The Untold

The U.S. Army said Saturday it knew for more than a year that 1st Lt. Kenneth Ballard was not killed in action in Iraq, as it initially reported.

The family was not told the truth until Friday.

Ballard's mother, Karen Meredith, of Mountain View, California, is a public critic of the war. She traveled last month to Crawford, Texas, to participate in the protest outside President Bush's ranch by another grieving mother, peace activist Cindy Sheehan.

This is an incredible story. Not because it's isolated, but precisely because it is not. Remember the case of uber-hero Patrick Tillman, the football player who let his multi-million dollar career go in order to enlist? He was killed in action and became a big figure, a war hero, until it was divulged that he died in a friendly fire incident.

It makes you wonder: how many more secrets in the war are there?