The Oversight Committee holds a hearing, “The Tillman Fratricide: What the Leadership of the Defense Department Knew.” The hearing is part of an ongoing investigation and follows a previous hearing held in April. Witnesses will include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Former Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. John P. Abizaid (Retired), Former Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. Myers (Retired), Former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Bryan Douglas Brown (Retired). Gen. Kensinger has been served with a subpoena, but has not been able to be located over the past several days and will not appear. Chairman Waxman questions witnesses on a memo he received early on indicating that it was likely a case of fratricide.
Video Transcript
well i 10 begin the questioning by
framingthe issue for us the basic point that we
want to learn isI'm what did the senior military
leadership know about corporal Tillman'sdeath when did they know itand what did they do after they landed
and I last hearingwe review de document known as personal
fora p4 memo this memo was sent on April 28
2004 by Major General Stanley McChrystalthe commander the joint task force in
Afghanistanwhere corporal Tillman was killed in
2004 General McChrystal sent thisp4 memo to three people a general Abbas
aidefrom Central Command general brown fromUS Special Operations Command and
General kensingtonthere from the Army Special Operations
Command the purpose of this p4was to have one or more of these
generalswarned president bush the secretary of
the armyand other national leaders that it was
quote highlyprobable or hot highly possiblethat an ongoing investigation was about
to concludethat corporal Tillman was killed by his
own unitGeneral McChrystal explain why this be
four message was so important he stateda quote I felt that it was essential
that you receivedthis information as soon as we detected
it in order to preclude anyunknowing statements by our I country's
leaderswhich it might cause embarrassmentif the circumstances a corporal
Tillman's death became publicwill this be four memo was sent on April
29thone week after corporal Tillman's death
this was four days beforethe memorial service at whichthe germans and the nation we're told
Pat Tillman was killedby hostile fire and this was an entire
monthbefore the pentagon told the Tillman
family and the public to corporal to aman was killedby US forces for today's hearingwe invited all of the recent recipient
to the p4to determine how they've responded they
in fact to let the White House did thealert the army secretary the secretary
of defense they they pass it up thechain of commandone of the address is a general
Kinzingerhe refused to appear voluntarily and
apparently abated servicenow the committee subpoena so he's not
here today but we do have to the otheraddress these are the people or memogeneral brown general Abbas a as well as
general Myers a former chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary
Rumsfeldtheir appearance you today voluntarily
andI thank you all for being here I they
had distinguished careers in have servedour nation with on ittheir continued to serve the country by
cooperating with this congressionalinvestigation general have is aat let me start with you if you look
closely at the p4the third and fourth lines actually have
different levels of address easegeneral brown in general can sing there
were listed asinfo which I understand is the
equivalent of a assisi a carbon copybut you're listed as a tomb so General
McChrystalreally wanted this to go to you when did
you receive this manmemo I believe that the earliest I
received it was on the sixth love me6th Ave and what whitedo take so long well let me explain thethe timing sequence if I'm a congressman
starting from the 22ndas as I saw to it that be helpful sure
upon the 22nd the incident occurred I
believe about the 23rdGeneral McChrystal called me and told me
that purple Tillman had been killed incombatand that circumstances surrounding his
deathwere heroic I called the German and
discuss that with Germanon throughout that period I was in Iraq
cutteret cetera on the 28th I want to
Afghanistan in AfghanistanI met with general olson and general
barn or commanders thereand I also had the chance to talk to the
platoon leaderwho was corporal Thomas between later
and I asked him about thethe action and he gave no indication
that there was a friendly fireissue on the 29thJohn McChrystal sent his message and it
went to my headquarters in Tampaand it was not retransmitted for 'emreasons over difficulties with our
systems within the headquartersuntil the 6th at the earliest and it
could have been later that I received itbut it's my recollection then on the 6thprobably the sex it's a guest can't be
sure exactly the dateI called the chairman I told the German
about havingreceived John McChrystal'smessage that friendly fire was involvedi'd the real you immediately told the
Germanbut as soon as all the messages and I
can't remember howthe existence of the message came to my
attention but was known within my staffthat something was out there and we
found thatI called the Chairman I told the German
about it and it was my impression fromhaven't talked to the chairman at the
time that he knew about ityour staff seem to know about it was
that that they knew there was a memo orthat they had heard that that might have
been friendly fire atI think they had heard that there was an
investigation ongoingwithin the Joint Special Operations
Command mmmso you actually receive the p4 memo a
week afterthat was written but it was all souls
I'mthree weeks before the memorial servicefor the family still I didn't know a at
your chain ikcommand you with the commander cencom
you had a directorreporting requirement to the defense
secretary after you read the p4I who who did you contact just
generalize I contacted Jenna meyersonmy responsibility is to report to the
Secretary through the chairmanI generally do that I talked to the
secretary a lot I talk to the Chairman alot during this periodbut ninety percent of what I talked to
about was what was going on in flu showhat was going oncombat operationally throughout the
theater andmatter fact when I called the chairman
there was a whole list of other thingsthat I believe I talk to him about
concerningcircumstances in solution in particularwhat did you say to him about this
before memberI can't remember exactly what I said to
my I said it's clear that there'sa possibility lovefratricide involving the time in case
that Gen McChrystal has appointed thenecessary people to investigate to
determine precisely what happenedin out while its likely that there's
fratricidewill know for sure after the report is
finalized which will reach me when itgets donewhat did he say to you in responselike I say he he gave me the impression
I can remember his exact words thatthat he understood that there was a an
investigation ongoingso he seemed to already know about the
fact he seemed to yesokay and what about your your own
