Clint Lorance ordered his men to fire on villagers in Afghanistan he knew were unarmed, then tried to cover it up. He was freed from Leavenworth by presidential pardon last night. nytimes.com/2019/11/15/us/… 
His case stirs up a lot of conflicting emotions. Many have argued he was a good guy who volunteered to serve his country, and never would have harmed anyone if he had not been dropped into a vexing insurgency war with few right answers. So he deserves mercy.
An officer who supported the pardon told me last night, “This kid has served a lot more jail time then the generals that got us into theses wars.”
But it is often purposefully overlooked that Lorance also ruined a lot of lives, beyond the ones he snuffed out. nytimes.com/2015/02/25/us/…
Some of the young soldiers who carried out his illegal order now feel like murderers themselves. On top of the other traumas of a combat tour they ave to deal with the guilt and betrayal their lieutenant dropped in them.
Some have attempted suicide and struggled with substances. They live in a shadow that a pardon can’t lift.
