MetalBoy
04-30-2004, 06:57 PM
(CNN) -- A Silver Star has been awarded posthumously to Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former football player who died last week after returning to an ambush to save the remainder of his platoon, Army Special Operations Command said Friday.
Tillman was killed while performing his duty "without regard to his personal safety," the Army said in a statement.
Tillman left behind his NFL career as a safety with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
He served as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.
He was shot and killed April 22 during a ground convoy assault not far from Khowst, Afghanistan, near the eastern border with Pakistan.
Al Qaeda remnants are thought to be holed up along the border region.
The Army gave the following account of Tillman's actions:
"Tillman's platoon was split into two sections. Tillman was the team leader of the lead section when the trail section began receiving suppressive mortar and small-arms fire. ... [The] cavernous terrain made it extremely difficult to target enemy positions, and there was no room for the trail element to maneuver out of the kill zone.
Even though his element was out of the area that had come under fire, Tillman "ordered his team to dismount and maneuvered his team up a hill toward the enemy's location," the Army said.
During the battle, he issued "fire commands to take the fight to the enemy on the dominating high ground," the statement continued.
"Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their fires diminished."
Because of Tillman's leadership and his team's efforts, the trail section under fire "was able to maneuver through the ambush to positions of safety without a single casualty," the Army said.
Tillman was a member of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Lewis, Washington.
He was promoted posthumously from specialist to corporal, an Army spokeswoman told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"The Army always notes that rank and promotion are not a reward of what was done well, but a recognition that you have the potential to do more," Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd told the AP. "This promotion is essentially saying he would have been a fine leader."
Tillman was killed while performing his duty "without regard to his personal safety," the Army said in a statement.
Tillman left behind his NFL career as a safety with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
He served as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.
He was shot and killed April 22 during a ground convoy assault not far from Khowst, Afghanistan, near the eastern border with Pakistan.
Al Qaeda remnants are thought to be holed up along the border region.
The Army gave the following account of Tillman's actions:
"Tillman's platoon was split into two sections. Tillman was the team leader of the lead section when the trail section began receiving suppressive mortar and small-arms fire. ... [The] cavernous terrain made it extremely difficult to target enemy positions, and there was no room for the trail element to maneuver out of the kill zone.
Even though his element was out of the area that had come under fire, Tillman "ordered his team to dismount and maneuvered his team up a hill toward the enemy's location," the Army said.
During the battle, he issued "fire commands to take the fight to the enemy on the dominating high ground," the statement continued.
"Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their fires diminished."
Because of Tillman's leadership and his team's efforts, the trail section under fire "was able to maneuver through the ambush to positions of safety without a single casualty," the Army said.
Tillman was a member of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Lewis, Washington.
He was promoted posthumously from specialist to corporal, an Army spokeswoman told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"The Army always notes that rank and promotion are not a reward of what was done well, but a recognition that you have the potential to do more," Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd told the AP. "This promotion is essentially saying he would have been a fine leader."