II. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS RELATED TO CORPORAL TILLMAN
A. The Military Service of Corporal Patrick TillmanPatrick Tillman, a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, and his brother Kevin Tillman, a former professional baseball player, enlisted in the United States Army in May 2002. Although the Tillman brothers refused to talk publicly about why they were joining the Army, their enlistment was widely reported in the media. Their father, Patrick Tillman, Sr., explained to one newspaper that his sons did not want recognition "separate from their peers" because they felt all the soldiers with whom they served deserved equal recognition.35
Both Pat and Kevin Tillman trained as elite Army Rangers and were assigned to the A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based in Fort Lewis, Washington. Their battalion did a tour of duty in Iraq in 2003 and began a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. At the beginning of this tour, both Pat and Kevin Tillman held the rank of Specialist (E4).
On April 22, 2004, during operations in a rugged region of eastern Afghanistan, the Tillmans’ platoon was divided into two parts ("serials"). Specialist Pat Tillman was a part of Serial 1, which proceeded towards the village of Manah, Afghanistan, through a narrow canyon. Specialist Kevin Tillman was a part of Serial 2, which was supposed to take a different route, but ultimately changed plans and followed Serial 1 along the same canyon road.36
During its passage through the canyon, Serial 2 came under attack. When the Rangers in Serial 1 heard the sounds of the ambush, they dismounted from their vehicles and took positions to assist Serial 2. As Serial 2 emerged from the canyon, several Rangers riding in the lead vehicle opened fire on a nearby ridge, killing Specialist Pat Tillman and an Afghan soldier who had been conducting operations with the platoon, and injuring two other Rangers, including the platoon leader. The Army posthumously awarded Tillman the Silver Star and promoted him to the rank of Corporal.37
As he testified at the Committee’s hearing on April 24, 2007, Specialist Kevin Tillman did not witness the firefight that took his brother’s life. He also testified that he was quickly flown back to Bagram Air Base and later accompanied his brother’s remains back to the United States.38 He told the Committee that during these events, he was under the impression that his brother had been killed by the enemy.39
B. Initial Pentagon ReactionsOn the morning of April 23, 2004, news of Corporal Tillman’s death broke in the United States. Initial reports from a Defense Department spokesman in Afghanistan indicated that a U.S. soldier, identified later that day as Corporal Tillman, had "died after a firefight with anti-coalition militia forces about 25 miles southwest of a U.S. base at Khost, which has been the scene of frequent attacks."40
On April 23, 2004, and in the following days, thousands of stories, commentaries, and tributes to Corporal Tillman appeared in newspapers, television, and the Internet. An internal "Weekend Media Assessment" produced by the Army Chief of Staff’s Office of Public Affairs on Monday April 25, 2004, reported that the story of Corporal Tillman’s death had helped generate the most media interest in the U.S. Army "since the end of active combat last year."41 The report also noted that "The Ranger Tillman story had been extremely positive in all media."42
E-mails reviewed by the Committee also show that the news of Corporal Tillman’s death was discussed by public affairs officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Army on April 23, 2004, potentially including a "front office" morning meeting led by Secretary Rumsfeld’s public affairs chief, Mr. Larry Di Rita.43
Although Mr. Di Rita told Committee staff he could not recall any particular discussions he had about Corporal Tillman’s death on April 23, 2004, documents produced by the Department of Defense show that Mr. Di Rita sent two e-mails that day related to Corporal Tillman. In the first of these e-mails, Mr. Di Rita responded to a request from the White House Media Affairs Director, who was seeking information about Corporal Tillman for a Sports Illustrated reporter.44 Mr. Di Rita responded that he would "see what we can do. details are sketchy just now."45
In the second e-mail, Mr. Di Rita responded to a Department of Defense aide who had drafted a statement for the Department of Defense to use to respond to press inquiries.46 Mr. Di Rita edited the proposed statement and sent it back to the aide. His revised version stated, "[o]ur thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Army Sgt Pat Tillman," and noted, "[w]e mourn the death of every servicemember who makes the ultimate sacrifice in the Global War on Terror."47
The same day, April 23, a memo was prepared by the Army Human Resources Command for the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-1, Lieutenant General Franklin Hagenbeck. This executive summary ("EXSUM") document explained that Corporal Tillman’s casualty "was a high-profile death because SPC Tillman was a member of the Arizona Cardinals and SPC Kevin Tillman was a former minor league baseball prospect in the Cleveland Indians organization when they enlisted together for three years."48 The summary said that in accordance with the Army’s policy of holding casualty information for 24 hours after the soldier’s family has been notified, the Army would not officially announce Corporal Tillman’s death until 11 p.m. that night.
