AngC
Well-Known Member
I've been reading the comments on this topic. Some don't make sense to me. ...stuff like the "evil" and "weapons of mass destruction." I think old Bowe had a compass and a diary or some such; I don't think he was carrying any nuclear weapons or other potential weapons that could massively destruct things?
There's holes in his story. For example, one angle Bowe/defense attorney are working is that he left his unit to report the sub-standard behavior of his superiors. I've read some of what he wrote. It's bullcrap; it's the typical complaining that a lower rank person makes regarding his superiors. Most E-1/E-3's don't do stupid things like write it down. In every walk of life, if you're a worker-bee you may end up working for someone with whom you disagree. I think this is especially likely when you work for a government entity. Frequently, the cream doesn't rise to the top. But his claim that he was heading out to report his incompetent superiors makes no sense. As a prior Navy person, all I can equate it to is that, if I disagreed with my superiors, I could dive off the side of the boat and swim to shore to report. (and hope I didn't drown.)
I don't know if he committed treason. From my understanding of the law; I don't think so. But.... I do find it curious that he lived so long in captivity. Those people don't like Americans (been there/saw that). ...perhaps he was valuable as a military captive and they were hoping to get what they could?
I don't know if anyone lost their life searching for him. From my limited experience; when somebody is missing, the military does try to find them. I've only observed 2 such incidents, in somewhat peace-time; i.e., we were in the Gulf but war was never declared. One was a girl that fell off the flight deck at night. She was wearing a float coat, had a locator beacon, and was wearing a "flashing" light. It took about 6 hours to turn the boat around and then another 6 hours or so to fish her out of the water. The other incident was a suicide. We spent about a week on that one (which may sound trivial, but running an aircraft carrier is probably a tad more expensive than taking your Prius out for a spin.) We never found him, but it was a big deal; all activities were put on hold during the search. So I believe that searching for Bergdahl was initially a priority and then later on a sideline to any mission. I could be wrong, but I sure can envision it.
The bottom line is he signed the contract. [He may have received a bonus or a paygrade bump? We'll never know.] But , by no means should he receive benefits and back pay. He signed a contract and agreed to abide by certain terms. He didn't. So I don't care if he goes to Leavenworth or not. But it's one huge slap in the face to any veteran out there that is making do with a couple limbs missing, if he gets to keep his promotions (not earned) and back pay.
I think he was off in la-la land after abandoning Buddha and the French Foreign Legion. I understand that children/teens sometimes have to "find" themselves, but his parents did him no favors by not teaching him that sometimes when you sign the contract, the consequences are real.
There's holes in his story. For example, one angle Bowe/defense attorney are working is that he left his unit to report the sub-standard behavior of his superiors. I've read some of what he wrote. It's bullcrap; it's the typical complaining that a lower rank person makes regarding his superiors. Most E-1/E-3's don't do stupid things like write it down. In every walk of life, if you're a worker-bee you may end up working for someone with whom you disagree. I think this is especially likely when you work for a government entity. Frequently, the cream doesn't rise to the top. But his claim that he was heading out to report his incompetent superiors makes no sense. As a prior Navy person, all I can equate it to is that, if I disagreed with my superiors, I could dive off the side of the boat and swim to shore to report. (and hope I didn't drown.)
I don't know if he committed treason. From my understanding of the law; I don't think so. But.... I do find it curious that he lived so long in captivity. Those people don't like Americans (been there/saw that). ...perhaps he was valuable as a military captive and they were hoping to get what they could?
I don't know if anyone lost their life searching for him. From my limited experience; when somebody is missing, the military does try to find them. I've only observed 2 such incidents, in somewhat peace-time; i.e., we were in the Gulf but war was never declared. One was a girl that fell off the flight deck at night. She was wearing a float coat, had a locator beacon, and was wearing a "flashing" light. It took about 6 hours to turn the boat around and then another 6 hours or so to fish her out of the water. The other incident was a suicide. We spent about a week on that one (which may sound trivial, but running an aircraft carrier is probably a tad more expensive than taking your Prius out for a spin.) We never found him, but it was a big deal; all activities were put on hold during the search. So I believe that searching for Bergdahl was initially a priority and then later on a sideline to any mission. I could be wrong, but I sure can envision it.
The bottom line is he signed the contract. [He may have received a bonus or a paygrade bump? We'll never know.] But , by no means should he receive benefits and back pay. He signed a contract and agreed to abide by certain terms. He didn't. So I don't care if he goes to Leavenworth or not. But it's one huge slap in the face to any veteran out there that is making do with a couple limbs missing, if he gets to keep his promotions (not earned) and back pay.
I think he was off in la-la land after abandoning Buddha and the French Foreign Legion. I understand that children/teens sometimes have to "find" themselves, but his parents did him no favors by not teaching him that sometimes when you sign the contract, the consequences are real.
