RUMSFELD @ PAT TILLMAN HEARING: ‘Feels Terrible,’ Apologizes
August 1, 2007, Congressional Hearing of the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who died due to friendly fire. However, the family of the fallen soldier and the American people were not told this information until a month after. In this clip, Rumsfeld apologizes for the situation being poorly handled.
Video Transcript
on uh... march sexedtwo thousand six use any snowflaketo your deputy the secretary of the army
the army chief of staff and othersand in this memorandum you wrotei am not convinced the army is the right
organization to undertake the fifthinvestigation of pat tillman staffplease consult with the right folks and
come back to me with options arecommendation fastwith the right way to proceedwhy do you believe the army was not the
right organization to undertake theinvestigation which file general jones
inquirywell i don't know where the phraseology
of that but my recollection is that iasked the questionof the deputy who've kind of is very
deeply involved in the business of thedepartmentthat if there have beenseveral investigationsby the armymightn't ittheological thatand the dish don't get the still
additional one was necessarythat that one want to consider where is
the best place to have thatinvestigation conductedi didn't know the answer the question
but i raised that with the deputythinking that it's something that ought
to be addresseddo you believe the judge investigations
deficient in some wayi had no reason to believe that except
thatuh...as i recall we were moving into the
fifth the army was moving into thecommand whoever was doing investigations
were moving into the fifth one so you'relooking to fresh ice basicallyon march tenth armytwo thousand six adi adi early bird
publication included a column from thearizona republicuh... which discussed a tillman families
dissatisfactionwith notification process and subsequent
destinationson march thirteenth you sent a copy this
article along with a memo to the sectorthe army and the peak tertiary maker the
army chief of staffin this memo you saidi would think you were p would want to
call and or write a letter of apologyfor the family and have a published the
situation has been handled very poorlyit is not acceptable and you may want to
say that if you agree you will need tosay to set about fixing the system or
process to produce this most unfortunatesituation remember thati do you knowi don't have it in front of me but that
sounds about right you know if they getif you askedi don'tuh... i know they've been i have a vague
recollection that in one instance thesecretary army came back to me and
indicated something to the effect thatthathe agreed generally with my note but
felt that that kiyathey were taking appropriate steps or
something and i just don't recallingon march thirteenth two thousand six
three days later the d_o_d_ early birdpublication included a column from the
atlanta journal constitutionwhich further discussed various
complaints about the notificationprocess and the subsequent vest
additions of corporate illness deathtwo days later march fifteenth you sent
a copy this article along with anothermemo to the secretary armythis memo you said here's an article on
the death of corporal tillmanhow in the world can that be explainedi guess didn't secretary offer any
explanation of various foul-ups in thismatter to youand what was your reaction at this point
uh... any explanation you'd like a givenwell i can remember specifically that as
you read those things obviously uh...uh... i i ias secretary of defense one feelsterrible thatsituation like that is being handled in
a way that isis unsatisfactory and that additional
investigations were requiredon the other hand with the secretary
defense has to try toposer daz questions rather than
assertions because i didn't i was notintimately knowledgeable of the nature
of those investigations i wasn't in aposition togive directionwithout risking command influence in my
view and as a result typos these memosto these people responsible with with
questions rather than assertionsthank you sir i just a little wesleysee where we are today and how this was
handled your secretary defencehow do you feel thatwell i feel as i indicated in my opening
remarks agreedeal of uh...heartbreak for the tone family deep
concernand any recognition that the way the
uh...matter was handled added to their griefand uh...it is uh... is a yearand most unfortunate situation than
anyonehash do agree his is something that the
department has to find ways to avoid inthe future we owe we owe the young men
and women who serve our country betterthan that
The mother of former NFL player Pat Tillman said the military let him down when it misreported his death. Katie Couric says the military let us all down. (CBSNews.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.
"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)
I Wrote this song for our fighting men and their families.
I do NOT support the wars.
I DO support our Brothers and Sons who fight them!
On this night I dedicated this song to Pat Tillman. At the time I had no idea of the lies that had been told.
We are just starting to learn the truth about what really happened to Pat.
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.
Marie Tillman discusses her experience at CGI U and as advocate and founder of the Pat Tillman Foundation, a nonprofit organization that invests in veterans and their families through education and community. In the fall of 2008, she began a major initiative, the Tillman Military Scholars program, which aims to create the next generation of leaders by helping a select group of veterans, active service members, and their dependents fulfill their academic dreams.
Video production courtesy Triton TV /
Former Army officer Russell Baer chats with me about his good friend Pat Tillman and what Pat would have thought of "The Tillman Story." For more scoop, go to RedCarpetRoxy.com.
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
