A Sacrifice Dishonored

Seven months ago Spc. Pat Tillman was shot dead in a firefight on an Afghan ridge.

The young Army Ranger was tough and brave, like so many other Americans who have given their lives in these past two wars. But unlike them, he was also a star pro football player who gave up a big contract to join the Army after terrorists attacked on Sept. 11.

The whole nation mourned Tillman's death. The Army praised the young hero for his valor. Sen. John McCain lauded him at a public ceremony a few days later. When summer turned to fall, tens of thousands of fans in his home stadium stood to honor him as four Apache helicopters flew overhead.

What none of them knew - not McCain, not the fans, not even Tillman's own mother - was that the Army lied about the way he died.

Though Tillman fought bravely until his final breath, the Army invented much of the rest of the story, according to a report in Monday's Washington Post that looks at the recently released findings of the official inquiry into his death.

They did not say that Tillman was shot mistakenly by one of his own men, that he was the victim of an officer's terrible tactical blunder, or that several Rangers who were shooting wildly missed a signal grenade that he had lofted to show them he was one of their own.

In mid-April Tillman's platoon was on patrol in a Taliban-ridden region of Afghanistan. When a truck broke down, a superior officer ordered the group to split up into two "serials" against the wishes of the platoon leader.

On April 22, the two serials entered the same rugged valley. Taliban fighters attacked one of the serials. On the run from the attack, some Rangers in the serial thought they saw more Taliban ahead. They shot back. Only after many lay bleeding, and Tillman lay dead, did they find that they had fired on their own men.

But the Army's public statement on the incident, released a week later, made no mention of friendly fire. It also distorted the role Tillman played in the fight, the context of the battle, and the nature of the enemy forces that were present.

Since the report in the Post came out on Sunday the Army has defended itself by saying that it does not disclose the findings of an inquiry until it is complete. But that does not justify their deception.

Maybe the Army felt it had to wait until the formal inquiry was done to tell us the truth, but that does not excuse it from spinning lies in the meantime.

I know a Marine who is set to ship out to the Middle East next year. He has total faith in his training, his commanding officers, and the importance of his mission. He says he has heard that the troops are "kicking ass," and he too is steeled to fight. Even those of us who don't agree with the war are humbled by his courage and idealism.

The military does that for hundreds of thousands of young Americans. It pulls kids from the ranks of the ordinary and makes many of them into men and women with dauntless minds and stalwart hearts.

If they go to war and die they become heroes no matter what. To give your life for your country, as Tillman did, is always noble.

But to weave lies about that sacrifice, as Army officers did in the days after Tillman's death, is disgraceful. Painting a tragic death with Hollywood colors is a crime against the trust of the American people. But far worse, the Army also dishonored a soldier's sacrifice, because they lied about the true nature of that sacrifice to save their own face and serve their own purposes.

Perhaps the Army also glossed over the truth of Tillman's death to justify the nobility of its own missions.

Both wars have faced heavy criticism from the American people - Afghanistan for bad strategy and poor execution, and Iraq for being needless and unjust. If the public knew that Tillman was killed by one of his own men in a botched mission, mourning and lament would be joined by public outcry. More people would learn that war is hell and more people would question these wars.

That Tillman gave up a life of comfort to die for his country is noble. But if the war is noble too, there is no need to lie.

I know my Marine will serve honorably too and I hope he comes home safe. But if he should die, I shudder at the thought that the military is willing to lie to his mother, lie to this friends, and lie to me - all to justify the war itself, a war that, right or wrong, is something else entirely.