Mary Tillman Is Pissed Again...

((HT: ABC News/"Good Morning America"))

The last person that you want to piss off is Mary Tillman, and the Army has pissed her off again.

President Obama has appointed General ((Ret.)) Stanley McChrystal as the number two for a commission on military families...

This, in the HQ's humble opinion, is momumentally bad...

Here's Mary Tillman on GMA...


The HQ fully discloses that some of us are involved in Pat Tillman Foundation activities, but even looking at this objectively still looks way cock-eyed...

Tillman: McChrystal Lied Again

((HT: CNN))

The latest explanation for why Pat Tillman's Silver Star citation failed to mention that friendly fire killed the former NFL star in Afghanistan is another lie by the U.S. military, Tillman's mother said Tuesday.

Pat Tillman ((pictured, thans Gettty Images file)) died in Afghanistan in 2004 after giving up a lucrative NFL career to serve in the Army.

Mary Tillman was responding to remarks made Tuesday by the general nominated to lead Allied forces in Afghanistan, who apologized before a Senate committee for his role in the matter.

Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he helped expedite the Silver Star award for Tillman before confirming that the Army corporal was killed by friendly fire in 2004.

Tillman's family has long complained that the memorial service, which included the Silver Star presentation, deliberately avoided mention of fratricide.

McChrystal acknowledged the problem Tuesday, calling it a mistake. He said the Silver Star citation was "not well-written" but denied any intent to mislead.

"I didn't see any activity by anyone to deceive," he said.

Mary Tillman said McChrystal knew at the memorial service that her son died from friendly fire.

"McChrystal was lying," she said of his comments Tuesday. "He said he didn't know for certain Pat was killed by fratricide. That isn't true in and of itself, but the fact is, it doesn't matter whether he knew it for certain."

Army protocol at the time required families to be told of possible fratricide, whether or not it had been confirmed, she said.

She also criticized Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the committee, who questioned McChrystal on Tuesday, for "playing dumb" by not following up on McChrystal's explanation.

"If the Army chain of command didn't know what happened to Pat, why did it present us with a false story at the memorial service?" Tillman asked. "That is not an error; that is not a misstep; that is deliberate deception. McCain was at Pat's service. He was read a false narrative like the rest of us. Where is his outrage? Did he know all along?"

Investigations by the Army's Criminal Investigations Division and the Defense Department's inspector general concluded that officers in Tillman's chain of command knew almost immediately that he had been killed by fire from his own platoon. That information, however, was withheld from his family for more than a month, in violation of Army regulations.

McChrystal, one of four generals identified in the report, was later cleared in the investigation but was faulted for not immediately notifying Tillman's family of suspicions that it was a friendly fire incident.

On Tuesday, McChrystal said the mistake in the Tillman situation involved attempts to simultaneously support the awarding of a Silver Star while investigating the reports that he died from friendly fire.

A policy to have awards approved in time to present them to families at memorial ceremonies should be changed to prevent competing pressures, McChrystal said.

"I would do this differently if I had the chance again," he said.

Asked whether he believed that Tillman earned the Silver Star before his death, McChrystal said: "I did then; I do now. ... I don't believe that the circumstance of death detracts from the courage and commitment of his contribution."

Later, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, pressed McChrystal harder on the issue, prompting the general to agree that the Army had failed the Tillman family.

"I was a part of that, and I apologize for it," McChrystal said.

Here's McChrystal's explanation... again... from his conformation hearing...

((HT: APTV))

A Consistent Lack of Recollection

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has concluded its 16-month investigation into the events surrounding the friendly-fire death of Pat Tillman ((pictured- thanks cbssports.com)). The purpose of the investigation, looking upward in the chain of command, was to determine who knew "what" when. The Committee cites what they refer to as a "near universal lack of recall" that contributed to a great deal of internal frustration in getting to any kind of ultimate decision.

The Committee interviewed then-Communications Director Dan Bartlett, Press Secretary Scott McClellan, and chief speech writer Michael Gerson. Not a one of them could recall when he learned about the Tillman incident, or what he did in response.

The most classic quote of the whole findings comes from then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld:

“I don’t recall when I was told and I don’t recall who told me.”

Pleasant, don't you think...?

I am asking the next question because I, legitimately, don't know- Was this topic discussed at all in McClellan's new book?

The 51-page document, which also goes into the handling of the Jessica Lynch saga can be found hyah

The Committee, clearly frustrated by the whole process, came up with new information, but no real solutions or recommendations. This is, regrettably, the last we'll hear of this on Capitol Hill.

The report is a challenging read, but a word of warning, the more you read the more you get frustrated yourself with the government and how they lack accountability in situations like this.

This is the bottom line- and the last paragraph:

"The pervasive lack of recollection and absence of specific information makes it impossible for the Committee to assign responsibility for the misinformation in Corporal Tillman’s and Private Lynch’s cases. It is clear, however, that the Defense Department did not meet its most basic obligations in sharing accurate information with the families and with the American public."

Well, duh...

Countdown with Keith Olbermann interviewed Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, on May 9, 2008. Here's the interview, courtesy MSNBC and YouTube.

--Jon Nelson