General's Memo Urged Caution Soon After Tillman Death

One week after Cpl. Pat Tillman was accidentally killed by fellow Rangers in Afghanistan in 2004, a top Army general sent a memo intended to warn President Bush and others that it was "highly possible" that Tillman died by "friendly fire," and to caution against comments that could prove embarrassing should the circumstances of the former NFL star's death become public, according to a copy of the memo obtained yesterday.

Tillman's widow and parents did not learn about the fratricide until five weeks after his April 22 death and after a memorial service in San Jose at which Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and lauded for bravery in battle against enemy fighters.

An "investigation nearing completion will find that it is highly possible that CPL Tillman was killed by friendly fire," said the April 29, 2004, memo, sent by then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the task force that oversaw Tillman's Ranger regiment, to three superiors: Gen. John P. Abizaid, then head of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia; Gen. Doug Brown, head of the Special Operations Command; and Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, head of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

"I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it to preclude any unknowing statements by our country's leaders that might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of CPL Tillman's death become public," said the memo. It specifically addressed the possibility that the president and Army secretary might make speeches about Tillman's heroism "not knowing the specifics surrounding his death."

The Washington Post reported in May 2005 that Abizaid and other top commanders had been notified about the probable friendly-fire incident before the May 3, 2004, memorial. On Monday, a report by the Pentagon's inspector general disclosed that McChrystal wrote the memo, but the document itself did not surface until yesterday, obtained first by the Associated Press. The AP says a review turned up no indication that Bush, who lauded Tillman in a speech two days after the memo was sent, received the warning.

Brown responded to the memo. Abizaid said he did not see it for 10 to 20 days. Kensinger, however, said in sworn testimony that he saw the memo on May 4, but investigators determined that he actually saw it on April 30, according to the IG report. That was the basis for the IG's recommendation that the Army take "corrective action" against Kensinger for providing "misleading testimony."

Kensinger is one of four Army generals and five lower-ranking officers who could face discipline for what the IG report called "critical errors" in the aftermath of Tillman's death. A report on how the Army will act against the officers is expected in about four weeks.

McChrystal, now a three-star general in the secretive Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., has been considered a candidate to replace Brown, who is retiring. Some officials believe McChrystal's chances have been harmed by the Tillman case. Others say the leading candidate for the job remains Brown's deputy, Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.