Two GOP congressmen have introduced a resolution calling for the reinstatement of a Green Beret being discharged for his role in beating up an alleged child rapist in Afghanistan.
“Driving Sgt. (1st Class Charles) Martland out of the Army for standing up for American values is a national disgrace,” Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) said in a press release. “Now is the time for the U.S. House to demand Sgt. Martland be reinstated for his honorable actions in defense of innocent children.”
Buchanan and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) introduced the nonbinding resolution on Wednesday.
Martland and former Capt. Daniel Quinn were disciplined after a September 2011 incident when they beat up an Afghan police official who allegedly had a boy tied to his bed as a sex slave.
Their case has been making headlines after a New York Times report saying the U.S. military has a policy of looking the other way when Afghan officials sexually assault children.
U.S. officials have denied any such policy exists.
Quinn has since left the military. But Martland is due to be dismissed on Nov. 1.
Buchanan and Hunter’s resolution asks Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to immediately reinstate Martland.
“In this one instance, Sgt. Martland was able to do what Army leaders and the Afghan legal system could not,” Hunter said in the release. “He sent a message to a corrupt Afghan commander in terms that were sure to translate. For that, Sgt. Martland should be commended and reinstated.”