Showing posts with label Green Beret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Beret. Show all posts

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc Opens Up About His Own Battle With PTSD

A General’s New Mission: Leading a Charge Against PTSD
New York Times
The Saturday Profile
By DIONNE SEARCEY
OCT. 7, 2016
“The powerful thing is that I can use myself as an example. And thank goodness not everybody can do that. But I’m able to do it, so that has some sort of different type of credibility to it.”
Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc
Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, commander of American Special
Operations Forces in Africa, tells soldiers that it is all
right to get help for brain injuries and mental health problems.
Credit Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
STUTTGART, Germany — It might have been the 2,000-pound bomb that dropped near him in Afghanistan, killing several comrades. Or maybe it was the helicopter crash he managed to survive. It could have been the battlefield explosions that detonated all around him over eight combat tours.

Whatever the cause, the symptoms were clear. Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc suffered frequent headaches. He was moody. He could not sleep. He was out of sorts; even his balance was off. He realized it every time he walked down the street holding hands with his wife, Sharon, leaning into her just a little too close.

Despite all the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, it took 12 years from his first battlefield trauma for him to seek care. After all, he thought, he was a Green Beret in the Army’s Special Forces. He needed to be tough.

General Bolduc learned that not only did he suffer from PTSD, but he also had a bullet-size spot on his brain, an injury probably dating to his helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2005.
Other high-ranking officers have come forward to talk about their struggles with post-combat stress and brain injuries. And in recent years, Special Operations commanders have become more open about urging their soldiers to get treatment.
read more here


He is not alone in talking about having PTSD. Other Generals came out as well so that they could actually care for the men and women they commanded.

Brig. General Gary S. Patton and Gen. Carter Ham have both sought counseling for the emotional trauma of their time in the Iraq war.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Vietnam: Medal of Honor quest for Maj. George Quamo

A breakthrough in Medal of Honor quest for Maj. George Quamo
Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
By Paul Nelson
Published: August 29, 2016

ALBANY, N.Y. (Tribune News Service) — Friends and family of George Quamo hope two more testimonials — one from a former military medic and another penned by one of his fellow special service members — will bolster the case that the Green Beret from Averill Park deserves a Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Vietnam War.

Maj. George Quamo VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND
Two notarized letters — from William Harris of North Carolina and Richard Mullowney Jr. of Alaska — bring to three the supporting documents that supporters will be submitting to the Defense Department requesting that Quamo be posthumously awarded the nation's highest military honor.

The Army Major who graduated from Averill Park High School in 1958 was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading a dangerous helicopter mission in 1968 that rescued 14 Green Berets and dozens of others who were invaded by two North Vietnamese battalions and were pleading for help at the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp in central Vietnam.

Quamo (pronounced Cuomo) died in a plane crash on April 14, 1968.
read more here

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Soldier's Widow Defeated Army To Restore Husband's Honor

A wife takes on Army to restore husband’s honor and acquire his benefits
Stars and Stripes
By Dianna Cahn
Published: August 21, 2016

WASHINGTON — In the eight years that her husband deployed repeatedly to Iraq and Afghanistan, she learned to be good at not having him around. So when the knock came to tell her that Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz wouldn’t make it back from Afghanistan that last time, she was prepared, even in her grief, to pick up the pieces.

Debbie Venetz wore white to his funeral — she didn’t care whether people thought she was crazy. The 29-year-old widow wanted to celebrate her husband and let their 7- and 3-year-olds know that while they will miss Daddy, life will go on.

But nothing could have readied her for the nearly six-year battle ahead to restore her husband’s honor and secure benefits for their family.

Debbie took on the Army.

She faced down a withering backlash as she pressed for a more thorough investigation into his death. She sought powerful allies — colonels and generals — to push the case forward. But mostly, she never stopped believing that her husband died the way he lived as a Green Beret — honorably and in service to his country.

