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Tillman Story Hit Close To Home

The account of Pat Tillman's diaries being burned by the Army, in the various movie reviews (including

) [

] for

tears open an old scab for me.

My 21-year-old nephew, Marine Corporal Travis Bradach-Nall, was killed by an exploding U.S. cluster bomb during July 2, 2003, clearing operations in Karbala, Iraq. One of his buddies later reported that, shortly after Travis died, someone official came to their quarters and took charge of Travis' diaries. That person said they would get the diaries to Travis' family, which never happened.

Despite my Freedom of Information Act Requests on behalf of my sister, Travis' mother, Lynn Bradach, the Marines have been unable to produce Travis' diaries. What a coincidence that Pat Tillman's diaries went missing in Afghanistan, 10 months later. Lynn met Deepak Chopra in the course of her later adventures. As Deepak says, "There are no coincidences." It is unlikely that soldiers would spoliate such personal effects on their own. Was there a policy to take diaries of killed American soldiers? Where are confiscated diaries kept? Lynn still wants hers. I am sure the Tillmans would like theirs.

John F. Bradach Sr.
Northeast Broadway

WWeek 2015