Army Secretary turns Silver Star into cheap trinket!
Feb 6, 2015 13:53:11 GMT -6
bonhommearmonica, Glencairn, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2015 13:53:11 GMT -6
Let me explain a quick thing here, before I get into the story. This is a really nasty story of politics taken to extremes....and how low we've now come for having a Military that knows no "honor" within the highest ranks, let alone the civilians put above them.
As this chart shows, the Silver Star is the 3rd highest medal given to a US serviceman or woman. It is awarded for gallantry in action while engaged with enemy forces or the equivalent in cooperative service with other nations to the benefit of the United States. It comes when the act of gallantry wasn't quite enough for the next two higher awards. The Distinguished Service Cross or Medal of Honor, in ascending order of importance.
As this chart shows, the Silver Star is the 3rd highest medal given to a US serviceman or woman. It is awarded for gallantry in action while engaged with enemy forces or the equivalent in cooperative service with other nations to the benefit of the United States. It comes when the act of gallantry wasn't quite enough for the next two higher awards. The Distinguished Service Cross or Medal of Honor, in ascending order of importance.
This story has meaning to me, personally. It matters. The reason it matters and I am familiar with the Silver Star isn't just as a result of seeing this story. There is an award much like the one pictured above in a very special box at my home. It was earned in combat during the Vietnam War by my Father. Contrary to what one might expect....he wasn't particularly proud of it and never displayed or showed it off. It now has a place of suitable honor in his memory, within a shadow box that holds a few other things of similar importance.
To see this medal awarded is no small matter, by any means. To have it TAKEN is not only rare to see happen, but should never be for political reasons. It turns a true medal of honorable and courageous service into a cheap trinket of political compliance. It makes it worthless, in some ways, and THAT is something we should ALL take personally!
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The above is the version of events taken from the media story I'm using as the base for this. Other stories have slightly different versions of how that happened, but I've seen nothing contradictory in a way to matter for the substance of the issue.
Source
That last bit does *NOT* say he was recommended for a Silver Star. It does not say he is being investigated to receive a Silver Star. No...It states clearly that he HAD ALREADY BEEN AWARDED his Silver Star......when it went wrong.
According to more in this story, a Marine who was a party to the same battle wrote a book. Within that book, he covered the tale of the Army Major with his team and what happened there. Unfortunately, he also wrote about some comments made that were not entirely complimentary to the US Army.
Again, according to the story linked above, this triggered an investigation which ended with no charges, but saw the major stripped of his medal. The investigation was supposedly based about the treatment and death of a Taliban bomb maker...although some may forgive me if I flat don't buy that or believe it for a second. It sounds like what some lower officer was TOLD to find as "something" which could start an open ended investigation to screw this guy.
Another story has a bit more I can quote for diversity of sources.
The Washington Post reports that the Major not only had his Silver Star but had already been cleared for upgrade to the DSC, which is a significant move in itself.
Then, again, politics happened....or if we want to accept the 'no details will be given' explanation from the Army?
If we listen to the soldiers and Marines who were out there and actually saw what happened? He simply got screwed hard on this, all around.
Source
What is our nation coming to, when the highest decorations it can bestow upon its warriors become little more than pieces of cheap metal to demonstrate someone not only 'did something brave..' but MORE importantly, is in good standing with current political leadership?
Is this a military or a political convention? Are we America, home of the brave....or The Socialist States of America, where consideration FOR the state over the individual comes before all, for all?
Stories like this...make me wonder.
To see this medal awarded is no small matter, by any means. To have it TAKEN is not only rare to see happen, but should never be for political reasons. It turns a true medal of honorable and courageous service into a cheap trinket of political compliance. It makes it worthless, in some ways, and THAT is something we should ALL take personally!
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Having secured a defensive position in the heart of the Balakino Bazaar (picture the Bakara market in the film Black Hawk Down, but more impoverished) the Special Forces team, led by a captain named Matt Golsteyn, repeatedly attempted to expand their footprint, but regularly met fierce resistance. On the 20th, one of the team’s assaults into Taliban territory took a turn for the worse. An Afghan soldier was wounded and a vehicle got stuck in the mud as insurgents raked the coalition formation with gunfire.
