FLASHBACK: Pentagon lied about NFL player's death

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Apr 24, 2007


The Pentagon conspired to cover up American football star Pat Tillman's friendly fire death in Afghanistan to portray him as a hero in the war on terrorism, the soldier's brother alleged Tuesday.

Kevin Tillman, who served in the same platoon in Afghanistan as Pat, said the Pentagon purposefully withheld the true circumstances of his death from the family and sought to distract the public from the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq.

'These are deliberate and calculated lies,' Tillman said during frequently emotional testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

'To our family and friends, it was a devastating loss. To the nation, it was a moment of disorientation. To the military, it was a nightmare. But to others within the government, it appears to have been an opportunity,' Tillman said.

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