Army censures general over Tillman case

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Tuesday officially censured a retired three-star general for lying about the 2004 friendly fire death of Army Ranger and former football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

In what officials described as an unprecedented case, the Army also reprimanded to six other officers, including three other generals, for errors up and down the chain of command. But Army officials said there was no evidence of a deliberate cover-up by the military.

Tillman, celebrated as a hero for giving up a National Football League career to join the Army after the September 11 attacks, died on April 22, 2004, from what the Army initially said was enemy fire.

Senior officers quickly suspected he had been killed by U.S. troops but kept to the story of enemy fire for a month. Meanwhile, Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, one of the U.S. military's top awards for gallantry, in a nationally televised memorial service.

Army investigators later reported that Tillman was killed by fellow U.S. soldiers who believed they were engaging enemy forces. Army Secretary Pete Geren said the follow-up to the shooting could not have been more poorly handled.

"There was a perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership," Geren told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

"But at no time did the Army try to cover up the truth or deceive the American public about how Corporal Tillman died."

SINGLED OUT FOR BLAME