C. Early Reports of Friendly FireAs the Tillman family and the American public absorbed the news that Corporal Tillman had been killed in Afghanistan, apparently by enemy forces, suspicions that he had actually been killed by friendly fire quickly traveled through the Department of Defense. But while military officials at the highest levels knew within a matter of days that Corporal Tillman’s death was a likely fratricide, they did not share this information with the Tillman family or the public for another month.
Members of Corporal Tillman’s platoon knew almost immediately he had been killed by his fellow Rangers.49 Moreover, within 24 hours, the top officers in Corporal Tillman’s battalion and regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bailey and Colonel Craig Nixon, also knew about the suspicions of friendly fire and had authorized the first Army Regulation 15-6 investigation into the circumstances of his death.50
Within several days, Colonel Nixon, the commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, transmitted the information that Corporal Tillman may have been killed as a result of fratricide to Major General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the joint task force in Afghanistan under which Corporal Tillman’s battalion was operating.51 General McChrystal subsequently called General Bryan Brown, the top officer at the U.S. Special Operations Command, the combatant command under which Corporal Tillman’s battalion operated in Afghanistan.52
Colonel Nixon also informed Brigadier General Howard Yellen, the deputy commander of the Army Special Operations Command, the Army administrative command responsible for the 75th Ranger Regiment. According to General Yellen, on April 24 or April 25, 2004, he informed his commander, Lieutenant General Philip Kensinger, of the potential fratricide.53
A few days later, on April 29, 2004, General McChrystal sent a message to the top generals in Corporal Tillman’s chain of command alerting them that the first 15-6 investigation was nearing completion and would find that "it is highly possible that Corporal Tillman was killed by friendly fire."54 According to General McChrystal, Colonel Nixon assisted him in preparing the message.55
The principal addressee of this communication was General John Abizaid, commander of CENTCOM, the geographic combatant command that includes Iraq and Afghanistan. The message was also sent to two recipients for "information" purposes. These recipients were General Brown, the SOCOM commander, and General Kensinger, the commander of USASOC.56
General McChrystal sent this communication as a "personal for" or P4 message, a format flag rank officers reserve for sensitive, "for-your-eyes-only" information. Such a communication, according to General Abizaid, is "designed to pass information that’s considered very, very important."57 According to General Myers, information in a P4 is "supposed to be pretty close hold."58
General McChrystal’s P4 message stated:
Sir, in the aftermath of Corporal Patrick Tillman’s untimely yet heroic death in Afghanistan on 22 April 04, it is anticipated that a 15-6 investigation nearing completion will find that it is highly possible that Corporal Tillman was killed by friendly fire. This potential is exacerbated by the unconfirmed but suspected reports that POTUS [President of the United States] and the Secretary of the Army might include comments about Corporal Tillman’s heroism and his approved Silver Star medal in speeeches [sic] currently being prepared, not knowing the specifics surrounding his death. …
I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country’s leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Corporal Tillman’s death become public.59
The day before General McChrystal sent this P4 message, speechwriting staff from both the Department of Defense and the White House had contacted a public affairs official at USASOC, Carol Darby, seeking information about Corporal Tillman’s enlistment, rank, previous duty assignments, and reason for enlisting.60 White House staffer John Currin informed the USASOC official he was seeking this information for a speech President Bush would deliver at the May 1, 2004, White House Correspondents’ Dinner.61
Admiral Eric T. Olson, the deputy commander of SOCOM in April 2004, told the Committee that the point at which General McChrystal sent the P4 would have been the appropriate time to tell the Tillman family about the possibility of fratricide. According to Admiral Olson, "as soon as there is solid indication of the cause of death, that should be communicated to the family."62 Admiral Olson said he did not see the P4 when it was sent in April 2004, but he told the Committee that the information in the P4 was sufficiently certain to share with the family before the memorial service. His "after-the-fact" reflection was:
But now having seen the contents of that P4, during which General McChrystal said it’s highly probably there was fratricide, and that P4 was released before the memorial service, it would have been reasonable to expect that the family was informed of the possibility of fratricide.63
D. The Silver Star Award and Corporal Tillman’s Memorial ServiceOn April 29, 2004, the same day General McChrystal sent his P4 message, the Army posthumously awarded Corporal Tillman the Silver Star, an honor reserved for Army soldiers who have demonstrated "gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States."64 Prior to the award’s approval by the acting Army Secretary on April 29, 2004, several officers in Corporal Tillman’s regiment who were aware of the possibility of friendly fire, including the regimental commander, Colonel Nixon, reviewed and edited the Silver Star award.65 Yet the final Silver Star citation asserted that Corporal Tillman "put himself in the line of devastating enemy fire."66 Both of the eyewitness statements submitted with the Silver Star paperwork were altered by somebody within the 75th Regiment’s chain of command.67
