Scott Olson/Getty Images
Ashley Smith/AP
Sondra Van Ert, co-owner of Baldy Sports, ties balloons to a bike trailer in front of her store Saturday to celebrate the news of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release.
James Keivom/New York Daily News People leave messages for Army Sgt. Bergdahl at Zaney’s River Street Coffee House on Monday.
Fighters in the sergeant’s unit charged that he was an apparent deserter when he disappeared in 2009 and that a half-dozen soldiers were killed as they attempted to locate him.
The 17-minute video — emailed to the media by the Taliban — opens with Bergdahl, his head shaved, sitting inside a silver pickup truck while surrounded by armed Taliban fighters.
Story via YouTube – They are waiting for the arrival of the U.S Black Hawk helicopter that will take the sergeant away. A nervous Bergdahl, dressed in traditional white Afghan garb, is seen licking his lips and wiping dust away from his eyes.
As the chopper emerges from the skies, the Taliban fighter delivers his warning to Bergdahl as armed colleagues chuckle in the background.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/hagel-slams-claims-soldier-deserter-article-1.1816636#ixzz33iTkB9G7
Bowe Bergdahl’ Hometown Parade Cancelled
by Kerry Picket 4 Jun 2014
Hailey, Idaho, the hometown of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, has canceled a rally planned for June 28 celebrating his release after five years of Taliban captivity, a municipal official told Reuters on Wednesday. The cancellation came after allegations emerged that Bergdahl may have deserted his post in Afghanistan prior his capture.
According to Reuters, Heather Dawson, city administrator of Hailey, Idaho, said town officials called off the celebration at the request of organizers because the town “will be unable to safely manage the number of people expected.”
The original celebration to welcome Bergdahl home, dubbed “Bowe is Back 2014,” included appearances by folk singer Carole King, Miss Idaho Sarah Downs, and Idaho State Senator Michelle Stennett.
A parade of 1500 motorcyclists from local clubs as well as from out of state had also planned to ride through Hailey to honor Bergdahl.
Last year’s event to bring awareness to Bergdahl’s captivity brought 2500 attendees and raised money for Bergdahl and his family.
Note: The families in Hailey, Idaho obviously don’t want to honor a traitor. I feel sorry for the people of the town since they were lied to for five years – not unlike the like the rest of us. The whole town appears to have been involved with fund-raising and support for the Bergdahl family…sad. One wonders if the parents were told, post-military investigation in 2010, that their son was a traitor…
