"Forwarded from Jeff Howard. "We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province,
Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (airborne)
ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts
there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a
little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a
little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one
thought anything about it. He was a little "out there". Next morning
he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon,
his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass
and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an American
walking north asking about where the Taliban are. We get hits on our
voice interceptor that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to
realize the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out
Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where
your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to
slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission
but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up
to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out
false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth
about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC
Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton
Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were
all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from
various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for
Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The
Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our
movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in
danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted
while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more
than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told
the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles
and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities.
The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a
good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it.
Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for
his family who only want their son/brother back. They don't know the
truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his
family and his whole town back home, who don't know the truth. Either
way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying
on all those Taliban videos about everything since his "capture". If he
ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter
and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier
or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are
growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to
face that truth someday."