The mission to conduct outreach with local villages had met with resistance. He’d been wounded twice on that deployment alone and had earned a Bronze Star with “V” device for valor for remaining in a firefight for two days after he was shot in the leg on Sept. 29, 2010. He showed “selflessness, dedication to duty and courage under fire,” according to his medal citation, and helped to repel the enemy and save lives “in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism.”

That medal was awarded to him Jan. 17, 2011 — 11 days before his death.

read more here
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz receives a Purple Heart in Afghanistan in October 2010, just months before his death. COURTESY OF DEBBIE VENETZ

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Green Beret Vietnam Veteran May Be Next MOH Recipient

Green Beret medic could be next Vietnam War MOH recipient
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: July 14, 2016

Gary Michael Rose receives the Distinguished Service Cross from Gen. Creighton Abrams, the U.S. commander in Vietnam, for heroism during Operation Tailwind.
COURTESY OF TED WICOREK
“God knows how many times he risked his life to make sure as many guys as possible came out alive,” Retired Maj. John Plaster.
WASHINGTON — The story of Green Beret Gary Michael Rose’s heroism is an epic of classified warfare and a stinging media scandal, but it might soon end with a Medal of Honor.

In 1970, Rose was the lone medic for a company of Special Forces soldiers and indigenous Vietnamese fighters during a risky, four-day assault deep into Laos. The badly injured Rose helped bring all the soldiers back alive and received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest military honor, during a ceremony at the time in Vietnam.

“He is not a gung-ho person, he is very thoughtful, but he was a hell of a medic and I trusted him with my life,” said Keith Plancich, 66, who was a Special Forces squad leader on the mission.

But Rose and the other men were wrongly accused of taking part in war crimes in 1998 after the mission, called Operation Tailwind, was declassified and unearthed for the first time by CNN and its partner Time magazine.
read more here

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Fort Carson Green Beret Receives Silver Star

Green Beret receives Silver Star for refusing to leave fallen leader behind
Army Times
Kyle Jahner
June 15, 2016

When he saw a rocket-propelled grenade explode near fellow Green Beret Staff Sgt. Richard Harris during the battle following a 2011 ambush in Afghanistan, then-Staff Sgt. Bell thought: “I’m pretty sure Rich is dead.”


Sgt. 1st Class Richard Harris in Wardak province in winter 2011

(Photo: Courtesy of Sgt. 1st Class Richard Harris)
Harris was not dead; the blast against a wall about 7 feet behind him was closer to the beginning of his fight than its end. After momentarily losing consciousness, he recovered and valiantly fought, largely to protect his fallen team leader, Master Sgt. Danial “Slim” Adams. He braved close-range enemy fire multiple times to protect Adams from the insurgents, even after realizing Adams had died from his wounds.

Nearly five years later, during a June 3 ceremony at Fort Carson, Colorado, now-Sgt. 1st Class Harris received a Silver Star Medal — the Army's third highest valor award — for charging into open territory with a grenade launcher in one hand and an M4 firing in the other.
read more here

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Fort Carson Soldiers Evacuated from Rocky Mountain

Fort Carson soldiers evacuated from Colorado peak by helicopter
FOX news
June 3, 2016

North Face of Longs Peak, May 2016
(National Park Service)
Several military personnel were rescued by helicopter Friday in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park after some had trouble climbing one of the state's highest peaks.

Defense officials told Fox News that 11 Green Berets from Fort Carson in Colorado Springs were involved in a climbing training exercise Thursday on 14,259-foot Longs Peak, but a few of them had trouble continuing.
read more here

Veterans Court Judge Reprimanded For Fight Too Hard For Green Beret?

Hillsborough judge agrees to reprimand for going 'too far' on defendant's behalf
Tampa Bay Times

Anna M. Phillips
Times Staff Writer
Friday, June 3, 2016

TAMPA — Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder, who intervened in the case of a former U.S. Army Green Beret charged with multiple felonies, has agreed to be publicly reprimanded for trying to persuade prosecutors to change the man's sentence.

In a deal reached with the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, which oversees judges across the state, Holder acknowledged that he "went too far" in his attempts to lighten the man's punishment, creating "the appearance of impropriety and partiality."

