Bergdahl’s writings reveal a fragile young man
On June 27, he sent an e-mail to his friends titled, “Who is John Galt?,” a reference to the hero of Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,” about individualism in a dystopian America.
“I will serve no bandit, nor lair, for i know John Galt, and understand . . . ” Bergdahl wrote. “This life is too short to serve those who compromise value, and its ethics. i am done compromising.”
Three days later, Bergdahl walked off his post.
Nonsense. The word "justice" doesn't apply to public opinion on him. Americans are entitled to hold and express whatever opinions they want and that has no impact on justice.SixNein said:This guy has sacrificed years of his life, and he isn't receiving the benefit of fair justice.
After 16 weeks of training, Bowe graduated from infantry school in Fort Benning, Georgia, in the fall of 2008. While others in his training unit – A Company 2-58 – used their weekend passes to hit up strip clubs, Bowe hung out at Barnes & Noble and read books. He was already an expert shot from his days firing his .22 in the mountains of Idaho. When his parents attended the graduation, the drill sergeant told them, "Bowe was good to go when he got here." After completing the course, Bowe was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, Alaska, not far from Anchorage. He arrived in October 2008.
At first, according to soldiers in his unit, Bowe seemed to embrace Army life. "He showed up, looked like a normal Joe," says former Specialist Jason Fry, who is now studying for a master's in theology. "When he first got to the unit, he was the leadership's pet. He read the Ranger Handbook like no other. Some people resented him for it." Bowe kept to himself, doing physical training on his own. "He never hung out with anyone, always in the background, never wanted to be in front of anything," says Fry. He surrounded himself with piles of books, including Three Cups of Tea, about a humanitarian crusade to educate girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as instructions on Zen meditation and an introductory ethics handbook with writings from Aristotle, Augustine, Kant and Hume
There are e-mails to his parents in the article that indicate he was disgusted with the situation, rather than afraid. I don't think a coward would walk out into the night in a remote area of Afghanistan.Evo said:The "Three cups of tea" book turned out to be a heinous fraud. Why didn't he go to his commander and admit he wasn't mentally capable of continuing duty and was a danger to everyone near him? Surely they would have relieved him of duty and the lives of his fellow soldiers would have been spared. Or was he too much of a coward, afraid of what penalties he might have?
I guess he found out that any penalties he might face for breaking down were certainly better than what he faced at the hands of the people he ended up with.
Still does not excuse what he did. He now needs to face up to what he did.
In the early-morning hours of June 30th, according to soldiers in the unit, Bowe approached his team leader not long after he got off guard duty and asked his superior a simple question: If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took my sensitive equipment?
Yes, his team leader responded – if you took your rifle and night-vision goggles, that would cause problems.
Bowe returned to his barracks, a roughly built bunker of plywood and sandbags. He gathered up water, a knife, his digital camera and his diary. Then he slipped off the outpost.
The family lived in a small cabin that had 5,000 books but no telephone, a close-to-nature existence that fed Sergeant Bergdahl’s wanderlust.
Evo said:... Why didn't he go to his commander and admit he wasn't mentally capable of continuing duty and was a danger to everyone near him? Surely they would have relieved him of duty and the lives of his fellow soldiers would have been spared. ...
Bergdahl...
...before he joined the Army, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the Coast Guard for psychological reasons...
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Harrison and others close to Bergdahl said his writing and the events surrounding the Coast Guard discharge raise questions about his mental fitness for military service and how he was accepted into the Army in 2008. Typically, a discharge for psychological reasons would disqualify a potential recruit.
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A senior Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the Army was aware of a prior “administrative discharge” when Bergdahl enlisted. A separate Army official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Bergdahl would have required a waiver to enlist under such circumstances.
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According to a 2008 Army War College study on the subject, the Army was issuing waivers at a rate of one for every five recruits at the time.
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“He is the perfect example of a person who should not have gone” to war, said Harrison [Bowe's close friend]...
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On June 27, he sent an e-mail to his friends titled, “Who is John Galt?,” a reference to the hero of Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,”...
Bowe's Journal said:I will learn Russian. I will learn Japanese. I will learn French. I will learn Chines.