what do you think about this?

My Marine colleagues tell me a walk outside the wire is nothing too special. Some sources say Bergdahl left in the company of 3 Afghan soldier colleagues. Other sources say he was a well rated soldier, perhaps a bit too bookish, and not well liked by his platoon members.

We don't know his state of mind or intentions. But, he took a walk in the evening and was discovered to be still absent in the morning when he was supposed to go on guard duty. He was captured intoxicated by the Haqquani network. He may have intended to return to his post in time to fulfill his assigned obligations. But he was captured in uniform. He did not shed his uniform of his own accord and run away.

I do not believe it is proper to call him a deserter without any clear intention to absent himself and never return. He behaved stupidly under circumstances where he could easily have lost his head. He may well have been intoxicated, He may well have been disoriented. But, from the time of his capture in the morning until his return, no one could have returned to US control whatever his original intentions.

Sandy you are too nice too loving and too forgiving. Lets decompose the possibilities.

If he was drunk or high he is guilty of violating his General Orders and the UCMJ.
If he (or any service member) acts stupidly they are still punishable under the UCMJ. I know guys who were charged for getting sun burned. Another for cutting off his thumb with a hatchet.
Bottom line is he left his post without being forced to do so. If he was not forced he still violated General Orders 1,2,7 & 8. Guilty again. It may not seem fair but everyone should be intelligent enough to know what they are signing up for in the first place.
Now given that Bergdahl was a Sergeant a Non Commissioned Officer and not a young dumb private or PFC he was an experienced soldier. No way he just did something stupid for lack of experience. His fellow soldiers are saying he was and is a turd. Why are so many of you here defending him? Did you defend George Zimmerman? How about the soldiers in Abu Ghraib? Did you reserve condemning them for months until all the facts came out? Marines at Haditha? You all may be too young to remember the atrocities perpetrated against Americans in all wars. Did you ever hear the stories about what the Japanese did to Marines in the pacific? How they would cut off a certain part of their body and force it into their mouths and then leave them where they would be found by fellow Marines?

Cpl Wagner,

I may be too kind and forgiving. I am not defending this schlub.

That said, part of what we fight for (or at least men were allowed to fight for in my generation) is a fair hearing before we kill someone (other than in armed combat). I'm certainly not trying to defend this schlub. I am just saying that if this were any one of us, no matter what our team feels, believes, and says, I expect us to provide the guy with a fair hearing. If the verdict is firing squad, sign me up.

In this case, this schlub was a specialist when he was captured. His promotion to NCO was automatic during captivity same as any POW.

I know what the Japanese did. I know what the Vietnamese did. Nurses have to deal with the consequences of these atrocities.

Zimmerman is an idiot. The Abu Ghraib troops behaved stupidly. The massacres at Haditha and My Lai were god awful atrocities. But, in each case, there were courts martials / trials with strong evidence, law, command, and responsibility taken into account before we ultimately sorted out what happened and who should be punished.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

Sandy - First Bergdahl is not going to be killed not even if we had video of him killing a school full of nuns. However my question was and still is did people not make judgment on those troops at Haditha, My Lai etc.? Agreed Zimmermann is an idiot but even idiots get their day in court before we know the whole story right? If I ever need a nurse I want one with your caring & compassionate heart.