AP
Mary Tillman appeared before a small gathering at Olsson’s Books & Records in Chinatown Monday night for a reading from her book, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman.” Her son, Pat Tillman — who turned down a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to become one of the Army’s most high-profile soldiers — was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004, although the Department of Defense initially said it was the result of hostile fire.
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Tillman said that she “does not like to get too political” and that “I’m not here to talk about the war or be an anti-war person,” but she soon found herself unable to avoid politics, slamming the “lies and deception” that accompanied her son’s death and demanding that the American public “not let the Bush administration off scot-free.”
“We shouldn’t start wars,” said Tillman, “especially because of contrived reasons.” Tillman also claimed that the misinformation about her son’s death was used to “dupe” the public and distract Americans from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the president’s low approval ratings and the rising casualties in Iraq.
Despite the small crowd, Tillman had some friends in the audience willing to help her out. She opened the floor to questions following her reading and, after an awkward pause, a young man raised his hand and said, “I think it’s a great book. Thanks for writing it.”
“Thank you, Kevin,” Tillman responded. “Everyone, meet my son Kevin.”
