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Tillman's wife: Real leaders
needed
PEGGY HARRIS
AP
Thursday Aug 23, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The wife of NFL athlete-turned-Army Ranger
Pat Tillman said Wednesday in her first public comments since
her husband's death by friendly fire that the country needs "authentic
leadership."
Saying that talking about her best friend was difficult, Marie
Tillman told an audience at the University of Arkansas about the
many good qualities of the NFL athlete and Army Ranger.
"Pat was a man with enormous talent. His athletic ability
was matched by a deep and complex moral and intellectual side,"
said Marie Tillman, a featured speaker at the school. "He
always tried to do the right thing and he was the first to admit
when he didn't."
Pat Tillman was cut down April 22, 2004, by bullets fired by
his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, not by enemy fire, as the
military initially claimed. The military said officers knew within
hours that Tillman's death was from friendly fire but didn't tell
his family or the public for five weeks.
(Article continues below)
Tillman's death attracted worldwide attention because he had
walked away from a huge contract with the Arizona Cardinals to
enlist after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
During a congressional hearing Aug. 1, former Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld and three former generals expressed regret
with the Pentagon's delay in telling the truth. They took no blame
for the violation.
Marie Tillman and her brother-in-law Alex Garwood avoided discussion
about the controversy around Tillman's death, saying they wanted
to focus on honoring his memory through the work of the Tillman
Foundation.
On Wednesday, Marie Tillman said her husband was dynamic and
action-oriented, something needed in private and public life.
"We are in need of authentic leadership on many levels,"
Marie Tillman said.
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