In August of last year, the United States Army was moving to kick out a decorated Green Beret for defending a young boy who had been repeatedly raped by an Afghan police commander. This Afghan reportedly also beat the young boy’s mother when she complained about the repeated vile sexual attacks on her son.
Fox News reported at the time:
The U.S. Army is kicking out a decorated Green Beret [Sgt 1st Class Charles Martland] after an 11-year Special Forces career, after he got in trouble for shoving an Afghan police commander accused of raping a boy and beating up his mother when she reported the incident.. . . . One day in early September 2011 at their remote outpost, a young Afghan boy and his Afghan-Uzbek mother showed up at camp. The 12-year-old showed the Green Berets where his hands had been tied. A medic took him to a back room for an examination with an interpreter, who told them the boy had been raped by another commander by the name of Abdul Rahman.After learning of the meeting, Rahman allegedly beat the boy’s mother for reporting the crime. It was at this point, the Green Berets had had enough. Quinn and Martland went to confront Rahman.”He confessed to the crime and laughed about it, and said it wasn’t a big deal. Even when we patiently explained how serious the charge was, he kept laughing,” Quinn said.According to reports of the incident, Quinn and Martland shoved Abdul Rahman to the ground. It was the only way to get their point across, according to Quinn. “As a man, as a father of a young boy myself at the time, I felt obliged to step in to prevent further repeat occurrences,” Quinn said.
According to reports, Martland is an outstanding and respected soldier who has earned a Bronze Star with Valor and was praised by name by General Petraeus.
Fox News continues:
After a deployment to Iraq in 2008, he deployed to Afghanistan in January 2010 as part of a 12-man unit. He and his team found themselves fighting large numbers of Taliban militants in volatile Kunduz Province.On one mission, one of their vehicles was struck by an IED, setting off a Taliban ambush. Fox News is told Martland rushed to the scene. He jumped in the turret of a damaged Humvee, exposing himself to enemy bullets while returning fire to help his teammates gather sensitive equipment.”I thought he was gone, then he comes out of nowhere to save us,” said an active-duty Green Beret who requested anonymity.Martland was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions. According to one evaluation, he also was “praised” by Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.
Watch the report:
The Army’s move to remove Martland from service was unfathomable and garnered attention from, among others, two U. S. Congressmen, the VFW, and a famous actor who is a former Marine.
Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) pushed for a Capital Hill intervention to ensure that Martland was not removed from service, and Harvey Keitel was sufficiently outraged by the Army’s reaction that he sent an email to Duncan.
The star of such films as “Mean Streets” and “Reservoir Dogs” reached out to the office of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., one of Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland’s most vocal advocates, to go on the record in support of the Green Beret.A former Marine himself, Keitel said Martland and his team leader deserve a medal – not punishment – for their actions.“[W]hen I was a young Marine I understood we were present in order to help others who did not have the wherewithal to protect themselves,” Keitel wrote, in an email to Hunter chief of staff Joe Kasper. “Whomever owns the idea that decided to reprimand these two men instead of giving them a medal for their actions should be asked what the hell they would’ve done if it was their child in question …”The email was shared with FoxNews.com. Kasper said he also spoke by phone with Keitel who affirmed his support.
Fortunately, the Army paid attention to the public outrage and to the House members who defended Martland.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland, a Green Beret once selected for involuntary separation from the service after he struck an Afghan police commander who had admitted to raping a child, will remain in uniform.
An Army board on Wednesday determined Martland’s military personnel file contained an “error or injustice,” an Army spokesman said Friday morning. Removing that error from his record means Martland, 33, will continue to serve at least through the end of his enlistment.
The Army got this right . . . eventually, but its initial move to condemn and punish Martland for his heroic defense of a small child is a stunning indicator of just how infested with wrongheaded progressive thinking our military has become.
Although this case has been resolved properly, the effects of the Army’s initial actions against Martland are likely to have a chilling effect on others in the military who are in a position to intervene in crimes against civilians by people trained and funded by U. S. taxpayers.
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