The Tillman Story

A mystery. A cover up. A crime.

In late April of 2004, a tragic but inspiring story came back from the front lines of the global war on terror. Pat Tillman, a professional football player who had given up his career to join the Army, had been killed.

The official account of his death read like a scene from a John Wayne movie: he was reported to have single-handedly saved the lives of dozens of men during an ambush in the mountains of Afghanistan. The Tillman story triggered a national outpouring of grief, but there was also communal pride over his decision to enlist and the courage displayed in his final moments.

The government seized the opportunity to turn his death into propaganda, and proclamations from the president and national news organizations hailed Pat Tillman as an American hero, and his story as proof that the U.S. was once again producing men of “Greatest Generation” caliber. And then, five weeks later, the Tillman story changed.

An official investigation revealed that Pat Tillman was, in fact, killed by an errant American bullet. It was clear that the Army hoped this revelation would be seen as nothing more than a footnote to the original story. But whoever thought that Pat’s family would let matters lie, clearly underestimated the Tillmans.