Iraq/Afganistan
Bowe Bergdahl
US Army Specialist Bowe Bergdahl was captured by Taliban forces in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. Has been listed as Missing/Captured since July 3, 2009.
- Name: Bowe R. Bergdahl
- Branch/Rank: Army/Pfc
- Unit: 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team,
- 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
- MOS:
- Date of Birth/Age: 28 March 1986 / 23 at capture
- Home City of Record: Hailey, Idaho
- Date of Loss: June 30, 2009 (previously announced by the Army as July 2, 2009)
- Country of Loss: Afghanistan
- Original Status: Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN).
- Current Status: Declared missing-captured on July 3, 2009
- Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Bergdahl's capturing by the Taliban
The circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture weren’t clear.
On July 2, two U.S. officials told the AP the soldier had “just walked off” his base with three Afghans after his shift. He had no body armor or weapon and they said they had no explanation for why he left. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
On July 6, the Taliban claimed on their Web site that five days earlier “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and was captured by mujahadeen.
In the video, Pfc. Bergdahl said he was lagging behind a patrol when he was captured.
Details of such incidents are routinely held very tightly by the military as it works to retrieve a missing or captured soldier without giving away any information to captors.
Updates
May 4, 2011: New video footage of Bowe has surfaced on a jihadist web forum. Bowe can be seen briefly (see photo above) in the video and then is blindfolded and led away by a senior official in the Haqqani network identified as Mullah Sangin Zadrain.
January 14, 2012: Lots of stories in the news recently regarding the possible release of POW Bowe Bergdahl! Could it be true? The taliban recently opened up an office in Qatar; which is reportedly to be used to negotiate with the United States.I'm excited at the prospect of Bowe's almost 2 1/2 year ordeal coming to an end. The deal appears to be 'tentative' at best right now, but the U.S. may swap up to 5 Taliban fighters currently being held at GITMO. It appears that we are going around the Afghans in these negotiations which also leads me to believe that this is the beginning of what will become out withdrawal from Afghanistan! Wouldn't it be great if Sergeant Bergdahl is home in time to march in the next hometown Memorial Day parade in Sun Valley!!!
March, 2012: Talks between the U.S Government and the Taliban have broken down and negotiations for a end of the war in Afghanistan and for Prisoner of War Bowe Bergdahl are frozen. It had been rumored that the U.S. had been willing to trade five captured Taliban commanders for Bowe. Will Bowe ever get home?
2 Dec, 2012: Another Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone and Bowe still is not back home with his family in Idaho. How many Talibani prisoners has the United States released since Bowe was first captured? How many more will be released while Bowe languishes in some dank, cold, god-forsaken cave in Afghanistan?
Stupid decisions lead to being captured
Bergdahl is the subject of a proposed prisoner swap in which he would be traded for five Taliban adherents imprisoned by the United States at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Taliban have walked away from the deal and larger negotiations with the United States, but the Obama administration is still pushing a negotiated settlement between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan.
The Rolling Stone article, to be published Friday, also quotes other soldiers and associates of Bergdahl's as saying that he had talked about walking to Pakistan if his deployment was "lame" and that shortly before his disappearance he had asked whether he should take his weapon if he left the base. Friends and other soldiers describe a survivalist mentality, and Bergdahl's father, Bob, told the magazine that his son was "living in a novel."
"The future is too good to waste on lies," one email reads. "And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong."
The emails were provided to the magazine by Bergdahl's family in Idaho, which has gone public with its own discontent with U.S. efforts to free their son. There is no way to authenticate the emails.