Taliban PoW was captive for so long he even forgot how to speak ENGLISH... as his parents reveal he has a long road to recovery

  • Newly released prisoner-of-war joined military so he could help Afghans
  • Friends say they were surprised when Bergdalh announced he had enlisted
  • 28-year-old was described as being adventurous and fun-loving

Bowe Bergdahl was captive for so long and held under such harsh conditions that he may have even forgotten how to speak English.

His parents hinted that the Taliban prisoner of war may have to relearn his native language during the press conference that announced he had been freed after five years.

'I hope your English is coming back,' Bob Bergdahl told his son on national TV.

Military sources confirmed to CNN that Bergdahl is having trouble speaking English after his ordeal. 

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Trauma of war: Bowe Bergdahl is having trouble speaking English after his five years in Taliban captivity the military confirmed

Trauma of war: Bowe Bergdahl is having trouble speaking English after his five years in Taliban captivity the military confirmed

Bowe's parents, Jani and Bob Bergdahl, revealed that their son is having to re-learn his native language

Bowe's parents, Jani and Bob Bergdahl, revealed that their son is having to re-learn his native language 

His father spoke some words to him in Pashto, the language spoken by most Afghans - and most of the Taliban.

'The complicated nature of this recovery will never really be comprehended,' Mr Bergdahl said about his son.

His parents said the 28-year-old U.S. Army sergeant has a long road to recovery after being a captive since June 2009.

He is currently resting and awaiting debriefing at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

From the beginning, Bowe Bergdahl was not your conventional US Army Sergeant.

Traveling extensively and trained in ballet, he had sailed across the Atlantic by his late teens, but was home-schooled in a small town in Idaho with a population of about 8,000.

His friends say he enlisted in the army to help the Afghan people and provide philanthropic support to the war effort.

As the Taliban's sole American prisoner was freed after five years, a portrait has been painted of an adventurous and idealistic seeker, who was known for his manners and would stop at nothing to test new experiences.

But there is controversy, too. Rolling Stone magazine quoted emails Bergdahl is said to have sent to his parents that suggest he was disillusioned with America's mission in Afghanistan, had lost faith in the U.S. Army's mission there and was considering desertion.

Adventurous: Friends of Bowe Bergdahl, freed from five years of captivity in Pakistan, described him as strong, courageous and polite

Adventurous: Friends of Bowe Bergdahl, freed from five years of captivity in Pakistan, described him as strong, courageous and polite

Ordeal: In video released by his captors in July 2009, Bowe Bergdahl lowers his head as one of the men holding him hostage displays the soldier's tags

Ordeal: In video released by his captors in July 2009, Bowe Bergdahl lowers his head as one of the men holding him hostage displays the soldier's tags

Bergdahl told his parents he was 'ashamed to even be American'.

Bergdahl, who mailed home boxes containing his uniform and books, also wrote: 'The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong.'
The Associated Press could not independently authenticate the emails published by the magazine in 2012. Bergdahl's family has not commented on the allegations of desertion, according to Col. Tim Marsano, a spokesman for the Idaho National Guard.

Marsano is in regular contact with Bergdahl's mother, Jani, and father, Bob, who has grown a long, thick beard and learned to speak the Afghanistan tribal language Pashto.

Sue Martin, his old boss at Zaney's Coffee House in Hailey, told MailOnline he had always had an adventurous spirit.

But as the U.S. government negotiated his release, in exchange for five members of the Taliban who were being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, many have asked whether the 28-year-old will be viewed as a hero or a deserter.

While fresh yellow ribbons and balloons are added to the ones that have festooned utility poles in his native Hailey for five years, there have been conflicting thoughts about Bergdahl's plight as the war winds down, and President Obama prepares to withdraw all U.S. troops.

Some are convinced that on June 30, 2009, just a few months after he arrived in Afghanistan, Bergdahl willingly walked away from his base in Paktika province, on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

While they want Bergdahl home, there have been suggestions that he should have to answer allegations that he deserted his unit.

