For the family and friends of Spc. Bowe W. Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, Wednesday marked 365 days of unbearable agony and anxiety. It's been exactly one year since the young soldier was captured by insurgents in Afghanistan, making him the only American service member known to be held prisoner by the enemy.
The community remembers Bergdahl, 24, as a hardworking, mild-mannered man who had a variety of jobs and activities as he searched for a purpose in life before he set his sights on the military.
Bergdahl signed U.S. Army paperwork in June 2008 and went off to basic training in Fort Benning, Ga. He was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2009.
His parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, came here years ago for a reason, neighbors said: The seclusion of the high sage hills that flank their place would help them live in peace and quiet. Bowe and his older sister, Sky, were home-schooled.
On July 2 last year, two U.S. officials told the AP a soldier had "just walked off" his base with three Afghans; four days later, the Taliban claimed "a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison" and was taken by Afghan militants. And in a video released by the Taliban, Bergdahl indicated he was taken captive after lagging behind on patrol.
In one startling 28-minute Taliban video, Bergdahl, sporting a shaved head, tells a captor he fears never being able to hug his family again. The last Taliban propaganda video, released in April, showed him pleading for his freedom and to be returned home. But there is no way to verify when the footage was taken.
Well folks, I didn't know there were any coalition prisoners. I would have thought that the Taliban, who are famous for taking the heads off people, would simply cut off his head that would be that.
That he has been in captivity for a year is something. But here is a comment of this FOX news article by jthizzle:
"As a 2 time vet of Iraq and having served 9 years in the Army this is a travesty of reporting. This guy put down his weapon and walked away from his patrol and got captured. Do not compare this guy with the thousands of men and women who have died loyaly serving their country. This guy signed up as a volunteered and then abandoned his post, abandoned his comrades and has asked for everything he got. He betrayed his oath to his country and the Warrior Ethos and his brothers and sisters in arms. He is a coward, and deserves no attention on a major news network. How about reporting the stories of REAL heroes that have died fighting for their country instead of deserters. For myself and many of us in the military, we feel no regard for this guy. I feel more for his family then i do him. Maupin was a true hero, they cut the heads off heroes and obviously this guy still has his. Recognize a hero for what it is and a traitor for what it is. And tell the stories of the people who have given all, asked none and have taken the backseat to political BS and trading sensationalist news reporting for doing whats right."
Damn straight.
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