re: Taliban: US POW Was A "Valued" Guest

Read this last night. This same story was sent to me by a relative in the military. Now I'm seeing it in other places.

Top Part was ripped from the OT:

Taken from a FB page:

I read this earlier today. Supposedly written by a fellow soldier who was there ------> We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize that the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday





Bowe Bergdahl is no "hero". Here are the facts: In the weeks leading up to his "capture", Bergdahl made statements that he was "ashamed to be an American" and "The horror that is america is disgusting." He shipped his personal belongings home. He asked his Squad Leader what would happen if he took someone else's weapon and other sensitive items off base.

On the day of his departure, he was drinking with the Afghans he had befriended. After being caught, he was verbally reprimanded. That evening, angry after being reprimanded, he left behind his weapons, took a knife (by some statements up to five knives), some bottled water, and hid in the back of a vehicle owned by one of the local laborers. Bergdahl and at least two Afghans then drove off base to go smoke hashish, according to multiple statements. After smoking hashish, Bergdahl then walked off into the countryside. By some accounts, he set off to go "find himself" in the mountains. By other accounts, his plan was to walk to Pakistan.

He was discovered missing the next morning at about 0900. By 1200 that day, the entire war in Afghanistan had ground to a halt as all available air assets in Afghanistan were diverted to search for Bergdahl.

In the end assessment, the acts of this "soldier" cost the lives of other Americans (ones that didn't leave their posts in combat), and cost us hundreds of millions of dollars due to his selfish, dishonorable acts. He is a deserter, EVERYBODY in the Chain of Command knows it, and the fact that the US Government continues to pay and promote him shows the lengths they will go to manipulate public opinion.