A new documentary, "The Tillman Story," set to hit theaters this summer will certainly stir up controversy.
Pat Tillman, the former Arizona State and Arizona Cardinals star who left his pro-football career to fight in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire. But did top military brass and the Executive Branch lie about his death because it was a deliberate assassination? Was Pat Tillman killed because he had changed his mind about the war?
I don't have the answers, but "The Tillman Story" looks to be very good. Most likely, the popularity of the documentary will fall along partisan lines. The pro-war folks will hate it, and the antiwar folks will love it. But the one thing I know for sure is, the government lies all the time.
Pat’s mother, Dannie Tillman, led the crusade to discover the truth behind their son’s death. The documentary features interviews with his family and fellow soldiers, hoping to shine a light on the murky events that followed Pat's death.
See the trailer below.
New Details on Tillman's Death
(July 27, 2007)
Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
The doctors _ whose names were blacked out _ said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.
Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.
Remembering the Arizona Cardinals' Pat Tillman as New Movie Trailer Is Released
Tillman was offered a $3.6 million dollar contract by the Cardinals, a well-deserved amount for the time and dedication he had put in on the football field.
But in a time of crisis like 9/11, the U.S. military needed help and support more than ever. Tillman decided his loyalty to his country was more important than his love for football, turning down the multi-million dollar deal to join the military.
On April 22, 2004, it was reported that Tillman was killed in action by the Taliban, but later, evidence surfaced that the cause of death was friendly fire, with speculation that the government covered up Tillman’s death.
‘The Tillman Story’: Reviews Uniformly Glowing and Trusting
As of right now almost all of the critical community is rallying around director Amir Bar-Lev’s look at the aftermath of Pat Tillman’s death. And these critics are not only strongly recommending the film to their readers and feel that this cinematic examination into the behavior of our military and government is important, but also – in no uncertain terms –they’re telling the public that “The Tillman Story” is the unvarnished truth. Many, like the L.A. Times, go even further and praise the doc for rising above partisan politics.
Again, I won’t comment on the veracity of a film I haven’t seen. And until we know different, we can only assume that the lack of skepticism Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Salon and these others have shown is based on their own individual knowledge of the facts of the Tillman case and not some knee-jerk response to champion and take at face value anything that makes America, George W. Bush, and our military look bad.
Please click through to read the entire post above, as well as a number of reviews too.
Whatever your views about the war may be, "The Tillman Story" should definitely stir up some much needed debate.
As a veteran of combat in Vietnam I understand how friendly fire deaths occur and the reasons why the military prefers not to detract from a soldier's sacrifice by telling families that the soldier was killed accidentally why he was in combat. Such incidents need investigation for purposes of improving training, but it was clear to all the soldiers present that day that Tillman was killed accidentally by a comrade who thought he was an enemy combatant.
We'd all be better off if the government told the truth.
Tillman was an admitted Atheist. Given the intense Christian proselytizing in the last 10 years. I wonder if Tillman's lack of god belief been a cause or factor in his assassination.