Most of you that follow this page probably already have heard about this case, but in case you haven’t, you need to pay attention to the story of SFC Charles Martland and CPT Daniel Quinn.
These two warriors were confronted by a small Afghan boy and his mother while conducting operations in their AO. The boy and his mother reported a horrific account where the young child was tied to a pole and brutally raped and beaten by a local Afghan Police commander. When the mother reported this to local authorities, she was summarily beaten as well, so she went to the symbol of freedom in the area, the men who wear this symbol:
When these men confronted the Afghan commander he reportedly laughed off the accusations.
Dear reader, if you have never seen evil personified, then maybe you don’t know the visceral reaction that it creates in the mind and body of a sheepdog. Where many other men would cower, these two did not. They gave that sick rapist the beating he deserved, and frankly showed mercy in sparing his life in my opinion.
What happened next, and is still happening now, is the greatest affront to everything the US Military and our Special Operations forces stands for: Both of these men were reprimanded for their actions.
I have had some patience in writing this post as I reached out to friends in special operations to confirm because I was in disbelief, but no, it’s true: there are cowards wearing Green Berets.
Not the two men who lived up to what their fucking emblem says “De Oppresor Liber” (even as far as Latin goes, that one is easy to figure out). No, it’s everyone in their chain of command that dons the same uniform.
Those fucking cowards that claim to be leaders of green berets have no principles whatsoever. They chose their damn careers over their men.
This has become a regular occurrence in the Army. Follow any military page on social media, and you’re bound to see something about leaders not caring for their soldiers. Besides a smattering of a few Lieutenant Colonels, the real warfighters, those that have actually experienced real combat, are generally Majors and below. It’s the junior leaders that understand the brotherhood and that have been truly tested, evidenced by these two men who stood on principle and personified everything that Green Berets should be.
While young leaders are out fighting our wars, however, cowards with rank are rubbing elbows and politically maneuvering to better their paychecks at the expense of their own soldiers. Fuck them.
I don’t know what we can do to fix a culture that is rotten from the inside. I don’t know what to do about the thousands of warriors that are let down by their chain of command every day. I know this, though, the cowards prosecuting these two warriors should be ashamed.
I have a message for them, help me get it to them by sharing this far and wide:
Now I speak directly to you, the cowards wearing Green Berets. You have let your men down, you have let your country down, and you have sacrificed your principles to save your career. Your superiors wanted you to do the wrong thing, but rather than stand up to them and stand by the men who had moral courage, you sacrificed them as pawns to protect yourself. If you do nothing now, if even when confronted with this great injustice made public you remain quiet, then you should take off the uniform because you are a disgrace to it. Many great men died wearing those colors, believing in them and what they stood for; every day you wear it, you belittle their sacrifice you fucking coward.
I’m sick of this bullshit.
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