In a transcript of his interview with Brig. Gen. Gary Jones during a November 2004 investigation, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich said he'd learned Kevin Tillman, Pat's brother and fellow Army Ranger who was a part of the battle the night Pat Tillman died, objected to the presence of a chaplain and the saying of prayers during a repatriation ceremony in Germany before his brother's body was returned to the United States. (Kauzlarich was the commanding officer who chose to split Tillman's unit in two, resulting in the fratricide.)
Early in the evening of April 22, 2004, a heavily armored vehicle in the trailing half of a split platoon came under attack from enemy fire in the rugged mountainous terrain of southeastern Afghanistan. Soldiers in a Humvee opened fire in retaliation but instead shot at fellow Rangers positioned ahead, killing Pat Tillman and an Afghan soldier standing 10 feet off Tillman's left shoulder. The former NFL safety — the Army's most celebrated volunteer — took three bullets to the forehead.
Playing the Atheism Card Against Pat Tillman’s Family
Army's Veteran Care Problems Widespread
By HOPE YEN 04.25.07, 5:22 PM ET
"No one suffers more than their president and I do." Laura Bush 4/25/07
UPDATE: 4/27/07 BLACKWATER
