Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, opening statements at August 1, 2007 congressional hearing on the death of Army Ranger, Pat Tillman.
Video Transcript
we would hear what you have to saythank you mister chairman members of the
committee you've requested that uh... weappear today to discuss our knowledge of
the circumstances surrounding the deathof u_s_ army corporal after tomfirst i want to again extend my deepest
sympathies to the tillman familypurple tillman staff and the deaths of
thousands of men and women who havegiven their lives in our nation's
service have brought great sorrowto the lives of their families and their
loved onesbears' agree felt by all who have had
the privilege of serving alongside thosein uniformhandling of the circumstances
surrounding purple tones deathcould only have added to the pain of
losing a loved onei personally and i'm sure all connected
with the department extenderdeep regretone of the department of defense is
foremost responsibilities is to tell thetruth to someof the three million military civilian
contractors employees who dedicate theircareers to defending our nationto the military families who endure the
extended absence of their fathersmothers husbands wivessons and daughtersand to the american people for whom all
of those connected to the department ofdefense strive each day to protectin march two thousand two early in my
tenure as secretary of defense i wrote amemo for the men and women of the
department of defense title principlesfor the department of defensei've attached a copynow that memo to my testimonyyou'll note that principle number one
the very firstaddresses the points that both you and
mister davis of many it says do nothingthat can raise questions about the
credibility of d_o_d_department officials must tell the truth
and must be believed to be telling thetruth or are important work is
underminedmr chairman your invitation to today's
hearing u_s_ that we'd be prepared todiscuss how we learned of the
circumstances surrounding purple tillmanstaffwhen we learned of itand whom we discussed iti'm prepared to respond to the questions
which pertain to these matters to thebest of my abilityin december two thousand six i sent a
letter to the actinginspector general of the department of
defense mister thomas kimballdescribing my best recollection of those
eventswhich by that point had occurred some
two and a half years previouslythe committee has been given a copy of
that letter and i'd like to quote aportion of itquote i'm told that i received word of
this development sometime after maytwenty two thousand four but my
recollection reflects the fact that itoccurred well over two years agoas a result i do not recall when i first
learned about the possibility thatcorporal tillman staff might have
resulted from fratricidei went on to say i'm confident that i
did not discuss this matter with anyoneoutside of the department of defenseobviously during that early period i
have subsequently tube for that perioduh...when i wrote in december two thousand
six remains my best recollection todayand when i was informed and with whom i
talked before may twentyunderstand that the may twenty two
thousanddate which shortly before their children
family was informed of the circumstanceson may twenty six two thousand fouryour invitation to appear before the
committee also asked about my knowledgeof a personal four or p four message
dated april twenty ninth two thousandfourthat message was not addressed to mei don't recall seeing it until recent
days when copies have been madeavailablethere are a great many indeed many
thousands of communications throughoutthe department of defense that the
secretary of defense does not seeand stand at the acting inspector
general's report concluded that therewere errors among some of those
responsiblefor the initial reportsany reason such as situation are most
unfortunate the two months were owed thetruth delivered in a forthright and
timely mannerand certainly the truth was owed to the
memory of the man who's valor dedicationand sacrifice to his country remains an
example for all thank you misterchairman
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.
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 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. Chairman Waxman questions witnesses on a memo he received early on indicating that it was likely a case of fratricide.
What's next? Tillman Military Scholar Dennis Robinson's take on the legacy of Pat Tillman. "Let's us, in the spirit of Pat Tillman, do something unconventional."
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)
This video is intended for the sole purpose of my own creativity and does not reflect the opinion of any of the artists or voices used in the video. The song is Mr. President from The Grouch and Eligh. The voices are various newscasters and reporters.
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/
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
Construction of the Colorado River Bridge is advancing on the 1,060 foot twin-rib concrete arch. The Colorado River Bridge is the central portion of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Construction on the nearly 2,000 foot long bridge began in late January 2005 and the completion of the entire Hoover Dam Bypass Project is expected in Late 2010.
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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.
