The parents of former American gridiron star Pat Tillman blasted the US military for the way they handled a probe into Tillman's death while he was fighting in Afghanistan.
The Tillmans, whose son was accidentally shot and killed by his fellow US soldiers, told the Washington Post they believe the military and government created a heroic tale about how their son died to foster a nationwide patriotic response.
"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this," Patrick Tillman Sr. told the Washington Post.
"They purposely interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about the death got out. They blew up their poster boy," he said.
Pat Tillman Sr.'s wife Mary said, "Pat had high ideals about the country; that's why he did what he did. The military let him down. The administration let him down. It was a sign of disrespect.
"The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting," she said.
Pat Tillman gave up a career in the National Football League with the Arizona Cardinals after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks to join the US Army Rangers.
In spring last year, Pat Tillman's unit was sent to Afghanistan, where the Rangers were responsible for mopping up the remnants of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.
But shortly after arriving in the mountains to fight, Pat Tillman was killed in a barrage of gunfire from his own men, mistaken for the enemy. He was 27.
The army told Tillman's family and the public that he was killed by enemy fire while storming a hill.
After a public memorial service, the army told Tillman's family that he had been killed by his own men.
General Vincent Brooks, a US Army spokesman, admitted that "mistakes" were made.
"In the case of the death of Corporal Patrick Tillman, the army made mistakes in reporting the circumstances of his death to the family," Brooks told the newspaper. "For these, we apologize.
Patrick Tillman Sr. wants all army officials who conducted the investigation to face discipline.
"Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore," Tillman Sr. said.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Tuesday said that he would leave the English club at the end of the Premier League season, marking an earlier-than-planned departure for one of the club’s greatest-ever scorers and soccer’s biggest names. The 33-year-old Egypt forward, who has scored 255 goals in 435 appearances for Liverpool, “reached an agreement” to quit the team a year before his contract was due to expire, the Premier League champions said. Salah’s form has dipped in his ninth year at Anfield, to such an extent that he was dropped for a stretch of games late last year — leading to the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
There were some big games to be played yesterday in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks to play the Detroit Pistons in a matchup pitting a Hawks team who are rolling against a Pistons team trying to lock up the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. The Oklahoma City Thunder were to play the Boston Celtics, a showdown featuring the two most recent champions, while the Houston Rockets faced the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game that could factor mightily into Western Conference seeding. Elsewhere, the Washington Wizards were to play the Utah Jazz, with the Wizards on a 16-game slide visiting against a team
RSS