I know, but it was in the opening excerpt before the cut.
MS. SAWYER: Joining us is retired General John Batiste. He is one of the six retired generals speaking out. In fact, this morning they're all lined up on the front page of The New York Times. By the way, Batiste led the Army's legendary 1st Infantry Division in Iraq and left the Army, deciding to do so in 2005 and passing up a third star. ...
I would still prefer to hear it from the Generals mouth. Even so, it sounds like he retired to take on more lucrative civilian work (as per several posts earlier) with his retirement intact. A third star would have only increased his retirement pay by hundreds of dollars a month. A fourth star was probably not in his future, so why stay in?