Several soldiers left angry messages on the Army Times Facebook page in the hours after Bergdahl's release, calling him a 'deserter' and a 'sympathizer'.

One post, by Stephen Kirouac, claimed that Bergdahl's 'fellow soldiers were affected by his actions'.

'He is a sympathizer and deserves to be tried for desertion,' Kirouac's post read, according to the Navy Times.

Never forgotten: Barack Obama is joined by Jani and Bob Bergdahl at the White House on Saturday as he speaks about the release of their son, who was held captive for five years

Never forgotten: Barack Obama is joined by Jani and Bob Bergdahl at the White House on Saturday as he speaks about the release of their son, who was held captive for five years

Bergdahl was home schooled in the small Idaho town of Hailey, but had big ambitions about seeing the world and helping people, according to those who know him

Bergdahl was home schooled in the small Idaho town of Hailey, but had big ambitions about seeing the world and helping people, according to those who know him

Others left messages saying that whatever the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's capture, it should be remembered that the soldier had been through a lengthy ordeal.

'This guy may have made a tremendously bad decision, but I'm willing to bet that what he's endured since then has been far worse than anything the US or military judicial system would have imposed ... have some heart,' a post by Mark Delano read.

John McCain leads criticism of release of 'hardened terrorists' for Bergdahl

The deal to secure the safe return of Bowe Bergdahl, America's only prisoner of war, involved exchanging five senior Taliban commanders who were being held at Guantanamo bay.

The prisoner exchange has led to criticism from senior Republicans, including John McCain who said the inmates had 'the blood of Americans on their hands'.

'I am eager to learn what precise steps are being taken to ensure that these vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States,' he said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Obama have both said the Qatar government, where the prisoners are to be held for a year, have given them assurances that U.S. interest will not be compromised.

As well as raising concern over the release of the five prisoners, two senior Republicans have claimed that Obama acted unlawfully by sidestepping Congress over the deal.

Congressman Howard McKeon and Senator James Inhofe said on Saturday that the President has to give Congress 30 days' notice before transferring terrorists from U.S. facilities.

According to CNN, those who know Bergdahl describe him as polite, active and engaging. He took up fencing as a sport, rode motorcycles and learned to sail.

By the age of 23 he had been part of an expedition that took him from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and he toured Europe before joining the army.

Sabine Parrish, a senior at the University of Washington who has campaigned for Bergdahl's release since he was taken prisoner, was 14 when she first met Bergdahl, who had joined her ballet class in Hailey.

For months she didn't engage with Bergdahl - who had apparently taken up dancing to improve his martial arts training - but the two forged a bond after an April Fools prank.

Bergdahl had rigged the hall's water fountain and Parrish returned from a break completely soaked.

'And he just broke out, full smile, full laughing,' she told college newspaper The Daily of the University of Washington. 'And I hadn’t really seen that before from him.'

Parrish described Bergdahl as 'kind, smart, and curious'. 'We’d spend a lot of time just talking about various - not even anything in particular - just various mysteries of the world,' she said.

'Just wondering, because sometimes you feel a little trapped when you’re in the valley. He was always wanting to learn more.'

After Parrish and her family relocated from Idaho to Seattle, she kept in touch with Bergdahl, who told her about his travels around Europe.

However, she was not prepared for the news he had enlisted. 'I got an email like, "Hey, I’m on my way to training",’ she told the paper.

Bring him home: Support for the campaign to bring Bergdahl home never waned

Bring him home: Support for the campaign to bring Bergdahl home never waned

Prayers answered: Welcome home signs festoon Zaney's coffee shop in Hailey, Idaho, where Bowe used to work

Prayers answered: Welcome home signs festoon Zaney's coffee shop in Hailey, Idaho, where Bowe used to work

 

'I was upset. I am adamantly anti-military intervention and anti-war. I argued with him about it, but it was too late, he had already signed up. The deed was done, and as a friend, you can do nothing but support.'