In addition to being publicly reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court, he will have to complete six hours of training "on topics related to ethics," if the Florida Supreme Court accepts the commission's recommendation of discipline.

Holder did not respond to requests for comment, but his attorney, David Weinstein, said he was disappointed the commission had filed the charges against the judge in the first place.

"From my perspective, the JQC's action was not based on what Judge Holder was trying to accomplish or why but, instead, how he went about it," Weinstein said.
read more here

Saturday, May 28, 2016

MOH Staff Sgt. Robert Miller Featured in Medal of Honor Report

Army sergeant charged enemy to help others
Selfless act allowed his fellow soldiers to make their getaway

The San Diego Union Tribune
By Phillip Molnar
May 27, 2016

Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller. U.S. Army
As enemy soldiers surrounded his unit in northeastern Afghanistan just before dawn, Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller made a choice.

More than 150 insurgents had ambushed the combined U.S. special operations and Afghan National Army force in the snow-filled Gowardesh Valley in January 2008, exposing the men to automatic weapon fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

In the lead, Miller ordered the men to take cover. Then he charged the enemy to give his comrades time to get away.

The official Army report said he managed to kill at least 10 insurgents and wound dozens more before being killed by enemy fire. He is credited with saving seven American and 15 Afghan soldiers.

“No one wants to go through what we did with losing a child,” his mother, Maureen Miller, said this month from Florida. “To know that your child died doing his duty and saving the lives of others, it makes a big difference in how you’re able to handle that kind of thing.”

Miller posthumously received the Medal of Honor in October 2010 from President Barack Obama.
read more here


Medal of Honor service was here in Casselberry Florida
Military salute during the national anthem, during the Medal of Honor Headstone Dedication Ceremony, honoring U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, in Casselberry, Fla., Saturday, January 22, 2011. SSG Miller was was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2008 and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Obama in October. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Earl Plumlee May Get Medal Of Honor

New Army secretary asked to intervene in Medal of Honor case
The Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
Published: May 24, 2016

WASHINGTON — A year after a Special Forces soldier was denied the Medal of Honor, the nation’s top award for valor in combat, a congressman has appealed to the new Army secretary to review the case.

Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Earl Plumlee, right, salutes during an awards ceremony at at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on May 1, 2015, after he received the Silver Star for his actions in Afghanistan. A Calif. congressman is requesting that newly-sworn-in Army Secretary Eric Fanning consider whether Plumlee should be awarded the Medal of Honor, a recommendation that was denied in 2015 under then-Army Secretary John McHugh. CODIE MENDENHALL/U.S. ARMY

Army Secretary Eric Fanning was sworn in as the service’s top civilian leader last week, and almost immediately received a letter from Rep. Duncan Hunter, R.-Calif., asking if he would review the case of Sgt. 1st Class Earl D. Plumlee. The Green Beret soldier was nominated for the Medal of Honor for his role in repelling a brutal ambush in Afghanistan in 2013 and received recommendations for the prestigious award from several of the military’s most powerful officers, but was ultimately denied last year by then-Army Secretary John McHugh. Plumlee instead received the Silver Star, which is two levels below the Medal of Honor in recognizing combat heroism.
read more here


The Army denied a Medal of Honor to this Green Beret war hero. What happened?

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Green Beret Who Risked Everything to Stop Rapist Naming First Child After Congressman

Green Beret to name son after a career-saving congressman
Army Times
Kyle Jahner
May 6, 2016


The Green Beret who faced separation for beating up an Afghan child rapist has said he will name a son after the congressman who had his six.
It was Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who vehemently fought to save Martland's career when the soldier was flagged for involuntary separation last year. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland's wife is expecting twin boys, and the second one to arrive will be named Duncan Hunter Martland, Army Times has learned, to honor Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"I am extremely thankful for your help over the course of the last nine months and giving me the opportunity to continue to serve. If it was not for your leadership, my career would be over. My wife an I can never thank you enough," Martland wrote to Hunter, a former Marine.