On April 30, 2004, the same day General McChrystal’s P4 message reached USASOC headquarters, USASOC issued a press release announcing the Silver Star award. The release stated that Corporal Tillman was being awarded the Silver Star "for his selfless actions after his Ranger element was ambushed by anti-coalition insurgents during a ground assault convoy through southeastern Afghanistan."68 The release also referred to "hostile fires directed at the Rangers" and stated that Corporal Tillman "was shot and killed while focusing his efforts on the elimination of the enemy forces and the protection of his team members."69
According to Brigadier General Howard Yellen, USASOC’s deputy commander in April 2004, the release did not explicitly say how Corporal Tillman was killed, but "for the civilian on the street, the interpretation would be that he was killed by enemy fire."70 When interviewed by the Committee, General Kensinger said he did not recall reviewing the release, but "possibly could have."71 He agreed that "a member of the public reading this probably would have concluded or assumed that Corporal Tillman had been killed by the enemy."72
Three days after this Army press release, on May 3, 2004, a memorial service was held for Corporal Tillman in San Jose, California. During the ceremony, Senior Chief Petty Officer Steven White, a personal friend of Corporal Tillman and a Navy SEAL, gave a eulogy in which he described the circumstances of Corporal Tillman’s death using language that suggested he was killed by enemy forces.73 According to Senior Chief White, a member of the 75th Regiment had read him portions of the Silver Star citation that morning, and he based his speech on this information. Testifying before the Committee in April 2007, Senior Chief White said he felt "let down" by the military because he was given inaccurate information to present publicly. He told the Committee: "I'm the guy that told America how he died, basically, at that memorial, and it was incorrect. That does not sit well with me."74
E. The Announcement of the FratricideThe information that Corporal Tillman had likely been killed by friendly fire was not shared with the American public until the morning of May 29, 2004. On that day, the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend, Lieutenant General Philip Kensinger appeared at a press availability at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the headquarters of the Army’s Special Operations Command, and announced that an Army investigation had concluded that "Corporal Tillman probably died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces."75
General Kensinger’s statement was the only public statement issued by any Department of Defense or White House official acknowledging that Corporal Tillman had not been killed by the enemy, as the American public had believed for more than a month. When he was asked why the White House played no role in the public fratricide announcement, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told Committee staff, "We would leave that to the proper department, and that would be DOD."76 White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett, asked why the White House issued a statement after Corporal Tillman died but not after the fratricide was announced, explained these events "were fundamentally different things."77 According to Mr. Bartlett, media interest in a presidential statement about the fratricide "was not there."78
Evidence reviewed by the Committee suggests that one reason the Department of Defense publicly released this information on May 29, 2004, was because the Tillman family had already begun learning about the friendly fire and because the media was about to report it.79 In the days before this announcement, the Department of Defense scrambled to release the information in a way that would cause the least amount of public relations damage to the Department.
The second Army 15-6 investigation into Corporal Tillman’s death was substantially completed by May 16, 2004.80 The conclusion of this investigation, authored by Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, was that "Corporal Tillman’s death was the result of fratricide during an extremely chaotic enemy ambush."81 Over the next two weeks, the report moved upward through the regiment’s chain of command. On Friday, May 28, 2004, CENTCOM’s director of operations, Lieutenant General John F. Sattler, signed off on the report on behalf of General Abizaid, the CENTCOM commander.82
General Sattler told the Committee that during this period, General Abizaid called him at CENTCOM headquarters in Qatar and asked him to review Colonel Kauzlarich’s investigation. General Sattler recalled that General Abizaid told him reviewing the report was a top priority, "so whatever I thought was my number one priority no longer was."83 General Sattler concurred with its findings.84
Although officials told the Committee that the military was waiting for the investigation to be signed before notifying the family, the record shows that two Tillman family members were actually informed of the friendly fire before May 28, 2004. Earlier in the week, the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment had returned to its headquarters in Fort Lewis, Washington, where Specialist Kevin Tillman encountered the members of his platoon for the first time since his brother’s death. Fearing that Kevin Tillman would hear about the friendly fire from his fellow soldiers, the 2nd Battalion’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bailey, was authorized to disclose the information to Kevin Tillman and Corporal Tillman’s wife, Marie Tillman.85 According to Colonel Nixon, the commander of the 75th Ranger regiment, Colonel Bailey asked for this authorization after he determined that "Kevin was getting some sense of what was going on."86 The Department of Defense Inspector General concluded that Kevin and Marie Tillman were informed of the friendly fire on May 26 and May 27, 2004, respectively.87