Under heavy fire, Golsteyn, as Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post summarized this week, “ran about 150 meters to the trapped MRAP to retrieve a powerful 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, an anti-tank weapon. While moving under gunfire, he coordinated a medical evacuation for the wounded Afghan soldier and then opened fire with the Carl Gustav.”
Running through the open despite the fact that the Taliban had successfully pinned down the rest of his men, Golsteyn looked like he “was alone fighting 30 enemy fighters out in the poppy fields.” He then coordinated airstrikes from F/A-18 Hornets and a drone, silencing the enemy. The battle lasted four hours.
Under heavy fire, Golsteyn, as Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post summarized this week, “ran about 150 meters to the trapped MRAP to retrieve a powerful 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, an anti-tank weapon. While moving under gunfire, he coordinated a medical evacuation for the wounded Afghan soldier and then opened fire with the Carl Gustav.”
Running through the open despite the fact that the Taliban had successfully pinned down the rest of his men, Golsteyn looked like he “was alone fighting 30 enemy fighters out in the poppy fields.” He then coordinated airstrikes from F/A-18 Hornets and a drone, silencing the enemy. The battle lasted four hours.
The above is the version of events taken from the media story I'm using as the base for this. Other stories have slightly different versions of how that happened, but I've seen nothing contradictory in a way to matter for the substance of the issue.
For his actions, Golsteyn was awarded the Silver Star, and was told that the medal would likely be upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross (the Army’s equivalent of the Navy Cross, and second only to the Medal of Honor) after review by the Secretary of the Army.
That last bit does *NOT* say he was recommended for a Silver Star. It does not say he is being investigated to receive a Silver Star. No...It states clearly that he HAD ALREADY BEEN AWARDED his Silver Star......when it went wrong.
According to more in this story, a Marine who was a party to the same battle wrote a book. Within that book, he covered the tale of the Army Major with his team and what happened there. Unfortunately, he also wrote about some comments made that were not entirely complimentary to the US Army.
Again, according to the story linked above, this triggered an investigation which ended with no charges, but saw the major stripped of his medal. The investigation was supposedly based about the treatment and death of a Taliban bomb maker...although some may forgive me if I flat don't buy that or believe it for a second. It sounds like what some lower officer was TOLD to find as "something" which could start an open ended investigation to screw this guy.
Another story has a bit more I can quote for diversity of sources.
He received the Silver Star for valor for his actions during a 2011 ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C. Top Army officials later approved him for an upgrade to the prestigious Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor in recognizing combat heroism by U.S. soldiers.
The Washington Post reports that the Major not only had his Silver Star but had already been cleared for upgrade to the DSC, which is a significant move in itself.
Then, again, politics happened....or if we want to accept the 'no details will be given' explanation from the Army?
In a rare reversal, however, Golsteyn, now a major, no longer has either award. The officer, a former member of the 3rd Special Forces Group and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military’s rules of engagement in combat for killing a known enemy fighter and bomb maker, according to officials familiar with the case.
If we listen to the soldiers and Marines who were out there and actually saw what happened? He simply got screwed hard on this, all around.
Hunter, a former Marine officer and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, alleged in the Daily Beast on Tuesday that the Army “went to extraordinary lengths to investigate Golsteyn,” threatening his fellow soldiers and offering them immunity. In a Dec. 4 letter to Army Human Resources Command, Hunter said the revocation appears to be “retaliatory and vindictive.”
“The Army has been unable to present substantive evidence while an overwhelming number of first-person accounts provided to Army investigators uphold Matt’s record as a top-level operator,” said Hunter’s letter, which the congressman’s office released to The Post.
“The Army has been unable to present substantive evidence while an overwhelming number of first-person accounts provided to Army investigators uphold Matt’s record as a top-level operator,” said Hunter’s letter, which the congressman’s office released to The Post.
What is our nation coming to, when the highest decorations it can bestow upon its warriors become little more than pieces of cheap metal to demonstrate someone not only 'did something brave..' but MORE importantly, is in good standing with current political leadership?
Is this a military or a political convention? Are we America, home of the brave....or The Socialist States of America, where consideration FOR the state over the individual comes before all, for all?
Stories like this...make me wonder.
