Ex-US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top former Pentagon officials today denied any cover-up and rejected personal responsibility for the military’s bungled response to Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire death in Afghanistan.

The US Army has opened a review of casualty reports on American soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since 2001, a response to complaints that it has not always given families accurate information.

Pat Tillman was the embodiment of the all American hero.