THE mother of a hero veteran has hit out following news Prince Harry will receive an award honouring her dead son.

She’s blasted the Duke of Sussex saying there are others “far more fitting” and with less “privilege” who could win the gong.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle accepted the President’s Award at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards Show in 2022Credit: Rex

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Harry talks to a Gurkha after firing a 50mm machine gun at Taliban fighters in AfghanistanCredit: Getty – Contributor

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Harry and Meghan visited Nigeria in MayCredit: Getty

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Cpl. Pat Tillman, a former professional football player, became a US soldier and was killed in a friendly fire incidentCredit: Reuters
Harry will be honoured with the Pat Tillman Award for Service for his Invictus Games work at the glittering ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on July 11.

The ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) is run by the sports TV network ESPN and the Pat Tillman Award has previously been given to unsung heroes.

But Tillman’s mother Mary said she was “shocked” why the award would be given to such a “controversial and divisive individual”, the Daily Mail reported.

She said: “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.

“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that those types of individuals should be recognised.”

A petition has also been launched to try and prevent ESPN from awarding the prince, who is a veteran himself, with the award.

One signatory said: “Pat Tillman sacrificed his life for duty and country! Harry walked away from duty and country & spit on his commander in chief, country, duty & family on his way out.

“All for a Hollywood dream! I’m appalled as an American that you would give him this award. It now means nothing!”

While another wrote: “There are others far more deserving. This is a slap in the face.”

For the last ten years the Pat Tillman Award for Service has been “given to a person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger, Pat Tillman,” according to ESPN.

Harry was offered the award “in honour of his tireless work in making a positive impact for the veteran community

ESPN said the Invictus Games has “transcended borders and impacted lives across every continent”. the power of sport.”

The duke founded the Invictus Games a decade ago to support injured and sick servicemen and women – both on active duty and veterans.

It comes despite Harry courting controversy by boasting of killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

He wrote in his memoir Spare that he’d taken “chess pieces off the board”, sparking ex-colonel Tim Collins to respond it was “not how you behave in the army”.

Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp says the award is just “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”.

He previously told The Sun: “He was a gunner in an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan but so were many, many other people.

What happened to Pat Tillman?

ESPN recounted Tillman’s tragic death in 2014 as the 10th anniversary approached.

Tillman was a safety with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals for four seasons before joining the Army.

He enlisted eight months after 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 terror attacks.

Tillman, a California native, turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million when he joined the military.

“The events leading up to one of the most infamous friendly-fire deaths in US military history were rife for second-guessing from the start,” reported ESPN.

“After an Army Humvee broke down in the mountains, Tillman’s platoon was divided by superiors so that the Humvee could be removed; a local truck driver was hired as the hauler.

“But the two groups struggled to communicate with each other as they traversed the steep terrain. And the second group soon became caught in a deafening ambush, receiving fire as it manoeuvred down a narrow, rocky canyon trail.”

A squad leader would misidentify an allied Afghan soldier positioned next to Tillman as the enemy, according to ESPN.

Soldiers would fire upon what Army Ranger Steven Elliott called “shadowy images,” ESPN reported.

“I can think of many people who did pretty extraordinary things while serving in the British and American armed forces which would be much more deserving of an award like this.

“It is obviously because of who he is – not what he did. An Apache is crewed by two people – a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a gunner. He was number two in the aircraft.

“There have been some incredible aeronautical exports from helicopter pilots in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones.

“There are some extraordinary stories – many covered by The Sun – involving enormous flying skill and bravery.