Marine Corps to Discharge Ex-Iran Hostage
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WASHINGTON — A Marine held hostage for 444 days in Iran is being discharged because the psychological problems he suffered from the long captivity made him unfit for service, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Fred Peck said the former hostage, Staff Sgt. John McKeel, 35, is being given an honorable discharge because he remains “physically unfit to perform the duties of his rank on active duty,” despite years of counseling and hospitalization.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Alfred Gray conducted an extraordinary review of McKeel’s case and supported a Navy medical board’s Oct. 6 finding that the sergeant suffered from a 10% disability, the spokesman said.
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