emperically.

Brooks United States Posted on 05/30/2004 at 01:37 PM

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Well, I’m sure Tillman’s brother has a few more F-bombs up his sleeve after this story.

The Rod of God Hath Smitten Fag America Pakistan Posted on 07/10/2004 at 02:54 PM

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Pat Tillman is burning in Hell for disbelieving in God.

REPENT OR PERISH

Les United States Posted on 07/10/2004 at 03:11 PM

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Blah blah blah…

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When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn’t know.
-- Mark Twain

VernR United States Posted on 07/10/2004 at 03:17 PM

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Pat Tillman is burning in Hell for disbelieving in God.

Is this recent knowledge? In your web site you only say that he is in hell because he joined the Army. Do they crank up the temperature for multiple infractions?

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