Tillman's Parents

When Pat Tillman's face was broadcast as frequently as every 15 minutes in the spring of 2004, he was elevated to noble American martyr, a young fighter who left his prodigious career as an NFL player and took up arms to defend his country. He was canonized by Fox News, and, true to form, other cable news stations that followed the lead of Fox, for being the most noble of American Dreamers- those who are willing to lay their lives on the line for Freedom.

But what they did not know, or at least, what they did not report, was the difficult circumstance of Tillman's death- that he was killed by friendly fire; a barage of gunshots from his own unit who mistook him.

His parents have felt the loss more than most of us. Their son has been stolen from them in life. But also, his memory has been stolen from them, co-opted by the fanatical news media and the military too-thirsty to make a hero out of a Tragedy.

"Pat had high ideals about the country; that's why he did what he did," Mary Tillman said in her first lengthy interview since her son's death. "The military let him down. The administration let him down. It was a sign of disrespect. The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting."