Three Days in August: Free Special Forces Green Beret Kelly A. Stewart

Sgt. First Class Kelly Stewart

When I served in the Army, I learned very quickly there are acceptable losses of soldiers. With that said, I always felt the Army had my back and would be there for me if I served honorably. After all, they tear you down and take away the weaknesses of who you are and build you up to become part of the team. Those who serve know what I am talking about.

Never in my worst nightmare did I envision the United States Army making an example of one of their finest, a Green Beret named Sgt. First Class Kelly A. Stewart, with such little evidence. Stewart's life, a soldier spoken highly of those who served in combat with him in Iraq,  would soon change one early morning as a one-night stand turned into every man's worst nightmare--a psychotic woman ready and consenting for sex changes her story many months later claiming rape.

Thus the tragedy that led the United States Army to betraying their one of their own, pushing a he says she says story with virtually no evidence, to make an example of one man who put his life on the line for his fellow special forces brothers in multiple tours in Iraq. In Three Days in August, Bob McCarty examines the case against Sgt. First Class Stewart as he exited a German nightclub with a woman ready and willing through a trial that leaves you asking why key information wasn't presented in the trial, such as the woman claiming rape had a history of borderline personality disorder. Yet, her medical records pertaining to her mental health were fiercely protected during the trial.

Why claims of physical violence during the alleged rape left no marks on this woman's body as evident after she suffered a urinary tract infection a few days later and saw a doctor to the cab ride home from Stewart's hotel room, which she only hinted at being in pain--after a rough night of consensual sex?

How does a woman who admits she agreed to have sex successfully convert it to rape while showing no signs of a struggle while visiting Sgt. Stewart's hotel room? No screams, no attempts to get away, and she even gives him her phone number when it is time for her to leave. Yet the jury consisting of all men, delivered the shocking verdict despite this account.

German law provides monetary compensation for women who are victims of rape. A motive for this woman's claim could clearly be made, but the attempt to look into who this woman really was even as she admitted she planned and gave indications to Sgt. Kelly that she was going to have sex with him was quickly removed from the defense's presentation.

Why was there no evidence of blood mixed with semen in the woman's undergarments after she alleged Stewart brutally sodomized her with force in the strangest, nearly impossible of sexual positions as she claims rape?

How key witnesses were kept out of the trial, and how when Sgt. Stewart requested a retrial, this woman's lies were exposed through testimony from her former roommate and a co-worker at a German bed and breakfast showed the ultimate betrayal of our federal government to a man willing to give his life in defense of this government and country as the government's case was clearly shattered?

Of course there was the lack of professionalism among the soldiers involved in the case as well as transporting Sgt. Stewart back to the States to Leavenworth--even spending your tax dollars to take in a Washington Redskins football game detour before delivering Stewart to the Kansas military prison, as the Army made made sure he was made an example of.

In one single book, McCarty shows the injustice of the Army. As I read the  book, understanding the corruption on every military base as fraternization between NCOs and enlisted on basic training and AIT posts are often swept under the rug as I witnessed during my own training, even when women claim they were forced into it and/or promised special favors while in boot camp, it sickened me to watch the Army destroy one man's life with a he says she says story while covering up evidence that would have proved Stewart's innocence.

As the book ends, I can't forget the words of one of Stewart's battle buddies who fought with him in Iraq, Neal Riley, who points out how special forces members come under fire. Myself, I have an appreciation for special forces--after all the first officer I ever saluted in basic training at Fort Knox proudly wore a Green Beret on his head. It may be intra-service rivalries that may have done Stewart in.

There is a stigma about special forces being better than conventional forces. There is Hollywood portraying these brave men as psychopaths with guns. Then of course, there is the 24 hour news cycle where cases like Stewart's now generate high profile attention.

Often in these stories, and this seems especially true since OJ Simpson, the man is almost guilty just for being a man because no judge these days wants to become the next OJ judge. It's safer for judges to manipulate the trial against the man these days rather than face the title the judge who let him off.

So with a stacked deck against him, including jurors too connected to the powers that be, it was very unlikely Stewart was ever going to get a fair trial, which McCarty's book does a great job illustrating the perversion of justice in the Stewart case.

Once you pick up Three Days in August, you are going to have a hard to putting it down. Kudos to my friend Bob McCarty for defending Stewart and writing a book that challenges the United States government and the US Army with the hope that one day Sgt. First Class Kelly Stewart's life will be fully returned to him and the titles given to him but never earned or proven will one day be dropped from his record. If this book didn't have McCarty's name on it, one might mistake it for a John Grisham novel. Unfortunately, it's not. It's the true story of how a decorated soldier's life changed forever over a lie and the Army's desire to make an example out of this soldier.

For more information about how you can help free Kelly Stewart from the sentence, please visit http://www.savethissoldier.com.

Order Three Days in August.