Editorial: Reveal truth of Tillman’s death

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 | 7:46 a.m.

It has been nearly two years since Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, and his family is still waiting to learn the truth from the Defense Department about what happened during his final moments of life.

Tillman gained national attention in May 2002 when he suspended his career as a star safety with the Arizona Cardinals football team to join the Army. It was 9/11 that motivated him to serve. The day after the attacks he told NBC News, "My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and a lot of my family has ... gone and fought in wars, and I really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that."

After serving in Iraq, Tillman and his Army Ranger unit were sent to Afghanistan on what the military has described as a mission to hunt down terrorists associated with al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Tillman was killed April 22, 2004, and the early official word was that he had been killed by enemy fire while leading other Rangers during a rescue of pinned-down comrades.

Posthumously, Tillman was promoted to corporal and awarded the Silver Star for gallantry. The award citation said, in part: "Through the firing Tillman's voice was heard issuing fire commands to take the fight to the enemy ... Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their firing diminished."

No one yet knows how this citation came to be worded like that. Tillman's mother and father have said publicly that they believe the true circumstances of their son's death were covered up and the award was presented for image purposes.

What is known is that by the end of May 2004, the Army was saying that Tillman had "probably" been killed by friendly fire. Today the word "probably" has been dropped and the Army has acknowledged as fact that Tillman was killed by fellow soldiers. But after four Defense Department investigations, many questions about Tillman's death remain.

On Sunday Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced on NBC's "Meet the Press" that a fifth investigation would be undertaken at the insistence of the Defense Department's inspector general. This time, he said, the investigation would examine whether any soldier was criminally negligent in Tillman's death.

Tillman's death was a tragedy, and his family has been suffering through two years of conflicting information. It is time the Defense Department puts all witnesses to Tillman's death under oath to learn - and to publicly release - the unvarnished truth about just what happened that fateful day.