MilitaryDefender: Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn Cleared by President
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Nov. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The family of Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn is "profoundly grateful" that President Trump ended the dubious, long-delayed prosecution of the decorated Green Beret, his defense attorney Phillip Stackhouse said today.
Cleared previously by an Army Board of Inquiry in the 2010 ambush of a Taliban bombmaker in Afghanistan, Maj. Golsteyn received word from President Trump that a pardon would be issued. Maj. Golsteyn and the President spoke by telephone for several minutes today.
Maj. Golsteyn said, "Our family is profoundly grateful for the President's action. We have lived in constant fear of this runaway prosecution. Thanks to President Trump, we now have a chance to rebuild our family and lives. With time, I hope to regain my immense pride in having served in our military. In the meantime, we are so thankful for the support of family members, friends and supporters from around the nation, and our legal team."
Reactivated by the Army to face trial in February 2020 at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, Maj. Golsteyn has lived for the past year near Fort Bragg, away from his wife Julie and their 13-year-old and year-old sons, who remained at the family home in Virginia.
Mr. Stackhouse said, "We were confident we would have prevailed in trial, but this action by the President expedited justice in this case. Maj. Golsteyn should have been medically retired years ago because of service-related injuries and allowed to move on with his life and family. Instead, the Army secretly pursued him for seven years. The origination and true motivation of this prosecution remains a mystery. We urge the Army to learn from this flawed, compromised prosecution and prevent similar abuses in the future."
In his deployment with 3rd Special Forces Group, Maj. Golsteyn, then a captain, saw intense action in the war. A West Point graduate, he was nominated and approved for the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor and awarded a Silver Star medal, the nation's third-highest award for valor, for tracking down a sniper that targeted his troops and he assisted a wounded Afghan soldier while also coordinating multiple airstrikes.
In 2010, Maj. Golsteyn participated in Operation Moshtarak, a campaign to liberate the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah in the Helmand Province. In February, a bomb killed two marines on Maj. Golsteyn's team. The Taliban bombmaker was then located, questioned, and later killed on the battlefield as he returned to conduct operations against U.S. Forces, Maj. Golsteyn's defense team asserts.
CONTACT: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks, for Phillip Stackhouse | MilitaryDefender, 281.703.6000, [email protected].
SOURCE Phillip Stackhouse | MilitaryDefender
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