Green Beret Wants Murder Case Dropped Due to Investigator’s Stolen Valor
NBC News is reporting that Maj. Matt Golsteyn, the Green Beret accused of murdering a bomb maker in Afghanistan, has demanded that his murder case go straight to trial or that the charges be dismissed.
A Green Beret accused of murdering an unarmed Afghan man wants charges dropped because an investigator assigned to his case faces his own charges of “stolen valor” – meaning he allegedly claimed medals and other honors he didn’t earn.
Among the reasons Golsteyn’s lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, cites for waiving the “Article 32” preliminary hearing and requesting dismissal is that Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Delacruz, an Army Criminal Investigation Command agent assigned to Golsteyn’s case, has been charged with four specifications of “intent to deceive.” According to the charges against Delacruz, he claimed he earned a Purple Heart and falsely wore a Combat Action Badge and other awards. The charges state “such conduct [is] of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”
In his memo to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), which will convene the military court for Golsteyn, Stackhouse alleges Delacruz “held himself out as a Special Forces soldier, infantryman, sniper, and bragged about killing people in combat.”
“Ironically, he’s bragged about losing his Special Forces Tab for an alleged bad shoot in combat,” which is the same allegation made against Golsteyn, Stackhouse writes.
In December 2018, President Trump took an interest in the case and tweeted his support for Major Golsteyn. He has not responded to this latest twist in the case.
Category: Afghanistan
Damn that has got to sting. Being at the tip of the spear and getting investigated for doing your tip of the spear duty by an investigator who has clearly only been on the tip of a fat cock!
Good luck Major! Hang in there.
It takes a special kind of stupid to go all cool guy stolen valor while on active duty. You need to go into the Hall of Fame for Asshattery if you’re a CID investigator going all cool guy stolen valor.
He’s right. Investigator misconduct is certainly a valid reason for case dismissal.
If we don’t want people killing our enemies perhaps we shouldn’t be placing them in combat situations all over the world.
Why we’re still there makes no actual sense, everyone knows we’re not staying forever and once we leave the Taliban will be back in power in less than a year. I’m all for killing people who claim to want to kill me or my fellow citizens. But we’re not really doing that, we’re trying to play nice with people who will chant death to American next week or shoot you in the back while you’re at chow.
Either kill them all, burn their nation to the fucking ground and make them beg us to stop or just don’t let anyone from that area in our nation anymore…but come up with some sort of plan that has an actual goal that is achievable because whatever we’re doing now is a waste of resources that are better utilized elsewhere.
VOV, I whole heartdly agree with you, either burn the place to the fucking ground or get the fuck out! We could easily turn that shithole into a parking lot in a week! Either do the mission or get the fuck out!!
How about do the mission then get out rather than occupy yet another country where they don’t want us. Time to fold the tents and bring the troops home.
Agreed. Burn it to the ground and salt the Earth. Or go the fuck home. Half assed combat gets good men and women killed for no reason.
“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women! “
Some sh*t you can’t even make up…
It sounds like a certain investigator is in dire need of some peer-directed ‘corrective training’.
“held himself out as a Special Forces [S]oldier, [I]nfantryman, [S]niper…”
Proper titles deserve proper treatment, IMHO.
Its a small world after all!
Bring every weapon to bear. Kill them all, let allah sort them out. They want to meet him, give them a helping hand. And speaking of out, get us the f*@k out.
Drop back into the history books and adopt a few tactics of Gnrls Sherman and Sheridan. Scorched earth policy. Make them howl. Even a crow would have to pack rations. As much as Southerners and Native Americans hated those two, it worked. Sherman’s relentless war on defenceless women and children caused massive desertions to Lee’s Army. Sheridans turning loose of the buffalo hunters destroyed the food supply of the tribes.
Or, again, put the boys and girls at Minot, the Boomers, and the Spirits on notice for targeting information. Fire mission, fire mission, fire mission.
I like the Roman motto, Oderint Dum Metuant (Let Them Hate So Long As They Fear)….
It’s usage was often in reference to conquered lands and making sure they were too frightened of the consequences to revolt against Roman Rule. Romans had no issues with slaughtering “lesser” peoples. There is certainly a danger in dehumanizing or minimizing others, but there’s also a consideration to be made. If one culture has to be dominant which one do you prefer?
Yours or the one that hates you?
Somewhere, Curtis Lemay is nodding in agreement.
Y’all need to read The Carrera Series of books by Tom Kratman. It’s brilliant.
Concur. Good stuff.
His nonfiction is thought-provoking also. “Training for War” for example.
Went to high school w/ Tom. Almost crapped myself when I was in the book section of the Scott AFB “PX” and there was a life sized cardboard cutout of Tom holding (“peddling”) one of his books.
John
What are the odds….
Just drop the case you fucking shitbags.
There’s some detail missing here.
“…accused of murdering an unarmed Afghan man….”
Was this during an active fire fight event, or was it just ‘see it, shoot it?’
No, he murdered an unarmed combatant after said combatant was in custody.
He got a slap on the peepee and the Army was ready to sweep it all under the rug.
Then he forgot the First Rule of Fight Club:
Oh, the plot thickens.
So the good Major opened his pipe about the thingy. Bad move.
Slow Joe has a good point: some things are NEVER meant to be discussed until those involved are long dead and buried.
Thanks for the info on the why and wherefore of this.
What’s a “bad shoot?”
Is that when you cap the wrong person?
Or is it when you score low on the rifle qual?
“…when you cap the wrong person….”
Example of a “good shoot” and a “bad shoot”
http://weaponsman.com/?p=4058
A “bad shoot” produces unplanned offspring.
And then this article pops up:
“How The Navy Plans To Deal With Drug Use And War Crimes Allegations In The SEAL Community”:
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/13/how-the-navy-plans-to-deal-with-drug-use-and-war-crimes-allegations-in-the-seal-community/
This should have been dropped a long time ago
“he’s bragged about losing his Special Forces Tab for an alleged bad shoot in combat” What a fucking DICKHEAD! Reputations will travel and I’m sure even more so in a small community of SOF. Couldn’t measure up so he made it up. Cocksucker!
WTF, over… the investigator needs to be investigated. Probably some collusion going on there.
“Whadya mean I can’t call myself a high speed, low drag, CIB wearing, tab holder, purple heart recipient?” “They sent me TDY to the ‘Stan to investigate some grunts black marketing, reading porn and drinkin’ alkeehall, I got at least a couple of paper cuts and the sh*ts during that “deployment”…
Add this CID yardbird to the wall of shame…
As far as the Major is concerned, he should just say he was just joking around, ya know sarcasm, he didn’t smoke some dirtbag bomb maker, oh no, that would be in violation of the ROE…
Sounds like the headline for a Duffel Blog article: “‘Quiet Professional’ is Neither.”