There's no conflict, a court martial can end with other sanctions and the party demoted in rank as Whitman was. The court martial did effect his views on the Marines as his diary shows. At the time of his discharge, it was his wishes and for the convenience of the Marines, according to the records. The Marines gave him an honorable discharge. Of course this is unverifiable even though I have all of the Marine Records, FBI records, Medical Records, Police Records, Texas Department of Public Safety Records, interviews with Whitman's professors, friends, victims and a few members who were in his Boy Scout Troop when he was a Scout Master in Austin. So I am not qualified to speak on Whitman in the article as the history on the article page will show. Also, my interviews with Martinez and McCoy are audio, so they can't be used either because of WP:COI and verifiability, even though my name is used in a few of the sources in the article on Whitman. Hope this helps with your contradiction concerns. Cheers! 98.94.146.83