What a fantastic article, and what a terrific interview with Mary Tillman. I can't imagine living with this, and yet, it seems she has, with determination, and such grace -- for those involved who deserve it, and even, really, for those who don't.
I found this to be so right, and the most true, devastating and grace-full part of the whole thing:
The chain of command just threw it downwards. And a lot of these guys [in the platoon] have been harmed with PTSD, with moral injury, moral trauma. It's because they've been betrayed. They've been betrayed by their leaders, who don't have the courage to admit they made a mistake. And of course people forgive mistakes. You may be angry at first. You may question. You may be upset. You may beat on their chest, "How did you make this happen?" But eventually you come to terms with it and you're grateful that they told you the truth. But we can't say that about them. I'm still angry about it. I mean, there's no contrition. They've never apologized to us. They've never apologized to the soldiers that they gaslighted basically into thinking that this was all their fault. It's just lies upon lies upon lies. And they did it so tactically, so strategically."
The powers that be who were involved should follow Mary Tillman's lead. Even now, it would make a difference -- to her, to the whole Tillman family, to Pat's platoon, and, posthumously, for Pat, who deserves all the respect that can be given to him, yes, even now.
This was so NOT why he walked away from his NFL career and signed up for the Army Rangers. And I don't mean his getting killed by friendly fire. It's all the other, less accidental, more nefarious stuff that really is even more awful, and so disrespectful.
