Tillman widow hopes for closure with story

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Mary Tillman doesn’t want any more congressional hearings or official inquiries.

She still doesn’t believe she’s been given anything close to satisfactory answers as to how her son died, or why the circumstances of his death were reported incorrectly for so long. But she knows it’s unhealthy to keep pushing, and Pat Tillman wouldn’t have wanted that for his family.

Of course, if new information were to come out because of the documentary being released this month, the Tillmans would take up the cause again. Yet that’s not why they agreed to cooperate with the making of “The Tillman Story,” which opens in limited release Aug. 20.

The film chronicles how the Arizona Cardinals safety abandoned NFL riches in 2002 to join the Army Rangers. He was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004 — in an enemy ambush, the military told the world. It wasn’t until five weeks later the truth was revealed that he was a victim of friendly fire.

His mother sees the story as far bigger than that of one very famous solider.

“It’s happening to other soldiers,” Mary Tillman said Thursday in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “It’s a systemic problem.”

Last year, Tillman’s family raised objections when Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal was facing Senate confirmation to lead military operations in Afghanistan. It was McChrystal who approved paperwork awarding Tillman a Silver Star even though he suspected he had been killed by friendly fire, according to Pentagon testimony later obtained by the AP. In 2007, the Army overruled a Pentagon recommendation that McChrystal be held accountable for his “misleading” actions.

Mary Tillman conceded she felt “validated” in her perception of McChrystal when she read the arrogant comments in the Rolling Stone article that ended his military career.