Pat Tillman/friendly fire

Nit picking

"Former pro football player Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire as he led his team of Army Rangers up a hill during a firefight in Afghanistan last month..."

"Tillman, 27, was leading his comrades against enemy shooters who had pinned down other soldiers when he was killed on April 22."

It occured to me when reading this that I never heard exactly what rank Pat Tillman was at the time of his death. Was he an officer ? I know he graduated from ASU with a degree in marketing. The two clips from the article lead me to believe that he was an officer since he was LEADING HIS men.
 
Ok, I looked it up.
"For his service, the U.S. Army posthumously promoted Tillman from Specialist to Corporal."
Correct me if I am wrong but a Specialist is an E4 and a Corporal is also an E4.
So, I seriously doubt he was LEADING HIS men.

This in no way takes away from what the man accomplished. It is an issue with the news media.
 
Remember, the person who wrote the story graduated from journalism school and if they are similar to the couple of dozen reporters whom I have met and gotten to know, they have little experience in the real world and little more gumption to research the story.

One can likely conjure a situation where Tillman could have been "leading" (in whatever context) some men up a hill.

Rick
 
Yeah, that phrase just got my ear on the radio and later in the paper. I was thinking that he hadn't been in long.................... I realize it was probably media hype. When I initally posted I didn't know what rank he was. I though maybe he was an officer.
 
Anyone here think that this may be a ploy to remove the bragging rights from the Taliban types that they killed an American icon? It's an easy fix for the problem of the Taliban getting a propaganda piece.
 
This is an assumption and theory, facts alone can not back this story. The article continues to say he probably died from friendly fire. The only fact here is he gave his life serving his country and that is what Mr.Tillman should be remembered for, it's shameful people are trying to cloud that fact.

kenny b
 
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