Green Beret Who Confronted Child Rapist in Afghanistan Reinstated
A decorated United States Army Green Beret who faced involuntary discharge for confronting an Afghan police commander who raped a 12-year-old child will be exonerated and reinstated, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records confirmed last week.
The U.S. Army announced last August that it was going to expel Sergeant First Class Charles Martland after he and team leader Daniel Quinn physically confronted a police commander in Kunduz, who had kidnapped and raped a local boy and beat his mother after she reported the incident to U.S. troops.
The incident happened during Martland's second deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 when he and Quinn confronted the police commander after hearing the 12-year-old boy's testimony and allegations of rape and abuse.
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Fox News reports that the Afghan commander, named Abdul Rahman, was one that Martland and Quinn's unit had trained, armed and paid with U.S. tax dollars.
Despite the fact that both men were simply intervening in a situation they felt to be morally wrong, they were later officially reprimanded, removed from the base and sent home from Afghanistan.
Although Quinn left the Army and started a job on Wall Street, Martland decided to appeal the involuntary discharge decision.
With the help of the American Center for Law and Justice, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and over 350,000 Americans who signed onto a petition calling for Martland's reinstatement, the soldier was finally reinstated last Thursday.
"I am real thankful for being able to continue to serve," Martland told Fox News. "I appreciate everything Congressman Duncan Hunter and his Chief of Staff, Joe Kasper did for me."
Jay Sekulow, ACLJ chief counsel, asserted that Martland's reinstatement is a victory for the American people.
"The decision by the Army to retain this hero is long overdue and represents a significant victory for SFC Martland. Justice has been served," Sekulow said in a statement. "The U.S. military has a moral obligation to stop child sexual abuse and exonerate SFC Martland for defending a child from rape. The Army finally took the corrective action needed, and this is not only a victory for SFC Martland, but for the American people as well."
Along with sending a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter challenging the Army's decision, Hunter, a former Marine, also introduced a bill into Congress that would allow U.S. troops to confront sexual violence on military installations. The legislation is called the "Martland Act."
"The Army did the right thing and we won — the American people, won," Hunter told Fox News. "Martland is who we want out there."