The soldier's wife is due in July. His first-born son will be named Konrad (they're undecided on the middle name).
read more here

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock Posthumously Received the Silver Star.

Green Berets honored with Silver Star and eight other valor awards
Army Times
Michelle Tan
May 6, 2016

“These men are heroes, plain and simple,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard, during the ceremony, according to information released by the Army. “They don’t boast. They don’t draw undue attention to themselves. They just get the job done.”
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock posthumously received the Silver Star.
(Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
As the bullets rained down around him, Staff Sgt. Michael Sargent dragged a fallen Afghan soldier to safety.

Then, without hesitation or concern about his own safety, the Green Beret entered the courtyard in southern Afghanistan again to recover the body of a second fallen Afghan soldier and help a wounded teammate get to cover.

For his actions on that day in December, Sargent was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor.

Sargent and several other members of A Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group were honored last Friday for their actions during their recent deployment to Afghanistan.

In all, the soldiers earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with V device, six Army Commendation Medals with V device, and one Purple Heart.In all, the soldiers earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with V device, six Army Commendation Medals with V device, and one Purple Heart. read more here

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Green Beret Lost Arm But Not Faith And Returned to Full Duty

Green Beret returns to full duty after losing arm in Afghanistan
FOX 32 News
April 22, 2016

"Continue to move forward. Don't let your situation define who you are. Don't let your situation stop you from your goals. Everything and anything is possible with faith and determination." Sgt. 1st Class Ivan Morera
Photo Source: U.S. Army
A Green Beret returned to full active duty service more than two years after his hand was amputated stemming from a vehicle roll-over in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st Class Ivan Morera, a Special Forces medic, will continue to serve with the 7th Special Forces Group.

Army.mil described the incident that caused Morera's injury: In August 2013, an insurgent on a motorcycle drove up to the front-left tire of the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle that Morera was driving. Aware of intelligence reports stating insurgents were employing suicide bombers on motorcycles, Morera swerved to avoid the attacker. The insurgent pursued Morera's vehicle, even as he swerved multiple times. The final time Morera swerved, the vehicle went off the road. When he over-corrected to return to the road, the vehicle began to roll over. While the vehicle flipped, the driver's side door next to Morera broke off its hinges and combat lock.
read more here

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Green Beret Records Challenged After Volunteering Award

Red Cross volunteer's story challenged by Vietnam Veterans groups, individuals
Tulsa World
By Rita Sherrow
World Scene Writer
February 2, 2016
Vietnam War veteran John Smith, leaning next to the Disaster Relief vehicle he staffed during one of the California wildfires, pays it forward as a volunteer with the Tulsa chapter of the American Red Cross. After being lost in a Vietnam jungle for almost three months, it was the Red Cross that helped him let his family know he was alive.
JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

A Tulsa World story that profiled a Red Cross volunteer in October brought numerous questions and protests from Vietnam veteran military groups.

John Smith, a Red Cross volunteer who was nominated for an award with the Tulsa Area United Way, identified himself as a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran who served more than 20 years in military service.

The veterans group Green Beret Posers Exposed and others immediately challenged Smith’s story.

The Tulsa World has tried repeatedly since October to talk to Smith, advising him the story was being challenged and to verify his military record. He claimed health issues and other reasons for not answering repeated requests for another interview.

Green Beret Posers Exposed has supplied the Tulsa World with military documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that indicate Smith was never in Special Forces and only served in the military for a limited time (U.S. Army 1970-1972 and U.S. Navy 1974-1975). Additionally, records show Smith receiving medals for serving in Vietnam, although he was never a Green Beret or member of the Special Forces.
read more here

Vietnam War veteran gives back to Red Cross that helped him in his time of need

Monday, January 25, 2016

Fort Bragg Special Forces Remembers MOH Staff Sgt. Robert Miller

On anniversary of his death, MoH recipient a model for Army special operators 
Fayetteville Observer
Drew Brooks
January 25, 2016
On the eighth anniversary of his death, Miller remains the only Special Forces soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Afghanistan, and the only Fort Bragg soldier to be so recognized in the Global War on Terror.
First, there was just one insurgent.

