Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich - Scumbag extraordinaire

[Postman]

Worm Dirt


Mary Tillman just recounted this incident:


In a transcript of his interview with Brig. Gen. Gary Jones during a November 2004 investigation, Kauzlarich said he'd learned Kevin Tillman, Pat's brother and fellow Army Ranger who was a part of the battle the night Pat Tillman died, objected to the presence of a chaplain and the saying of prayers during a repatriation ceremony in Germany before his brother's body was returned to the United States.

Kauzlarich, now a battalion commanding officer at Fort Riley in Kansas, further suggested the Tillman family's unhappiness with the findings of past investigations might be because of the absence of a Christian faith in their lives.

In an interview with ESPN.com, Kauzlarich said: "When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more — that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks. I can only imagine that that would be pretty tough."

Asked by ESPN.com whether the Tillmans' religious beliefs are a factor in the ongoing investigation, Kauzlarich said, "I think so. There is not a whole lot of trust in the system or faith in the system . So that is my personal opinion, knowing what I know."

Asked what might finally placate the family, Kauzlarich said, "You know what? I don't think anything will make them happy, quite honestly. I don't know. Maybe they want to see somebody's head on a platter. But will that really make them happy? No, because they can't bring their son back."

Kauzlarich, now 40, was the Ranger regiment executive officer in Afghanistan, who played a role in writing the recommendation for Tillman's posthumous Silver Star. And finally, with his fingerprints already all over many of the hot-button issues, including the question of who ordered the platoon to be split as it dragged a disabled Humvee through the mountains, Kauzlarich conducted the first official Army investigation into Tillman's death.

That investigation is among the inquiries that didn't satisfy the Tillman family.

"Well, this guy makes disparaging remarks about the fact that we're not Christians, and the reason that we can't put Pat to rest is because we're not Christians," Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, said in an interview with ESPN.com. Mary Tillman casts the family as spiritual, though she said it does not believe in many of the fundamental aspects of organized religion.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the fact that this whole thing is shady," she said sarcastically, "But it is because we are not Christians."

After a pause, her voice full with emotion, she added, "Pat may not have been what you call a Christian. He was about the best person I ever knew. I mean, he was just a good guy. He didn't lie. He was very honest. He was very generous. He was very humble. I mean, he had an ego, but it was a healthy ego. It is like, everything those are, he wasn't."



And they delayed Jessica Lynch's recuse for a day because they needed to prepare to videotape it.

These are bad people.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_04_22_archive.html#4741965420177133870

[calimary]

1. NO FRICKIN' KIDDING!!!!

I heard that story and it made me cry.

Will SOMEBODY PLEASE give that ASSHOLE a dishonorable discharge???

What a disgrace!!! To do that to a grieving family!!!! And he considers himself a Christian? As a Christian myself, I could just vomit. What would Jesus do, you SCHMUCK??????

BTW -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x745207

[Mist]

2. That's spelled "KKKauzlarich"right?" He's a disgrace to the service. nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Mr jebus will fix everything if we pray enough.

[MN ChimpH8R]

4. What an asshat

I mean, this just makes me want to strangle this sanctimonious dingbat. How DARE this goofy son of a bitch offer his wingnut opinion impugning the Tillman family. They lost their son and brother under highly dubious circumstances which the Army then lied about.

Nothing to see here, go over and look at the 100 foot tall neon Jeebus. Move along.

I :patriot: the Tillman family.

[shenmue]

5. No officer ought to use his or her rank to promote personal beliefs.

They defend the entire country, not just themselves. This isn't the Crusades.

[Karenina]

6. Doch.

Check out the U.S.A.F.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Don't say that too loud inside the Pentagon....

NPR did a story about the efforts of Evangelicals to push a xtian mindset inside the military. The Washington Post did a story on it also. Google "Christians+Pentagon and you get 1,330,000 hits

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6610025