controversy, one that will force the Obama administration to do a whole lot
more explaining than they faced just 24 hours ago.
Off in the Dead of Night,” a former soldier stationed in Afghanistan, Nathan
Bradley, recalls how Pvt. Bergdahl disrupted the lives of so many troops and
put them in harm’s way.
“For five years,
soldiers have been forced to stay silent about the disappearance and search for
Bergdahl. Now we can talk about what really happened,” Bradley wrote.
task The Daily Beast, where his piece is published:
“The Daily Beast’s Christopher
Dickey later wrote that “[w]hether Bergdahl…just walked away from
his base or was lagging behind on a patrol at the time of his capture remains
an open and fiercely debated question.” Not to me and the members of my unit.
Make no mistake: Bergdahl did not ‘lag behind on a patrol’” as was cited in
news reports at the time.
“There was no patrol that
night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he
fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s
platoon—including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve
reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened.”
detainees for Bergdahl, who probably would have spent years in an American
military prison if he had been found before his 2009 capture by the Taliban, is a move that
seems to defy explanation.
Please remind us when YOU served, Chad.
Maybe then I'll give you some credit when you re-post the work of others to cast aspersions on an American service member — one who has not been charged or convicted of any crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
You really should try harder. I know blogging full-time is a rough gig, a low-paying comedown from your days as a respected journalist when you got free trips to cover the Mackinac Policy Conference, but still. Show some PRIDE, man.
This is a blog, not a news report, and whether or not he served in the military is beside the point. Even though he is directing people to statement made to other media sources, there is still a valid point to be made. The official Army position is they don't know what happened. However soldiers from Bergdahl's unit have made statements concerning his mental state and actions leading up to his disappearance, including sending all his personal belongings back to the states. Mr. Selewski is not casting aspersions, he is merely repeating what people who served with Bergdahl have said. Personally, I would have picked more, and better, sources than the Daily Beast. I'm a freelance journalist in Oklahoma, and I served six years in the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne.
I spent eight years in Army Public Affairs (MOS 46Q), assigned to Letterman Army Medical Center (Presidio of San Francisco), the 23rd Support Group (Camp Humphreys, ROK), the 11th Public Affairs Team (Fort Polk, LA) and in the US Army Reserves with the 85th Division (Exercise).
Chad leads his profile by citing the "50 journalism awards" he won in 29 years. For me, i earned eight journalism awards in about six years as an Army journalist. Perhaps if I'd spent the 20 years since my discharge working for civilian newspapers I might be forced to point to my awards as proof that I still matter. But I'm in IT nowadays, so it's a different mindset — of course, I remember and have used my journalism and reporting skills repeatedly over the years.
Anyway, while it's interesting to read accounts from other soldiers (of course, that very article from Rolling Stone described those same soldiers as undisciplined and poorly led), it does not constitute sworn testimony in a court martial.
Also, I'm dismayed at the level of orchestration behind the sudden popularity of these disgruntled young men.
As a veteran journalist I would think you could at least properly identify the subject of your story. Private (Pvt) Bergdahl is in fact a Sergeant (Sgt).