ivan watson reports on this story. >> reporter: jason bresler is not just a new york city fireman. he's also a highly decorated officer in the u.s. marine reserve, serving four tours in iraq and in afghanistan. now facing possible discharge on less-than-honorable terms after serving 13 years. >> for a man like jason bresler, being asked to separate from the marine corps he loves so much would be a worst punishment than jail. >> reporter: legally, he cannot speak about his case, so it's under review. so his attorney, kevin carroll, is speaking for him. here's what he says happened. bresler was in the u.s. in the summer of 2012 when he received an urgent message to his yahoo! e-mail account from his fellow marine officers in afghanistan's turbulent hellman province. >> the subject of the e-mail said, in all capital letters, three exclamation marks, important. sawar john is back. >> reporter: he had a history with john. >> when jason was serving in afghanistan, he caused john, a police official, to be fired because he was raping children. >> reporter: bresler responded attaching a cla