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CBS NewsMary Tillman: Pat's Death Isn't an Isolated Case; Many Military Families Not Getting Full Story About Kids' Deaths(CBS) Pat Tillman gave up his professional football career with the Arizona Cardinals to join the U.S. Army Rangers after September 11.
In 2004, Pat was shot and killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. But the story told by the government was quite different.
Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, documents her family's crusade to uncover the truth and expose the cover-up by senior military officials in her book, "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: Searching for Answers in the Death of Pat Tillman," which is being re-released to coincide with the August 20 release of the documentary "The Tillman Story."
On "The Early Show" Monday, Mary spoke with "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill from Mountain View, Calif., about some additional information that's coming out in the paperback version of her book, about former Gen. Stanley McChrystal's handling of her son's death.
Mary explained, "I wrote the book, came out in 2008, and I indicate that McChrystal was involved in orchestrating the cover-up. He falsified the Silver Star. He was very aware that Pat was killed by friendlies. And then, when he was going to be promoted to the head commander in Afghanistan, I had contacted President Obama, I e-mailed him and written a letter and contacted members of Congress, just trying to remind them that this man needed to be scrutinized very carefully. And in the end, it turned out that he was pretty much meant for that position. He was a shoo-in. Of course, he was promoted. And, that is part of the foreword."
Mary said when the Rolling Stone article was released this spring -- the one that led to the end of McCrystal's military career -- she felt validated.
"I just felt that, from what I had read about Gen. McChrystal, he was a pretty savvy individual. When I read the article, I thought the remarks that were made to this reporter, in front of this reporter, by him and his staff, were extremely arrogant and irresponsible. You know, and I say in the foreword, you know, it's understandable he might be critical of Paris and all its chic-ness when he's been in a war zone, and critical of policies he doesn't agree with. That's fine. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But the arrogant way that he spoke about it in front of a reporter -- that disturbed me."
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/16/earlyshow/main6777262.shtml?tag=stack
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