Officers Blamed for Tillman Case Errors
By LOLITA C. BALDOR and SCOTT LINDLAW
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, a Pentagon investigation will recommend.
Senior defense officials said Friday the Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of errors and inappropriate conduct as the military probed the former football star’s death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official.
The official, who like the others requested anonymity because the Army has not publicly released the information, said it appears senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on April 22, 2004, when Tillman was killed by members of his own platoon.
Dozens of soldiers - those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby - knew within minutes or hours that his death was fratricide.
