thedrifter
04-27-07, 08:54 AM
Father says Tillman case mirrors son's
By Joshua M. Rinaldi, Freeman staff
04/27/2007
Ellenville resident Chris Ryan is seeing similarities in the way the military treated separate "friendly fire" incidents that killed U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman and left Ryan's Marine sergeant son, Eddie, disabled.
At a congressional hearing this week, an Army Ranger who served with Tillman when the former Arizona Cardinals football player was shot and killed in Afghanistan in April 2004 said he was ordered to keep quiet about the incident.
Chris Ryan said the Marines who were with his son in Iraq in April 2005 when he was shot twice in the head on a rooftop in Iraq have told him the same thing.
Five weeks after Tillman's death, the Army admitted to his family that he had been killed by fire from other Rangers.
Unlike Tillman, Eddie Ryan survived his wounds and has been working toward recovery ever since. Two years after the incident that almost killed him, Eddie Ryan is talking, writing with his left hand (he was right handed) and undergoing constant therapy to restore control of his limbs.
Chris Ryan said the Marine Corps originally told him his son was shot by insurgents. However, as the months went on the family became more suspicious. It took six months for Ryan to receive his Purple Heart medal, while other wounded soldiers received it within a few weeks.
In the battle to get Eddie Ryan a Purple Heart, the family enlisted the help of former U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley. With their assistance, Chris Ryan said, a fuzzy picture of what really happened began to appear.
As the other Marines in Ryan's unit came home from their tour, the picture became clearer. The Marines told Chris Ryan and his wife, Angie, that it was not insurgents who shot their son, but U.S. forces - a situation called "friendly fire."
"Pat Tillman's family, they were told five weeks after," Chris Ryan said. "We waited six months. We weren't even told by the Marine Corps first. We found out from Marines."
Six months after the shooting, the U.S. Marine Corps sent Chris Ryan a letter confirming what the Marines had told him. However, the letter said his son was walking on a rooftop dressed in black, holding a weapon. The elder Ryan said he knew from talking to other Marines that his son was dressed in desert camouflage and had leaned his weapon against the wall shortly before the shooting. He also said there is no way his son, who he said looks like a "poster-boy Marine," could be mistaken for an insurgent.
"(The Marine Corps) pointed the finger, like 'We shot him, but it was your son's fault that we shot him,'" Ryan said.
The six-month fight to get Ryan his Purple Heart has turned into a two-year ordeal to get the Bronze Star for the Marines who saved his life. Ryan said his son would have never survived if not for the work of Sgt. C.J. Quinlan, Sgt. Carl Schaeffer, Cpl. Andrew Senior and Cpl. Kenny Burdine, and wants them to be recognized for it.
"They could have all gone downstairs and saved their lives, but they stayed up there because of Eddie," Angie Ryan said earlier this month.
Chris Ryan hopes that the national attention the Tillman case is receiving may assist in getting the Marines their medals, because it puts pressure on the Department of Defense. Jeff Lieberson, a spokesman for Hinchey, said the Tillman case is showing that misleading information isn't an isolated problem.
"(Hinchey) recognizes that this is becoming a widespread problem in the Department of Defense," Lieberson said. "He will continue to press this issue, specifically with Eddie Ryan."
Despite six months of misleading information, Chris Ryan, a former Marine himself, still thinks the Marines Corps is, by and large, an honorable organization. He just hopes that Congress will root out the people responsible for delivering misinformation to families and help confer medals to the Marines who saved his son. He said when those things happen, his family will finally have some closure.
For more information about the Ryan family's efforts, visit the Web sitewww.helpeddieryan.com .
Ellie
By Joshua M. Rinaldi, Freeman staff
04/27/2007
Ellenville resident Chris Ryan is seeing similarities in the way the military treated separate "friendly fire" incidents that killed U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman and left Ryan's Marine sergeant son, Eddie, disabled.
At a congressional hearing this week, an Army Ranger who served with Tillman when the former Arizona Cardinals football player was shot and killed in Afghanistan in April 2004 said he was ordered to keep quiet about the incident.
Chris Ryan said the Marines who were with his son in Iraq in April 2005 when he was shot twice in the head on a rooftop in Iraq have told him the same thing.
Five weeks after Tillman's death, the Army admitted to his family that he had been killed by fire from other Rangers.
Unlike Tillman, Eddie Ryan survived his wounds and has been working toward recovery ever since. Two years after the incident that almost killed him, Eddie Ryan is talking, writing with his left hand (he was right handed) and undergoing constant therapy to restore control of his limbs.
Chris Ryan said the Marine Corps originally told him his son was shot by insurgents. However, as the months went on the family became more suspicious. It took six months for Ryan to receive his Purple Heart medal, while other wounded soldiers received it within a few weeks.
In the battle to get Eddie Ryan a Purple Heart, the family enlisted the help of former U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley. With their assistance, Chris Ryan said, a fuzzy picture of what really happened began to appear.
As the other Marines in Ryan's unit came home from their tour, the picture became clearer. The Marines told Chris Ryan and his wife, Angie, that it was not insurgents who shot their son, but U.S. forces - a situation called "friendly fire."
"Pat Tillman's family, they were told five weeks after," Chris Ryan said. "We waited six months. We weren't even told by the Marine Corps first. We found out from Marines."
Six months after the shooting, the U.S. Marine Corps sent Chris Ryan a letter confirming what the Marines had told him. However, the letter said his son was walking on a rooftop dressed in black, holding a weapon. The elder Ryan said he knew from talking to other Marines that his son was dressed in desert camouflage and had leaned his weapon against the wall shortly before the shooting. He also said there is no way his son, who he said looks like a "poster-boy Marine," could be mistaken for an insurgent.
"(The Marine Corps) pointed the finger, like 'We shot him, but it was your son's fault that we shot him,'" Ryan said.
The six-month fight to get Ryan his Purple Heart has turned into a two-year ordeal to get the Bronze Star for the Marines who saved his life. Ryan said his son would have never survived if not for the work of Sgt. C.J. Quinlan, Sgt. Carl Schaeffer, Cpl. Andrew Senior and Cpl. Kenny Burdine, and wants them to be recognized for it.
"They could have all gone downstairs and saved their lives, but they stayed up there because of Eddie," Angie Ryan said earlier this month.
Chris Ryan hopes that the national attention the Tillman case is receiving may assist in getting the Marines their medals, because it puts pressure on the Department of Defense. Jeff Lieberson, a spokesman for Hinchey, said the Tillman case is showing that misleading information isn't an isolated problem.
"(Hinchey) recognizes that this is becoming a widespread problem in the Department of Defense," Lieberson said. "He will continue to press this issue, specifically with Eddie Ryan."
Despite six months of misleading information, Chris Ryan, a former Marine himself, still thinks the Marines Corps is, by and large, an honorable organization. He just hopes that Congress will root out the people responsible for delivering misinformation to families and help confer medals to the Marines who saved his son. He said when those things happen, his family will finally have some closure.
For more information about the Ryan family's efforts, visit the Web sitewww.helpeddieryan.com .
Ellie