ESPN Nov 2009 – Marie Tillman, the wife of former Arizona cardinal and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, speaks for the first time since her husband’s death from friendly fire.
Video Transcript
as pat stillman wasn't striving for the
remarkable arc of his life to doamerican history his wife marie was his
soul matebe became a couple back in high school
in nineteen ninety threeand remained together from that point on
workas pat became a football standard at
arizona state and was selected by thecardinalsin the nineteen ninety nine n_f_l_ draftthere is a very and kind and thoughtful
person and you know he was a type ofperson hero and the off season would be
bored so he wouldn't have time formarathons and is working for extending
his masters in history sample springtimeput it accepted a big offer from the
rails there to the two thousand one seesinsteadhe took a smaller deal to remain with
the team that attractedbigger things or on petulance moneytoday our fellow citizensour way of lifeare very freedom came under attackit was as you say which is there nowso he certainlyeunice datum launched ally of the
coverageon september twelfth two thousand onepat was asked about the meaning of the
u_s_ flagmy great grandfather was a pro harbor
and a lot of my family is giving up unithas gone far more as an and i really
have done a damn thinguh... as far as lay in myself a line
like that allot of people like to lookto that interview has an explanation for
whyhe joined the army buti think it's little misleadingi mean i think that with anybody that
mason major life-changing decisionthere's a lot of thought that goes into
that there's a lot ofdiscussion and research in all sorts of
things i don't thinkthat september eleventh changed hands
the salmon butthe circumstances of what was going on
in this country she is so much the hereacted to thatpat tillman enlisted in the army rangers
along with his brother kevinreporting for duty until light eighth
two thousand two privately he would bedeeply anguished at leaving behind
murray whom he had married that's prettyyou wrote in his journal i'm sure she
still hates me for everythinghe was worried they'dyou waitedanimawhen he wrote those thingswho does this who takes a perfectly
perfect life in ruinsperfectly happy wife and marriage and
jeopardizeu_s_you know how to having a hard time
sometimes withbeing away in and just dealing with
military life just because he servicetough n_f_l_ player did it mean that it
wasn't something that was difficult forhimhe saw her pain as he was sent to iraq
in march of two thousand threeshe was so genuinely upset worried
disappointed he wrotethat attached a hole in my mindof course inyou think that there's a potential they
may not come back his ass that's areality of the situationbut after two-and-a-half monthshe did returnthen in early able two thousand four pat
and kevin were redeployed to afghanistanit was their in the early evening of
april twenty second two thousand fourpath tillman was killed in actionhe was twenty seven years oldhow did you find out what had happened
to your housealanyou know i was i was told i am c_n_n_
sort of standard militaryprecisionafter i was told i was you know the one
who needed to sort of make sure thateverybody found out so there was a lot
ofphone calls andand information to everyone and just
making sure thateverybody knew what had happened before
eight companiesthe beginning as a bit of a blurthere's a lot going on and i think thatuniversit was so very much in shockperhaps best service to this countrywished reminders allwhat courage really looks like would
remember about the real stormsrecap honestly not muchback homeaffairbefore his family worldheard stunning newpat tillman had been killed by friendly
firehow did you feel the first time you
learn that have been killed by friendlyfireit was a shock in a lot of ways handsin it was about a month after he had
been killed so i was still saravanan namplacetook yearsbut moment by moment details of pat's
death did emerge along with evidencethat the army and the u_s_ government
have participated elect cover up afterhis deaththe soldiers who accidentally killed
tillman are cleared of criminalnegligence but the report finds that
nine officers including four generalsshould be held accountable for passing
along this meeting and inaccurateinformation about how tillman actuallywhat were your feelings with regards towhat you've been told by the army in the
u_s_ governmentenunciated in general it's always best
to be honestand so honestly over your feelings about
the army in the u_s_ government and thethings that they initially told youit's at as at a time when i was angry
definitely that you know that the truthwasn't total to us and thatand it took so many years in such a long
process to even got the bits ofinformation that we did geti was definitely angry about the
circumstances surrounding his deathand the fact that we weretold the truthwhat to do with that angerfor mein in dealing withhis staff and sort of my grief process i
havechannel that into the foundation and i
am reallyun focus on our military veterans and
their families and and working on thatsince late two thousand fourpetulant foundation has offered
scholarships the foster a spirit ofpublic service and leadership in action
this year the foundation is providingsix hundred forty two thousand dollarstwo fifty two military scholarsthen in women like data kirby boli from
the air force reservealibi to teach it in her sitting conduct
research on her bed rooms in themilitaryexcellent foundation support is helping
me tripling pursue his p_h_d_ at theuniversity of marylandlooks after his two kidseleven-year-old racheland seven-year-old loopbut it turns out the armed servicesat its own plans for himin the middle of the semester i was
informed that i was going to beinvoluntarily immobilized or michael one
first afghanistan and third overallfor us as an organization at we now our
focus on supporting his family whilehe's goneand senior making sure that he knows
that when it comes back were still herefor himthe money that is awarded any education
it is received will help for theirlife-long commitment to service
retelling is looking forward tocontinuing the foundations were eager to
ensure at the values of selflessness andservice willing to work and flourishthrough the efforts of these tillman
military skills this faridabad serviceand getting back in alan as is something
is its way it's a way that happens hislife style it's in that way they are
hoping to find out his legacy
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. Chairman Henry Waxman questions Specialist Patrick Tillman's mother Mary Tillman about the callous response she received from some in response to her persistence in getting the truth about her son's death.
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. Rep. Elijah Cummings questions Specialist Patrick Tillman's brother Kevin Tillman about communications inside the White House related to his brother.
Through remarks and conversation with Tillman Military Scholars from the Harvard community, Marie shared her own story, and offered insight on how to translate moments of personal tragedy, adversity, and reflection into catalysts for positive social change.
Michael Moore discusses 'The Tillman Story' with (L-R) Actor Josh Brolin, former soldier Russell Baer, producer John Battsek and director Amir Bar-Lev following a special screening at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 on August 11, 2010 in New York City.
'The Tillman Story' opens Friday, August 20th in New York and Los Angeles. Don't miss it: http://www.tillmanstory.com/
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. Elijah Cummings questions witnesses.
This ESPN Sports Century biography on Pat Tillman is divided into six parts. I think this aired in 2005. For updated information, read "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman" by Mary Tillman http://www.amazon.com/Boots-Ground-Dusk-Tribute-Tillman/dp/1594868808 and "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" by Jon Krakauer http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385522266/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1594868808&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1R1ZC333SDPTXNBP09RW
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.
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)
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/
"... I don't think they are very honorable people. I know they were lying. I mean, and I think that -- you know, like, you know, Pat and I are talking about, you know, we feel that there could have been something else that happened to Pat but -- I mean, we can't prove it. Every bit of evidence has been destroyed. ... Rumsfeld, Abizaid, Myers and Brown collectively said, 'I don't know, I don't recall, I don't remember' about 82 times and no one on that panel pressed them. No one did their research. Neither faction of that committee." -- Pat Tillman's mother Mary on Larry King Live
Check it out: http://www.tillmanstory.com/
Not the only ones hungry for justice at http://www.michaelmoore.com
