Reuters is reporting that the Army knew almost immediately that former pro athlete Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan was due to friendly fire, but chose to withold the truth for weeks, even from Tillman's immediate family. Full story is here:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04269545.htm
You might recall that Tillman was a pro-football player who received much publicity when he gave up his million-dollar sports career to enlist in the Army Rangers and fight in Afghanistan... apparently the opportunity to use his death for propaganda purposes was too much for the army to resist.
More below...
Reuters reports:
The day after his death, U.S. personnel burned Tillman's bloody body armor and uniform, which an investigator called the destruction of evidence. Army officers also instructed soldiers knowledgeable about the incident to keep quiet for fear the news media would learn the truth, the report found.
"Leading his Rangers without regard for his own safety, Tillman was shot and killed while focusing his efforts on the elimination of the enemy forces and the protection of his team members," Army Special Operations Command said in a public statement on April 30, 2004, several days after Army investigators had established friendly fire as the cause.
So it turns out that this statement was released when the army knew full well that he had been killed by our own troops. The truth was not revealed for several weeks, while in the meantime Tillman recieved a hero's funeral and much media attention was devoted to the story of how Pat Tilman gave his life in the war on terror. Tillman's death was portrayed as heroic sacrifice rather that what it really was - a symbol of the senseless nature of war.