Rumsfeld says family deserved truth in Tillman death

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday the family of Army Ranger and football star Pat Tillman deserved the truth and an apology about his death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Rumsfeld, making his first appearance before the U.S. Congress since leaving office last year, told a hearing the Army made errors in handling the investigation of Tillman's death in 2004, but he said "in no instance" was there a cover-up by the Pentagon.

"I don't think there was a cover-up," added Gen. John Abizaid, former head of the U.S. Central Command responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan. "I think people tried to do the right thing and the right thing didn't happen."

The two testified before the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Abizaid acknowledged mistakes were made in relaying information up and down the chain of command, including a failure to quickly advise the Bush administration that friendly fire might have caused Tillman's death.

"It's very difficult to come to grips with how we screwed this thing up," Abizaid said, "but we screwed this thing up."

Tillman became a patriotic symbol in the United States when he gave up a $3.6 million (1.8 million pounds) National Football League career with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

He died on April 22, 2004, in Afghanistan. The Army initially said his death was due to enemy fire and Tillman was awarded the Silver Star eight days later.

The military did not acknowledge Tillman's death by friendly fire until a month later on May 29, 2004.