Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ceremony to honor Bowe Bergdahl today

Hailey-area soldier captured 1 year ago


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

Bowe Bergdahl, as he appeared in a video believed to have been released by the Taliban in April Photo by Mountain Express

One year ago, the stark reality of the war in Afghanistan came crashing in on the placid Wood River Valley when native son Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was captured by Taliban militants. Three videos of the missing soldier have been released by his captors on the Internet, but his whereabouts are still unknown.

Today, June 30, at noon, Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling will read a statement from the family of the captured soldier at Zaney's Café on River Street in Hailey, where Bergdahl used to work. Volunteers will then be organized to tie yellow ribbons around the valley to honor him.

Bergdahl is a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. He entered the Army in June 2008 and went through basic training in Fort Benning, Ga. He went missing from a U.S. Army base in the Paktika province of Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and was reported "missing captured" three days later.

The specific circumstances of Bergdahl's capture are still unknown; the U.S. military reported that he wandered off base, though his captors claim he was taken while lagging behind while on patrol.

Bergdhal's ordeal has gripped his hometown of Hailey with shock, remorse and occasional glimmers of hope.

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Though family, friends and the Pentagon deliberately kept Bergdahl's identity secret for nearly three weeks after the BBC reported a U.S. soldier missing July 2, the government was forced to reveal his name when a video of him appeared on the Internet on July 14, 2009.

A second video of Bergdahl surfaced on Christmas Day 2009. That video called for the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani U.S.-trained neuroscientist convicted in a U.S. court for the attempted murder of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. The Taliban threatened to kill Bergdahl if Siddiqui and 21 Afghan prisoners were not released.

A video released in early April 2010 by the Taliban offered to free Bergdahl in exchange for a "limited" number of prisoners held by the United States. In the latest video Bergdahl was wearing an Army jacket and camouflage pants and had a full beard. He appeared healthy and pleaded for his release and an end to U.S. military involvement in the region.

"I pray to God to see my family and friends again," he said in the video.

Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, sparked discussion in April among Idaho lawmakers about a possible prisoner exchange to bring Bergdahl home. The U.S. State Department did not respond to the offer for a prisoner swap, but NATO spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith called the continuing use of videos of Bergdahl as a means of propaganda a "deplorable act."

And so the valley waits for further news of the soldier. Bergdahl's father continues to drive a truck for United Parcel Service. Life goes on, but not as before.

The Wood River Valley community has rallied around Bergdahl and his family. Posters and bumper stickers echo a call to "Bring Bowe Home." Trees, lightposts, fences and other fixtures in the valley are adorned with yellow ribbons in his honor.

Many of the ribbons tied to trees and telephone poles last year are beginning to fade and need to be replaced.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




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