At the same time General Sattler was reviewing the report, other high-level Pentagon officials began preparing for public release of the finding of fratricide. On May 28, Larry Di Rita, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and General Brown, the SOCOM commander, coordinated a video teleconference to plan the public announcement of the fratricide.88 According to various interviews conducted by the Committee, the video teleconference included Mr. Di Rita, General Brown, Admiral Olson, General Kensinger, CENTCOM chief of staff Major General Steve Whitcomb, various public affairs officials, and at least one lawyer.89
Mr. Di Rita told Committee staff that he recognized at the time that this was a "very important public event"90 He recalled that that he was "brought in to it, on the basis of my professional responsibilities, which was to help with the public affairs posture on this incident."91 While military public affairs officers were planning to release the fratricide information in a "passive" posture, in which the Department would only respond to press queries, Mr. Di Rita decided to adopt an "active approach" and hold a press conference to release the information. Describing the teleconference, Mr. Di Rita explained:
I spent time working with the responsible offices … deciding that it was something that probably required some public interaction, as distinct from an announcement. I seem to recall that we discussed the importance of this, the fact that it was fairly large news, that what everybody believed to be true was no longer the case, no longer true, and that it required more of a public presentation than a simple announcement, particularly inasmuch as this thing had been concluded late in the week, or at least they were prepared to announce it late in a week, and I thought it was important.92
According to Admiral Olson and General Brown, during the teleconference, General Brown suggested that Mr. Di Rita make the announcement since it was such a high-profile matter.93 Mr. Di Rita apparently decided that his "responsibilities" for managing the announcement did not extend to actually making the announcement. He told the Committee, "a public affairs officer, to me, was not the answer."94
Admiral Olson described the following discussion:
As I recall, General Brown suggested that the Public Affairs Office for the Secretary of Defense be the one to make the announcement as a defense matter. Larry Di Rita thought it was more appropriate for a uniformed officer to make the announcement. Then the question was who is the appropriate uniformed officer. It is not a SOCOM responsibility, it was an Army responsibility. Because General Kensinger had an Army chain of command outside of SOCOM, the discussion just sort of circled in on General Kensinger as the appropriate officer.95
Another teleconference participant also recalled that Mr. Di Rita recommended that General Kensinger make the public announcement. Colonel Hans Bush, who was the head of USASOC’s public affairs office at the time, recalled, "General Brown acknowledged the recommendation and then said, General Kensinger, you meet the criteria. Congratulations, you’re the guy."96 When Committee staff asked General Kensinger if he considered this a direct order by General Brown to make the announcement, he responded, "Not in so many words. … You can be directed to do it, or you can be highly encouraged to think that is the right decision."97
General Kensinger explained that because he was unfamiliar with the details of the investigation, he did not believe he was the appropriate person to deliver the news. Colonel Bush, the USASOC public affairs chief, described General Kensinger’s reaction: "It was a little odd to be presenting someone else’s findings, and I think he felt that way."98 Because the friendly fire investigation had been conducted and approved by CENTCOM, General Kensinger told the Committee he thought "it would have been CENTCOM or somebody else would have made it, above CENTCOM."99 He stated that he acquiesced to the assignment only after he was told he would not have to answer any questions from the media.
At the press conference at Fort Bragg on May 29, 2004, General Kensinger read a prepared statement approved by CENTCOM and the Secretary of Defense’s public affairs office.100 The statement asserted that "investigation results indicate that Corporal Tillman probably died as the result of friendly fire."101 According to Colonel Bush, "It was specifically requested by CENTCOM that we include ‘probably’ in that sentence."102 However, this language differed from the investigative report itself, which stated, "My findings lead me to believe that CPL Tillman’s death was the result of fratricide."103 The report was not made public at that time.
After the press conference, Pentagon public affairs officials congratulated each other for limiting the impact of the disclosure. Colonel George Rhynedance, an assistant to Mr. Di Rita in the Secretary of Defense’s public affairs office, wrote to Bryan Whitman, another employee in the same office: "No one will ever tell you, but nice job on this one. May have minimized … damage by pushing the panic button early."104
In another e-mail on the day of the announcement, Colonel Joseph Curtin, an Army public affairs officials, wrote, "Story will run hot today and diminish over the weekend." He also noted, "Senior leaders want to make sure the public affairs community vigorously respond to any media query that potentially questions the Silver Star award."105 In response, Lieutenant Colonel John Robinson, a CENTCOM public affairs official, wrote "the WWII Memorial and attack in Saudi Arabia have helped dilute the story somewhat."106