Part III: The Probes

Tillman death marred by Pentagon

What this column may lack is opinion. What it doesn't lack is fact.

I'm writing this series to disclose the truth of what is currently happening in regards to Pat Tillman's death by friendly fire. From what I've seen, front sections of newspapers don't publish the stories because they believe sports sections will. And sports sections don't publish them because they believe either: 1) the stories are front-section news, or 2) they can't find space to publish non-sporting event stories.

The fourth and fifth investigations into the incident were presented three weeks ago to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division took about a year-and-a-half to conclude platoon members did not commit negligent homicide or aggravated assault. But the probe did not investigate commanders' orders, which directly resulted in Tillman's death.

In the other recently concluded investigation, the Inspector General of the U.S. Defense Department took the same amount of time to conclude that "Tillman's chain of command made critical errors in reporting and assigning investigative jurisdiction and bears ultimate responsibility for the inaccuracies, misunderstandings and perceptions of concealment."

The IG named nine Army officers, including four generals, accountable for the mistakes. Yet it said none of their actions were criminal and no punishments were given.

So you tell me if any of the following sounds criminal.

Within 24 hours after the Rangers killed Tillman on April 22, 2004, a captain in the same battalion was assigned to conduct the first investigation.

Not only was he beginning to conclude some of the shooters should be charged with criminal intent, but his investigation started tracking towards the commanders who ordered Tillman's platoon to: 1) split in two, and 2) break standard operating procedure and travel by day.

Once his investigation scoped toward his own commanders, another investigator - a lieutenant colonel who was partly in charge of issuing the fateful orders - took over and destroyed the first investigation. That second investigation was wrapped up in less than a week, which was just three weeks after Tillman's death, with minimal punishments to two of the shooters.

When Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee found out the Silver Star Award he signed included false information, he ordered a third investigation - this one by a general.

In that third probe, the first investigator testified that witnesses' statements had been changed to cover up the command's shortcomings as well as shed a better light on the situation. The third probe wrapped up in January of 2005 and concluded with minimal disciplinary actions against four more soldiers. But none of them were officers.

With punishments resembling those for cursing at an officer, Tillman's divorced parents became actively involved separately - not through the media or protesting the war, but both through Congress and, specifically, the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In June, 2005, the Army apologized to the Tillman's for the delay of information and blamed the delay on "procedural misjudgments and mistakes." The parents' resolve also resulted in the Army requesting the DoD-IG review in August of 2005. The DoD-IG subsequently asked the Army CID to help with its investigation.

When the two recent probes presented their findings of Pentagon "missteps" along with naming nine Army officers accountable without holding them accountable, the Tillman family bit back.

"The characterization of criminal negligence, professional misconduct, battlefield incompetence, concealment and destruction of evidence, deliberate deception, and conspiracy to deceive, are not 'missteps,'" said Pat's brother Kevin Tillman, who was in the same platoon as Pat. "These actions are malfeasance."

And now it is Congress' turn to probe. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform started investigating what punishments were enacted.

Although Tillman's name is being dragged through the muck of the Bush administration, remember his name as being a true American sports hero.

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Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. He was a parachute infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division for three years. He can be reached at chennell@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4446.