By Jeremy Warneke
Four days ago, my best friend from high school asked me for my opinion on recently released Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl. I didn’t really have one. My response: “Do we know how he got captured in the first place?”
Yesterday, another friend asked me for my opinion.
I’m somewhat perplexed by this. Having served with the Army in Iraq in 2003 to 2004 does not make me an expert on POWs, Bergdahl or Afghanistan/Pakistan (both of which I never hope to visit). But my friends are not looking for an expert opinion, are they? They want to know what I—like any of their other friends—think (I hope).
As aptly put in The Daily Beast article titled “We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl…,” Bergdahl is not a hero but a deserter. He put many people’s lives in danger, but so did the top brass and/or their civilian overseers, who sent our brave soldiers out on the perilous mission of finding someone not really worth finding. It’s them, the upper echelon, who should take greater responsibility for anybody’s death.
If you really want my opinion on the matter however, no one said it better than the Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell, who was quoted in The Blaze as having said ‘it was a good job on the part of the politicians, shucking off the VA scandal by doing the whole Bergdahl thing, which provides plenty of top cover, even if it did backfire.’
So, people, let’s remember what’s really at issue here, not Bergdahl – the VA! Let’s encourage our elected officials to ensure that criminal prosecutions are in order for those who failed our nation’s veterans at all of the VA hospitals across the country.
Follow Us