Actually, the truth is still being distorted.
The focus was never on her supposed derring do, but on the massacre of her fellows, the search for her, wondering what had become of her, and then finding her.
The nurses can say that they tried to return her, but that doesn’t take anything away from her rescue. The hospital was in a no-go area. They couldn’t just stroll in and take her. They didn’t have certain knowledge of what awaited them. And they already had evidence that the Iraqi militia were using hospitals, including that one, as safe havens and headquarters.
So the interesting story is the Iraqi who got word from his kinfolk who worked at the hospital, and walked through enemy lines to get word out, then returned to reconnoiter several times.
The press started almost immediately to throw dirt on this story, claiming that the rescue was a photo-op, simply because the machine gunners were firing at nothing. They went into a hostile no-go area, mounted a diversion, went in and got her. The rest is press distortion. The idea that there was no danger involved, since there were no troops in the hospital at that moment, doesn’t change the fact that the area was in a hostile zone that they had to cross in order to get there. And we now know, we have plenty of experience now, that you have to move quickly before the fighters know you are there and attack. Choppers make a fat and juicy target. The idea that the rescue was a walk in the park is itself a distortion.
Any idea that she was a hero herself was press hyperbole, which she discounted immediately. In fact, none of them were necessarily heroes, they were caught behind enemy lines and slaughtered by an enemy that doesn’t take prisoners. Why they keep beating this drum, though, is easy enough to see.
As for Pat Tillman’s silver star, the fact remains that he was, in fact, killed leading an attack on the Taliban. His bravery is not in question. That no one wanted to admit the whole truth is not surprising. That the family is playing out its grief in public, raging against Tillman’s fellow soldiers, is sad but understandable. That others are taking advantage of their grief for their own purposes is also unsurprising.
Soldiers die in every war in ways that shouldn’t happen, they die in accidents, they shoot themselves, they get sick, they get run over, they fall out of helicopters. In earlier less bureaucratic wars their deaths might be reported by their buddies as killed-in-action, the family gets a posthumous medal, no need to put too fine a point on it. Turning every battle into a CSI crime scene does nothing to advance the cause for which Tillman died, and will not bring him or anyone else back to life.
You said — “Actually, the truth is still being distorted.”
Does that mean that her testimony that she gave to “set the record straight” is wrong then?
Salient point. The Army has investigated this particular case ad nauseum and the repercussions are still being felt among the leadership in the SOCOM community. Democrats in Congress are now plowing up the graves to help make a case for impeachment. This is irresponsible, wreckless, and leads to risk aversion by military leadership, which tends to cost more American soldiers their lives thru restrictive ROEs- but then dems are all about risk aversion and using defeat as a method to gain power, all the while claiming to "support the troops" (gag).
Good points all. Congress wastes taxpayer money investigating something that already has an obvious answer—hyperbole is an embarrassing part of war. Hearings aren’t necessary other than to cast the military in a bad light. Unless there was a sinister motive in Tillman’s friendly fire case, there’s no need to keep harping on it. His family pays no compliment to his sacrifice and theirs by accentuating the errors made instead of his voluntary sacrifice to be there. The Lynch situation was already clarified and doesn’t need reiteration.
Needless to say, we won’t have any hearings on the military’s accomplishments under extraordinary circumstances. Of course, even if Congress did that, the MSM wouldn’t bother to report it.
So true. I know of one death because a trooper stood up in his fighting hole to take a photo of close air support; it killed him. I know of two who died in a combat zone because of drunkeness. I seriously doubt that their families were ever told the truth.
thank you. You have explained exactly what happens.
Heck I've heard men get 3-4 Purple Hearts without any visible wounds. While braver men are overlooked.... War ain't fair.
Never was,never is and never will be. The Army was just trying to be "nice". Maybe a couple of REMF tried to put lipstick on a pig as far as friendly fire with Tillman, but he died in combat trying to save the life of a fellow soldier.
The PC police were trying to make the "women can handle combat" point as well.
It's war and any fire you're getting isn't "friendly fire". He died a soldiers death. I feel sorry for him, he seemed like an honorable man.
My father explained it very well to me. He said,"sometimes the 'best' soldier, the 'fastest,strongest,meanest' SOB gets killed by a helicopter tire blowing up....that's war. That's all it is....people die and it sucks. There is no "fair" in war. There is no "deserve" in war. There's just war and its the most awful thing to see, do and live through.
It's also the time when you feel the most alive and can truly appreciate every minute of the day. The beer never was colder, the laughs never funnier, the brotherhood with other men in similar danger never more evident or closer..... and with the exception of losing a child, the sadness and anger never as great.
Marines I've met that served during the "Frozen Chosin", Iwo Jima, Vietnam and other nameless, god-awful 20 minute firefights still smile when they see each other and shake hands, hug and "remember" when they were full of piss and vinegar. I think Churchill said, "There is nothing as exhilarating as being shot at and missed."
Well done.