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.”
Video Transcript
plus in your own words what happened
right before and after corporal tillmanwas killedwalk us through this is uh... as much
detail as you can recallwhat was corporal tillman doing at the
time was he trying to signalthat uh...that uh... this might be friendly fire
resistant with his arms was yelling whatwas he saying could you just tell us
about ityes rowdywhen we've moved into our final positionat night in the afghan militiamen had
decided there was decided that we willcontinue to assaultand he wanted further tightenings from
swine leader that was controllingelementso he left myself an air mattressand when he returnedhe basically let me know that we were
going to continue moving group in theroute that we wereand before he was able to finish telling
you what our plan waswe have started to receive fire from
g_n_p_at first it was short sporadic we didn't
really i don't really understand what'shappeningi looked and saw that it was friendly
fire coming towards usuh... pat asked me basically what was
going on and i let him knowand uh... it didn't take too long before
those in the g_n_p_course about that but i'mthis mound and open up on us with the
fifty caliber machine gun and the twoforty bravo machine gunand basically shot us at us anyways of
bursts of roundsat that timei felt myself become waveguidejot downhad no copper pat and there was nothing
blocking my side chainthe people at home be shooting at usuntil the pack had basically was able to
get himself behind some coversbut it was not muchno basicallywas yelling waving from on the ground as
much as i could and i believe pat wastoo at the time peaches behind metalking to and yelling screamingprinter was going on whenhe told me he had a planat that time i thought depend on flyer
now to signal the troops down and angieand be aware families but later
discovered he had puff of smoke grenadeandafter he had done that's the firing
ceased in the trucksoldwe had both leaves at that time vatshootings overand that they had recognize this is from
his andwe both step upface each otherwas kind of wondering hey what has
happened there what was actionuh... lucklywe're both still alivealoneit didn't take long after that served
four daymoved into a better position as i said
uh... commission v and started shootingat us againand at that timeport of us had gotten downi was watching them do that andi could hear pat calling stock shooting
on pat haven't ehlmannstop shootingyou know over and over and over again
andi could hear the payment yet news for usso i known that he was hard at that timeand uh...it abruptly stopped with himcalling for helpand it wasn't too long after that before
the truck and moved outus who are late on my side for a while
wondering what has happenedbecause i was young artdidn't really understandwhen i discoveredwas large pool of blood forming up
aroundyou have any doubtglide at that time there was friendly
fire that killednow sir i'm one hundred percent positive
that was from the fireand who was the first person you
informedthat the attack may have been a friendly
fires shippingthe very first person i informeduh... was right afteruh... i got up to check on patdiscovered he was deadmanthe guys qualify calls for came to my
positionandi believe he knewbut when our medicaid markeduh...to come assist usuh... he asked what happened and i try
to let him know who is he identified thename there'll be sergeant andersonsoldiers and hebasically asked me what happened i try
to let him know wantsour squad leader told me basically just
don't say anything at that timeand later on that nightthe first person idefinitely told would be specials writer
larry orwe were inside the womb village were
being but what we had uh... aqawhat we've done a set of positionand point security on the uh... personal
that lived in a villageand he asked me point-blank do you know
what happened and i formed yes this wasfrom the fire's did you grow up in form
for sargent thomas fulleryes i did strike one time later that
night that it was from the fire butcommand sergeantalfred perchyes right he knew at the time sir and
mohabbat lisa sergeant ward you didinformi wasn't adnan abu e-vite also towardi was pretty into account that timei was going into shock i believesergeant jacksonsurgeon jackson i definitely told it was
twenty four hoursnow let me turn to
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
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.
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)
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/
At his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Lt. Gen Stanley McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee that mistakes were made in the military's handling of the accidental shooting death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman. (June 2)
My ReThink Interview with Amir Bar-Lev, the director of the documentary THE TILLMAN STORY, which tells the story of pro football player Pat Tillman, who quit the NFL to join the Army Rangers and the cover-up that ensued when Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
In this interview, Amir talks about why he wanted to tell Pat Tillman's story, why there was not more public outrage when it was revealed that the military's stories about Tillman and Jessica Lynch were lies, why America seems to crave a "sanitized" version of war, and what Amir's favorite movie is.
For more about THE TILLMAN STORY, visit http://www.tillmanstory.com/
For more ReThink Interviews and Reviews, visit http://rethinkreviews.net/
MARY TILLMAN: The documentary in part is to try to present Pat as a human being and not this caricature that was created. But the biggest reason for this documentary is to point out the horrible way that he was used. His death was lied about by the military, by the government. But he's not an isolated incident. This happens on a regular basis. It's a systemic problem. It's not isolated to the Bush Administration. It's happened for years. And it's tolerated.
Telling the truth about Pat Tillman at
http://www.michaelmoore.com
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.
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.
This is an amazing bridge. The 1,900-foot engineering wonder perched 890 feet above the Colorado River bridges 2 states, Nevada and Arizona. It took five years and 21,000 workers to build the dam, and it cost $240 million. The Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is the longest bridge built with concrete arches in the western hemisphere, according to the Transportation Department. The arches measure 1,060 feet.
Songs and Music content by: Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Muse.