Sabine said Bergdahl enlisted for philanthropic reasons.

'To help people, to experience other parts of the world, to learn other cultures,' she said. 'He saw it in more humanistic terms.'

His parents also said their son had joined the military so that he could help the Afghan people.

Bergdahl was based in Alaska before deployment to Afghanistan. After reaching his base, he sent Sabine two emails.

'The first one was just "I’m here, I’m settling in; it’s terrain that’s quite similar to the Rockies over here; it is much higher but it’s beautiful. It kind of reminds me of home",’ she recalled.

The next regarded a convoy trip that had frustrated Bergdahl. Sabine said his second email 'was a little more pessimistic, tired'.

In summary, she said the message read: 'You can’t control what goes on over there; a one-day mission turns into six.'

Never forgotten: Obama says the the U.S. government never gave up in trying to secure the release of Bowe Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for nearly five years

Never forgotten: Obama says the the U.S. government never gave up in trying to secure the release of Bowe Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for nearly five years

Relief: Bob Bergdahl and his wife embrace Obama, as the President tells them the whole nation is rejoicing over their son's release

Relief: Bob Bergdahl and his wife embrace Obama, as the President tells them the whole nation is rejoicing over their son's release

Two years before he was taken captive, Bergdahl spent 10 weeks on the vessel near Bristol Bay, Alaska, pulling in sockeye salmon for 18 to 20 hours a day.

The fishing captain, Dan Collins, told CNN it was hard, grueling work. 'But he was up to it'.

'I am at times not the easiest guy to get along with, being a fishing boat's captain. But I imagine I am easy compared to what he is dealing with every day now.'

Ms Martin, owner of Zaney's Coffee Shop in Hailey, where Bergdalh used to work, said in previous interviews that he was an admirable person to be around.

'Bowe is not somebody in the corner,' she said in 2009. 'You engage, and he engages very well. He captures you.'

On Saturday, after hearing that he was finally free, she told MailOnline that staff at the coffee shop had never given up showing their support for Bergdahl.

Three large boards and a book inside the store are filled with messages of support from customers and visitors from across the world.

Ms Martin had known Bowe for several years and the pair had an arrangement that allowed him to work at the Hailey coffee shop in between his travels. 

'He has always been very adventurous and likes to meet people,' Ms Martin said. 'He would have adventures and then come back to work here.'

She said the whole community had never given up hope that Bowe would return safely to them, adding: 'I'm just looking forward to giving him a hug.'

Homecoming: Residents in Hailey, Idaho, put up banners and flags in honor of Bowe's release on Saturday

Homecoming: Residents in Hailey, Idaho, put up banners and flags in honor of Bowe's release on Saturday

Joy: Rachel Malone carries yellow balloons along Main Street in Hailey as the community celebrates Bowe's release

Joy: Rachel Malone carries yellow balloons along Main Street in Hailey as the community celebrates Bowe's release

One rainy evening, the sheriff in his Idaho community stopped to offer him a ride. Bergdahl, who was drenched and walking his bike, declined, saying he didn't want to get the car wet.

'There's not many young people who have the kind manners he has,' neighbor Minna Casser told CNN. 'He's a gentleman and a sportsman.'

At this year's Grammys, celebrities were photographed wearing Bowe bracelets.

In the past two years, billboards with Bergdahl's face have popped up in major cities. One shows a smiling Bergdahl, in an Army uniform, with the message: 'He fought for us. ... Let's fight for him!'

A transcript of radio intercepts, publicly released through Wikileaks, indicated that Bergdahl, then 23, was captured while sitting in a makeshift latrine.

'We were attacking the post he was sitting,' according to a radio intercept of a conversation among insurgents.

'He had no gun with him. ... They have all [the] Americans, ANA [Afghan National Army], helicopters, the planes are looking for him. Can you guys make a video of him and announce it all over Afghanistan that we have one of the Americans?'

