Truth emerges about death of US hero

Only weeks after his death did it emerge that he was killed by his own comrades in a so-called ‘friendly fire’ incident.

Now new details have emerged about how the US military sought to suppress news of a series of blunders that led to Tillman’s death.

According to the Washington Post, Tillman died under a hail of bullets fired in an “undisciplined barrage” by other US Army Rangers.

But until now, commanders only accepted that he “probably” died under enemy fire, while engaging Taliban fighters.

Tillman’s platoon had been split up when a Humvee broke down. High canyon walls meant that the two groups, called Serial One and Serial Two in internal US army reports, could not contact one another by radio.

Serial Two, which did not include Tillman, came under fire from Afghan Taliban fighters.

Soon after, Serial Two came across the area where Tillman and his team - including Afghans loyal to the US – had taken up positions.

“As they pulled alongside the ridge, the gunners poured an undisciplined barrage of hundreds of rounds into the area Tillman and other members of Serial One had taken up positions,” the Washington Post said US army investigators had concluded.

The gunner manning the platoon’s only .50-calibre machine gun fired every round he had, it was reported.

First to die was an Afghan fighting with Tillman’s unit.

Tillman and his comrades then “shouted, they waved their arms, and they screamed some more”, to alert the Rangers they were firing on their own men.

Tillman had the idea of letting off a smoke grenade, which stopped the incoming fire for a short while.

But as they emerged from the smoke, the firing began again. One witness recalled that he saw the attacking Humvee move into ’a better position to fire on us’.

“He heard a new machine gun burst and hit the ground, praying, as Pat Tillman fell,” the newspaper reported.

Tillman was hit by repeated rifle fire and died when hit by machine gun bullets. Despite the horrific blunder, the US army initially refused to disclose how Tillman died.

It took a month for them to change the record to show that Tillman was killed by friendly fire.

Even then, Lieutenant General Philip Kensinger, head of the US army’s Special Operations Command, suggested that Tillman was engaging the enemy when he “probably died as a result of friendly fire”.

Tillman’s mother, Mary Tillman, said: “I was upset about it, but I thought, ’Well, accidents happen’.

“Then when I found out that it was because of huge negligence at places along the way – you have time to process that and you really get annoyed.”