Meet the Artists: Amir Bar-Lev on “The Tillman Story” Sundance Film Festival 2010
Video Transcript
my name is a mirror barlowand i directed the tillman story which
will be in the u_s_ documentary doctorspat tillmanmade international headlines blankiedecided in two thousand two to give up
his football careerto immersed in the army rangers he
served two tours of duty one in iraq andone in afghanistan's killed in
afghanistanand initially the army reported that he
died of this heroic way athands of the talibanand later slowly came outyou'd in fact and killed by his own
soldiers family factsand there's a kind of a misperception
out therethe government came cleanafter initially trying to live out of
step that that misperception that's outthere has beencleverly disseminated by the governmentis oneyou know when you think aboutfriendly-fire you thinkuh... on the fourth of july think about
somechaotic ambush where patyou know i haven't accidentally the
killedfind parent bulletduring a confusion of combat and in fact
that's not at all what happenedhis mom is a remarkable onexinbasically single-handedly lead to fight
occursfamily against this massive institutionmyspace governmentthe the militaryblundered in a way because they under
estimatorand a almost arrogantly uh...shift herthe huge crate ofdocuments over three thousand pages of
documents related to past actsbasically thinking that she wouldn't
actually go through them along the wayhats momon when she's going through these
documents and try and find out the truthabout how how stillreached out to different soldierssided with the tomlin'sand were able to kind of help her piece
together the puzzlethe tillman succumbing sundance witness
andand nextreally exciting for us and gratifying
for uswho've spent three yearskind of meannessmarch to their familyand uh...support the filmfeel like the film that's justice to
this timeit's extremely gratifying you know
sentence such a greatthe such great setting for himin your cunt busy at work but it's also
really really great quality time of itsown manson and i'm really uh... looking
forward to itbeing up there with my crew and
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds a hearing entitled "Misleading Information from the Battlefield." The hearing focuses on the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. The Committee examines why inaccurate accounts of these two incidents were disseminated, the sources and motivations for the accounts, and whether the appropriate Administration officials have been held accountable. Specialist Patrick Tillman's brother Kevin Tillman gives opening remarks.
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.
Jim Axelrod previews at tonight's "Evening News" stories. At center stage are hearings on the death of Pat Tillman, the former NFL star who was killed in Afghanistan. (CBSNews.com)
Pat Tillman was a professional football player with the Arizona Cardinals.
In response to the September 11, 2001 incident, he passed up a $3.6 million contract and joined the Army. His sacrifice became made him a symbol of patriotism and a poster child for Army recruiters.
Pat Tillman came to his senses and turned against the wars. Through friends and family, he made contact with anti-war icon Noam Chomsky.
Perhaps Tillman was ready to make a public statement of opposition to the wars, which would have been a public relations catastrophe for the Army. We will never know. Perhaps the Army knew he was going to go public with a statement of opposition. We will never know.
Pat Tillman took three bullets through the head on April 22, 2004. He was shot at close range by his own men while on paatrol in Afghanistan.
A massive coverup followed, in which the public was told that Tillman had been killed by hostile fire. He was awarded the Silver star. The conspiracy to deceive Tillman's grieving family and the public went to the highest levels of the Army, and centered on one Lt. General Stanley McChrystal.
Eventually, the fraud was exposed, and a half-hearted congressional investigation followed.
Pat Tillman is still dead. His mother, Mary Tillman, still grieves. Lt. General Stanley McChrystal was promoted to supreme commander of the Afghan theater.
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
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/
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds a hearing entitled "Misleading Information from the Battlefield." The hearing focuses on the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. The Committee examines why inaccurate accounts of these two incidents were disseminated, the sources and motivations for the accounts, and whether the appropriate Administration officials have been held accountable. Army Private Jessica Lynch gives opening remarks.
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. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton questions Secretary Rumsfeld on apparent gaps in his preparation to testify.
