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Nine high-ranking officers made errors in Tillman case: US

Nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, but there was no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former professional football star, the military concluded.

Defense officials and a pair of reports released on Monday on the 2004 incident did not rule out criminal action by those who provided misleading information as the military investigated the killing. They said, however, that they believed there was no orchestrated cover-up.

Tillman's family said it was not satisfied by what it called an "attempt to impose closure by slapping the wrists of a few officers and enlisted men." The family called for congressional hearings on his death.

"Once again, we are being used as props in a Pentagon public relations exercise," Tillman's mother, Mary, said in a prepared statement on Monday evening.

Tillman drew widespread attention, even hero status for many, after he abandoned a lucrative athletic career to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Army and Defense Department investigators said officers looking into Tillman's death passed along misleading and inaccurate information and delayed reporting their belief that fellow Rangers accidentally killed Tillman. They originally said he died a hero's death in combat.

The investigators recommended the Army act against the officers but suggested no specific punishments and left that decision to the Army.
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