The Golsteyn case at the ABCMR

The "Presidential pardon is a sign of forgiveness and 'does not indicate innocence,'” the Army board wrote...when it denied former Army MAJ Mathew Golsteyn his Special Forces tab as well as medals for valor. Golsteyn, once accused by the Army of murdering a detainee in Afghanistan whom he was ordered to release, was pardoned by the last president prior to court-martial -- so any type of justice, such as an acquittal and clearing of Golsteyn's name, or conviction and appropriate punishment for intentionally killing in the name of the U.S. without legal justification, will never be had.