An Army Special Forces major who was awarded a Silver Star for valor during a 2010 firefight in Afghanistan faces revocation of his medal, a congressman disclosed on Thursday.
Matt Golsteyn was leading a nine-man team that was operating with several hundred Afghan troops when the unit came under fire in the Marjah area on Feb. 20, 2010, The Washington Free Beacon reported. Under heavy fire, Golsteyn coordinated the evacuation of a wounded Afghan soldier along with airstrikes that stopped the insurgent attack.
Golsteyn, then a captain, was awarded the Silver Star and was told that his honor would be upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, which is second only to the Medal of Honor, the Free Beacon reported.
But a year later, the Army launched an investigation over Golsteyn's killing of what The Washington Post called "a known enemy fighter and bomb maker." No charges were filed, but Secretary of the Army John McHugh informed Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., that not only would Golsteyn not receive the Distinguished Service Cross, but that he would lose his Silver Star as well.
Hunter revealed the development in a Daily Beast article that was published on Thursday.
According to the Free Beacon, McHugh would not reveal to Hunter specifically why he was taking his action beyond suggesting that he was privy to “derogatory information” regarding Golsteyn’s record.
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