A single man jumping from behind a boulder, screaming "Allahu Akbar!"

Staff Sgt. Robert Miller killed the man instantly.

Then, the valley erupted.

More than 140 enemy fighters, holed up in fortified positions overlooking Miller's 3rd Special Forces Group team and their Afghan allies, faced the soldiers on three sides.

The soldiers, trapped in the open terrain, had little chance to respond. Some of the enemy fighters were a mere feet away, unleashing hell with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and PKM machine guns.

That day, Jan. 25, 2008, could have been the last for the Green Berets and their allies, according to some of the men who were part of the fight.

But as the ambush began, Miller took charge.
read more here
Linked from Stars and Stripes

Orlando Sentinel


This is the memorial service after the Medal of Honor had been presented to his family.
Adm. Eric Olson Special Forces

Medal of Honor Afghanistan and Iraq

VIDEO: DOD tribute video to Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Robert Miller Department of Defense video

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

USF President Got Call From VA Over Treatment of Florida Veteran

VA Secretary requests meeting with USF President over former student with PTSD 
WFLA News
By Mary McGuire
Published: December 29, 2015
“Veterans involved in a VTC program experience significant improvement in PTSD, depression, substance abuse, emotional well-being, relationships with others, recovery status, social connectedness, family functioning, and sleep.” Robert A. McDonald
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)– U.S. Army Green Beret Clay Allred’s fight to be reinstated as a student at the University of South Florida is now gaining the attention of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Allred was disqualified for enrollment at the University after a violent episode in 2014, triggered by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Earlier this month, his house arrest order was terminated, but he still has not been granted entry to the University to complete the 17 credits he needs to get his degree.

Now, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald is urging the University to reconsider, requesting a sit-down meeting with University President Dr. Judy Genshaft to discuss the ways the VA and the University can work together to educate veterans who have completed veteran’s treatment court programs.
read more here

Saturday, December 5, 2015

USF Got $71 Million for PTSD Research But Failed Own Student?

USF received millions in the last "five years" for PTSD research but has yet to learn how to help veteran students with PTSD?
"USF has also received about $71 million over the past five years to develop cutting-edge PTSD treatments and other programs for veteran rehabilitation and reintegration into society."
Troubled veteran must serve sentence before re-enrolling at USF
Tampa Tribune
By Anastasia Dawson
Tribune Staff
Published: December 3, 2015

TAMPA — Qadratullan “Shawn” Hassan sat quietly by himself Thursday, listening to reasons a man he feared would kill him should be given a second chance at graduating from the University of South Florida.
A number of mental health experts say Clay Allred is ready to be reintegrated into USF, a judge says, and the court might even provide him an escort on campus.TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO
Hassan, 29, was working at a gas station and convenience store just steps from USF’s Tampa campus when former Army Staff Sgt. Clay Allred, 30, told the Muslim clerk, “I don’t like you people,” urinated on the store’s floor and fired his handgun into the air repeatedly.

Hassan said he has sympathy toward the man, who has suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a traumatic brain injury from a car crash.

Yet Hassan said the experience has given him nightmares of his own and was relieved USF’s Board of Trustees appeared to stand firm on its decision to keep Allred out of school until he finishes serving his sentence for the crime.

“It was a hate crime, and if it was a civilian I wouldn’t have taken it so bad, but it was a veteran and that hurt my heart,” Hassan said. “At that moment, I thought my life was over and I was just asking God for a miracle.”

Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory Holder told USF’s thirteen trustees Thursday that Allred, a decorated veteran and former U.S. Army Green Beret, has made considerable progress with help from Holder’s Veterans Treatment Court.

Through veteran’s court, Allred has completed therapy for both PTSD and alcoholism. A number of mental health experts say Allred is ready to be reintegrated into USF, Hiolder said, and the court might even provide him an escort on campus.
read more here

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Judge Fights for Green Beret Veteran Kicked Out of USF

USF trustees pass on Holder's request to readmit expelled U.S. Army vet
Tampa Bay Times
Tony Marrero Times Staff Writer
Thursday, December 3, 2015
TAMPA — Despite a plea from Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory Holder, the University of South Florida Board of Trustees on Thursday did not to act on a request to readmit a former U.S. Army Green Beret expelled after firing his gun at a Tampa gas station.

