Buchanan: Army's Delay of Sgt. Martland Discharge "good first step"

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-FL, today called the Army's decision to delay the discharge of Sgt. Charles Martland a "good first step" but said the decorated Green Beret should be reinstated "swiftly and fully."

In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, Buchanan said, "Postponing Sgt. Martland's separation from the military for 60 days to allow him time to file an appeal is a good first step, but the Army must act to reverse his forced discharge."

Buchanan added, "Sgt. Martland is a hero - not a villain and he should be treated as such."

Buchanan has introduced a House resolution with Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-CA, calling on the Army to reinstate Sgt. Martland, a two-time Bronze Star recipient who was booted from the Army after confronting an American-backed Afghan commander in 2011 "for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave."

The Buchanan-Hunter resolution was recently endorsed by three of the nation's leading Veterans Services Organizations: the VFW, AMVETs and Concerned Veterans for America.

A recent New York Times article described a chilling Pentagon policy that told American soldiers to look the other way when Afghan allies sexually abused young boys, sometimes on military bases.

According to the Times, one soldier stationed in Afghanistan said, "at night we can hear them screaming but we're not allowed to do anything about it."

Buchanan has appealed to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reverse the policy and to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to launch a full investigation into how this policy came to be and which individuals were responsible for its implementation

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