The Army is Kicking Out Green Beret Who Stood Up for Afghan Child Rape Victim

The Army is Kicking Out Green Beret Who Stood Up for Afghan Child Rape Victim

What would you do if someone you knew, and thought you trusted, turned out to be have beaten a woman and raped a child? For Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland, he took action — and doing so has cost him his career in the Army.

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he U.S. Army is kicking out a decorated Green Beret 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.

The case of Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland now has the attention of Congress, with Rep. Duncan Hunter writing to Defense Secretary Ash Carter challenging the decision.

“I am once again dismayed by the Army’s actions in this case,” Hunter, R-Calif., wrote in a letter to Carter.

Martland is described by many of his teammates as the finest soldier they have ever served alongside.

But his Army career changed course during his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. After learning an Afghan boy was raped and his mother beaten, Martland and his team leader confronted a local police commander they had trained, armed and paid with U.S. taxpayer dollars. When the man laughed off the incident, they physically confronted him.

So soldiers, who are supposed to act with integrity and honor, are supposed to look the other way when they find out that someone has raped a child? Let’s be honest: there’s no honor in refusing to act in defense of a child, and it’s ridiculous that the Army would punish someone who acted honorably.

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