LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — 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. ... He always tried to do the right thing and he was the first to admit when he didn't," she said.
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.
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.