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bigtree

(85,920 posts)
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 01:19 PM Jun 2014

Is there ANY evidence that soldiers lost their lives looking for Bowe Bergdahl?

. . . all I've read are internet rumors and secondhand accounts which haven't been corroborated. Most of the one-liners claim that six troops died searching for Sgt. Bergdahl.

Aside from the fact that the claim is being used to bolster the accusations that he deserted, it suggests that, somehow, the rescue of this American was less of a worthy effort because of the circumstances of his capture. Five years in captivity isn't enough punishment for any mistake this soldier might have made; these folks apparently believe he should been left behind.

How many more American troops would these critics leave on the battlefield based on their own subjective and mostly-uninformed accusations and bias?

Can anyone point to anything other than these second-hand, uncorroborated accounts of troops dying in their attempt to rescue the Sgt.? I don't have any trouble in adding any of that to the narrative of his capture and release if they are provable facts.

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TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
1. The GOP/Ted Cruz is angry that Obama didn't attempt a risky rescue mission
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 01:23 PM
Jun 2014

instead of a prisoner swap. But they're angry about supposed soldier deaths attributed (by anecdote, so far) to Bergdahl that make him unworthy of 5 Taliban going to Qatar. Basically, spaghetti--wall--see what sticks.

 

giftedgirl77

(4,713 posts)
3. I agree 100% about 5yrs as a hostage is punishment
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 01:42 PM
Jun 2014

enough regardless of the nature of his disappearance. I think these Soldiers are pissed because they signed NDAs saying they would never speak of it, yet their perception of the incident differs greatly than the one of the Soldier. To answer your question the 6 that died are:

Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen and Pfc. Morris Walker were killed by an IED in the search for Bergdahl. Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss was killed on August 26; 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews and Pfc. Matthew Michael Martinek were killed after being attacked in Yahya Khail District on September 4; Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey was killed September 5 by an IED at the Forward Operating Base, Sharana.

Now whether their deaths were a direct result of his capture or search was determined by the Line of Duty investigations. But if what they are saying is true about the statements he made prior to disappearing I could see why they would be taking these losses as they are.

bigtree

(85,920 posts)
7. I've seen these names listed - I'd appreciate a link to the source that you've found
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:03 PM
Jun 2014

. . . it's puzzling why higher ranking govt. and military officials and even the President neglected to include these tragic losses in their recounting and explanations.

I'm not seeing most legislators who talk about this incident repeating the claim, either. I'm still skeptical about, whether, as you say, their deaths were directly related to the search for the Sgt.. As you know, the area they were operating in, apart from trying to recover the serviceman, was under frequent attack and IEDs posed a threat to any action or movement they might have been engaged in.

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
11. In bringing Bergdahl home, the military isn't going to publicly bring up
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:21 PM
Jun 2014

any details of the case they have against Bergdahl or publicly link him to soldiers' deaths--that would be wildly inappropriate.

 

giftedgirl77

(4,713 posts)
13. It is from the Soldier who is stating the issues.
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:36 PM
Jun 2014

Like it stated in the previous post some were killed by IEDs that had occurred at the time. The Line of Duty investigation is the only thing that would say if their deaths occurred while conducting an official search. The Soldiers are simply saying that these 6 Soldiers were part of the unit, took part in the search mission, & died during that time. Nobody is getting ahold of those LODs, now if you want obituaries I'm sure we can dig those up as well if necessary.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/bergdahl-deserter-or-hero/?c=&page=3

bigtree

(85,920 posts)
15. you're generalizing in a way that makes your assertions wildly inaccurate
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:45 PM
Jun 2014

. . . and relying on uncorroborated accounts, no matter that someone chose to report them as fact.

As you say, these facts will be uncovered in some investigation somewhere. What I think is significant is that neither the military or the president mentioned those losses in relation to this recovery. I'd have thought there would be some mention of troops who suffered casualties as a result of the search or recovery - some small reference to that internet-based claim.

 

giftedgirl77

(4,713 posts)
16. You asked for the name of the 6 dead & I told you.
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 05:57 PM
Jun 2014

I also explained in my first post that this may be their POV after watching their battles die in what they assumed was a search mission. Nobody is going to mention anything right now as it's still considered an open investigation which is why the only ones talking are violating NDAs.

As I also said the first time 5 yrs is long enough punishment even if he did desert, unless they find that he aided the enemy & caused any troops deaths all deals are off then.

 

seveneyes

(4,631 posts)
5. The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching For Bowe Bergdahl
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 02:23 PM
Jun 2014
http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/

Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was freed by the Taliban over the weekend after they held him for nearly five years, in exchange for five Taliban leaders, who will spend a year cooling their heels in Qatar. You might have heard about it on the news.

Chances are you haven’t heard of the six soldiers who died hunting for him after he went missing, according to military officials. Now that Bergdahl has been sprung—in exchange for five senior Taliban officials, who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo—soldiers who served with Bergdahl are grumbling that he deserted and shouldn’t be hailed as a hero, especially given the resulting cost in American lives.

bigtree

(85,920 posts)
8. I find this article unconvincing
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:16 PM
Jun 2014

Apart from the one soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb, the other troops listed as casualties are just listed as part of his unit. there were certainly other operations in the area where they were deployed and their position was under frequent and sometimes deadly attack.

If you click on the article referenced by the one you posted you see that the soldiers quoted are blaming the Sgt. for casualties suffered as a result of an attack that occurred against their U.S.-Afghan outpost where they were conducting joint operations apart from the search for the missing soldier.

The charge by these troops is that their outpost wouldn't have been attacked successfully if they weren't shorthanded by the contingent out looking for the missing soldier.

I have to ask . . . did they think this American was worth rescuing, or not? As a poster above stated, the mantra from conservatives like Cruz was that military force SHOULD have been employed to rescue him. I'm not sure that griping about the risks involved in recovering him square with those criticisms that he was somehow unworthy of being rescued or recovered.

 

Lee-Lee

(6,324 posts)
6. You will find virtually everyone who was there then
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 02:31 PM
Jun 2014

Blames Berghdal for the deaths and does not think kindly of him.

If anyone who served with him there or was part of the resulting response feels otherwise they have been very quiet.

To dismiss all those vets options as right wing garbage is pretty disrespectful.

bigtree

(85,920 posts)
9. i'm not responsible for the direction the right-wing response to the recovery of this POW has taken
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:20 PM
Jun 2014

. . . suggesting that the circumstances in which he was captured should determine whether he should have been rescued and using what I believe are the tangential deaths (however sad and tragic) as fodder for their petty attacks on this soldier.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
14. And that's the bottom line.
Mon Jun 2, 2014, 03:39 PM
Jun 2014

Bergdahl should never have gone missing, and no one should have died looking for him in an utterly pointless war.

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