reporting requirement to the secretarydid you ever discussed the fact your
site investigation withSecretary Rumsfeld his office no i i did
nottalk to the Secretary that I can recall
directly about until I was back in DCaround the time period of the 18 through
the 20thand at the time I informed them that
there was an investigation that wasongoing and it looked like it was
friendly firethe p4 memo said the president should be
notified the Corporal TillmanI'll was highly possiblepossibly killed by friendly fire what
steps did you take to make sure thepresident receive this informationI notified the chairman I a number
called the president direct on anyoperational matterthroughout four and a half years so in
the theaterwell general Myers let's turn to you
you're the chairman of the joint chiefsof staff under thegoal whether nichols active 1986 you
with the senior ranking member the armedforcesand the principal military adviser to
the President and the Secretary ofDefensethat before was not addressed to you but
general Abbas ajust said that he called you and told
you about the suspectedfeticide is for suppose all is thatis that correct did he call you I can't
recall specifically but it's entirelylikely that is exactly as he recalls itI would trust his judgment this matter
you don't remember what he said or whatyou said now back in nine hours over
collarour general I was a dime testified miss
you heard when he called you you alreadyknew about it is thatacker up yes the best I can determine
once I got a letter from the committeeand talk to some other folks on my staff
is that I knew thehead right at the end of April thatthat there was a possibility a
fratricide in the a patrolmandeath and that John McChrystal headstarted an investigation so I money call
it a call later than that then I wouldhave already have known thatand how would you have known that who
would have told you you know I'm I cantell you I don't know how I knew I'dthe best of my knowledge I've never seen
this be fourhe could have come several ways I amthe most likely is in our operations
shop we haveboth from special forces thatfrom special forces that might've aunderstand known this and past the to
meet a staff meeting I just I can't tellyouwho passed it to me I just don't know or
I have been I've I've read thedas COO makers a.m. test money trying to
do. DIGEand he said he might have called me that
that's another way could have happened Ijust can't recallbe generalize you told our staff last
night theat the time you receive the call from
general I was ait was common knowledge a corporal Tom
it had been killed by Friendly Fires isan acridwas a common knowledge it that factor
sideif I said that not no I don't know if I
said that it was a mistake I don't knowthat it was common knowledge at that
pointbut I knew about it and others around
you know about ityes and I told The I Iso and working with my former public
affairs adviser I'mI said you know we need to keep this in
mind in casewe go before the the press we've just
gotta calibrate ourselves with thisinvestigation I'm gonna be carefulhow we portray the situation well was it
fair to say was widely known by peoplein the DOD you know I can't recall its
Justin as divers a sedativewhen he met system and we probably
talked about a lot of other things andto include the situation for luger which
wasI getting a lot of attention at the at
the moment soI'm but I just can't recall thank you
Professional football player Pat Tillman joined the Army after 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire during a gun battle. But as Erica Hill reports, the story told by the government was quite different.
CSTV's Going West road crew stops by Arizona State and checks out Tillman Tunnel, named for ASU alum and hero Pat Tillman. For more exclusive college football news, log on to www.goingwestfootball.com
New Hoover Dam Bridge - Initially, I thought they were building a suspension bridge with the very high towers on both side installed and managing and installing all those expensive high quality cables, but no. In my opinon, they choose the most EXPENSIVE and unnecessary lengthy and WASTAGE way to build this bridge. Surely, it's another way to "skin a cat" - the US Bridge Authority?
The Oversight Committee holds a hearing, "The Tillman Fratricide: What the Leadership of the Defense Department Knew." The hearing is part of an ongoing investigation and follows a previous hearing held in April. Witnesses will include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Former Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. John P. Abizaid (Retired), Former Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. Myers (Retired), Former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Bryan Douglas Brown (Retired). Gen. Kensinger has been served with a subpoena, but has not been able to be located over the past several days and will not appear. Rep. John Tierney questions witnesses on why nobody informed the White House that it was likely a case of fratricide.
The Bridge at Hoover Dam is an extended photographic essay resulting from a two-year personal project by Jamey Stillings. For more information, see: www.bridgeathooverdam.com
Marie Tillman and Darnell Dockett invite you to help our veterans and their families continue their education and return to work.
Text TILLMAN to 50555 to make a $10 donation to the Tillman Military Scholars program today.
$10 will be added to your phone bill/deducted from your personal account. Message and Data rates may apply. Reply STOP to 50555 to stop. Full terms: mGive.org/t
During the April 24, 2007 "battlefield misinformation" hearing held by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Army Specialist Bryan O'Neal describes Pat Tillman's April 2004 death in Afghanistan by "friendly fire."
A full wrap up of the festivities surrounding the opening of the Hoover Dam Bridge that is officially named the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
A tribute video to the late Pat Tillman, former defensive player for Arizona State and the Arizona Cardinals, who gave his life in service to our country in the fight on terror in Afghanistan.
"Only On The Web": Pat Tillman's death by friendly fire cast a shadow on the U.S. military. Katie Couric says Tillman's death is a tragedy made all the more tragic by the military's handling of it. (CBSNews.com)
On HBO's Inside the NFL, Peter King interviewed Denver QB Jake Plummer about the horrific treatment the Tillman family have received over Pat's death. There have been four investigations into what really happened to him and now a fifth one is getting close to being completed. How reprehensible has this been for the Tillman family? Pat is killed and they were repeatedly lied to. The family is not speaking out, but Plummer is. Good for him. Somebody has to.
For more on this, see:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/25/MNGD7ETMNM1.DTL
Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.
See: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/