None of the 12 board members present brought up Holder's request for discussion after he spoke for three minutes on behalf of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Clary Allred, who needs 17 credits to graduate.

Allred was convicted of last year of aggravated assault and other charges in the county's Veterans Treatment Court, which Holder oversees.

Saying he came "not with a frontal assault but on bended knee," Holder urged the board to intervene. Typically, board members don't get involved in admissions decisions.
Hassan, 29, followed Allred outside to get his tag number and Allred pulled an AR-15 rifle from his Jeep and held it at his side in a threatening manner, police said. After a few more exchanged words, Allred handed Hassan a $100 bill, got in his Jeep and fired another weapon, a Glock handgun, into the air three times as he drove away.
read more here

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Green Beret Made Morally Right Choice, Suffering For It

Green Beret Discharged for Shoving Accused Afghan Rapist Speaks Out
Fox News
by Judson Berger
Sep 28, 2015

A Green Beret ordered discharged after he and his team leader body-slammed an alleged Afghan child rapist is speaking out against the Army's effort to punish him, as he fights to stay in the service.

"Kicking me out of the Army is morally wrong and the entire country knows it," Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland said, in his first public statement on his case.

The detailed written statement, requested by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., was shared by the congressman's office with FoxNews.com. Hunter, who has advocated on Martland's behalf, intends to submit the statement to the House Armed Services Committee.

Martland's case has received renewed attention amid recent press reports on the U.S. military's handling of child abuse allegations involving Afghan allies. In his statement, Martland gives a blunt account of the September 2011 encounter with the "brutal child rapist," local police commander Abdul Rahman. He acknowledges the confrontation, but suggests the commander exaggerated his injuries -- and argues that the boy's safety, as well as American lives, was at stake that day.

Martland said the Afghan Local Police had been "committing atrocities," raising concerns that many locals viewed as "worse than the Taliban" -- and if locals returned to the Taliban, attacks against U.S. forces would increase.

"While I understand that a military lawyer can say that I was legally wrong, we felt a moral obligation to act," he said.
read more here

Friday, August 21, 2015

Decorated Green Beret Getting Kicked Out for Stopping Child Rapist?

Army kicking out decorated Green Beret who stood up for Afghan rape victim
FoxNews.com
By Lucas Tomlinson
Published August 21, 2015
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.
EXCLUSIVE: The 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.
Martland grew up south of Boston, in Milton, Mass. An all-state football player in high school, he set his sights on playing college football after graduating in 2001. Martland went for the Florida State University team, which just finished a season ranked #4 in the nation.
read more here

Friday, August 14, 2015

Master Sgt. Andrew McKenna Recommended for Silver Star

Green Beret killed in Afghanistan recommended for Silver Star
Army Times
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
August 13, 2015
"He was phenomenal at his job, but I wish the world would see how genuine he was and how much of an American patriot he really was,"
Master Sgt. Paul Ross

Master Sgt. Peter McKenna Jr. is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year.

(Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)

The Special Forces soldier killed last week in Afghanistan has been recommended for the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor, for his actions during a vicious and bloody attack in Kabul.

Master Sgt. Andrew McKenna also will posthumously receive a Purple Heart, officials from 7th Special Forces Group confirmed Wednesday to Army Times.

Even among some of the Army's best and brightest, McKenna stood out.

"He's the best of us," said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Kennedy, who served in 7th Group with McKenna. "He personified every single positive characteristic that Special Forces guys wished they exemplified. He's caring, empathetic, remarkable at everything he does, an amazing shooter, and a good human, first and foremost of all of those things."
During his 17-year career, McKenna earned the Bronze Star Medal with V device, four Bronze Star Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Special Forces Tab, among several other decorations.
read more here