Propaganda: This undated image of video footage taken from a Taliban-affiliated website shows a man claiming to be Bergdahl under captivity

Propaganda: This undated image of video footage taken from a Taliban-affiliated website shows a man claiming to be Bergdahl under captivity

Connection: In an effort to reach out to his son's captors, Bob Bergdahl grew a beard and learned to speak Pashtu

Connection: In an effort to reach out to his son's captors, Bob Bergdahl grew a beard and learned to speak Pashtu

Captured UBowe Bergdahl, left, with a Taliban commander in a video released in 2010

Captured UBowe Bergdahl, left, with a Taliban commander in a video released in 2010

People who know Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have described him as a well-rounded, well-grounded and hardworking young man

People who know Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have described him as a well-rounded, well-grounded and hardworking young man

Taliban prisoners released in exchange for Bowe Bergdalh

Abdul Haq Wasiq Taliban deputy minister of intelligence

Mullah Norullah Nori Senior Taliban commander in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif who commanded insurgents fighting U.S. forces in late 2001

Khairullah Khairkhwa Senior Taliban official believed to have ties to Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the Taliban's founder

Mohammed Nabi A regional Chief of Security for the Taliban and eventual radio operator

Mohammed Fazl Believed to have overseen the mass extermination of Shiite Muslims during the 2000 - 2001 war that saw the Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan.

A senior Defense Department official said previously said that if Bergdahl was released, it could be determined that he had more than paid for leaving his unit '.

Still, it's a conundrum for commanders under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the equal application of the law, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the Bergdahl case.

Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said if there is evidence that Bergdahl left his unit without permission, he could be charged with being absent without leave (AWOL) or desertion.

Desertion during a time of war can carry the death penalty.

But Congress never passed a declaration of war with respect to Afghanistan, and neither President George W. Bush nor President Obama has determined that U.S. military operations in Afghanistan make this a 'time of war' for the purposes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Fidell said.

Were Bergdahl to be charged with desertion, the maximum penalty he would face is five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge, if it's proved that he deserted with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service.

Abdul Waq-Hasiq
Norullah Nori

Prisoner swap: Abdul Waq-Hasiq, left, and Norullah Nori, right, are to be freed from Guantanamo Bay

Khirullah Khairkhwa
Mohammed Nabi

Former combatants: The prisoners, including Khirullah Khairkhwa, left,  and Khirullah Khairkhwa, right, will remain in Qatar for at least next year as part of the terms of their release

A case of AWOL, ended by the U.S. apprehending him, would not require proof that he intended to remain away permanently.

RELEASED: Mohammad Fazi is believed to have been at the command of a mass killing, and the United Nations has sought his prosecution for war crimes

RELEASED: Mohammad Fazi is believed to have been at the command of a mass killing, and the United Nations has sought his prosecution for war crimes

The maximum punishment for that would be a dishonorable discharge and 18 months' confinement, he said.

'Someone is going to have to make a decision, based on a preliminary investigation, as to whether this is a desertion or AWOL rather than simply having the bad luck to have fallen into the wrong hands,' Fidell said.

'The command can say "This fellow has been living in terrible conditions. We don't approve of what he did but we're not going to prosecute him",' he said.

'Or, the military could prosecute him as a way of signaling to others that "Look, you can't simply go over the hill".

'It's quite an interesting set of issues that will have to be addressed as a matter of both policy and law.'

Desertion can be difficult to prove, said Ret. Maj. Gen. John Altenburg Jr., a Washington attorney who served 28 years as a lawyer in the Army.

'There has to be some evidence that he intended never to come back - that he intended to remain away from his unit permanently,' Altenburg said.

'I don't know if they'll charge him with anything. It will depend on the circumstances of his return and what he has to say.'

Mary Schantag, chairman of the P.O.W. Network, an educational nonprofit group founded in 1989, said it was futile to speculate.

'He is an American soldier in enemy hands. Period. Bring him home,' she said.



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