Its been a looong time coming.
Ive been bellyaching for a while now about the lack of Bergdahl this season.
Im back on the hook.
Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
He tells the incredulous Boal that the report he gave Dahl amounted to more than 380 pages.
This is his side of the story.
His rationale as strange as it may sometimes sound for abandoning his post.
And it gives us the best account yet of what Bergdahls mindset was before he was captured.
Bergdahl didnt drink, or joke about women, or play videogames like his platoon mates.
He wasnt into the standard-issue grab-assery, one of them says.
Instead, he read, listened to classical music, tried to learn Pashto, and smoked a pipe.
He was kind of a nerd, they say.
He hated the drudgery of his companys day-to-day assignment, he wanted to see action.
In Afghanistan, Bergdahls unit was given the mission to basically win the hearts and minds of the locals.
There wasnt much combat.
It wasntFull Metal Jacketor a Sgt.
It was 21st century touchy-feely war.
Then, his unit finally did see combat and it wasnt what he imagined it would be.
Even though it got hairy, he wasnt even allowed to discharge his weapon.
Then a second incident amplified his disillusionment.
The sun was so oppressive that they took off their body armor and helmets and unlaced their boots.
A photographer from the U.K.sGuardian newspapercaptured images of them out of uniform.
And when this got back to their commanding officer, he lit into them again, chewing them out.
Bergdahl couldnt understand this reaction.
He thought the commanding officer was more concerned about how he looked than how they looked.
While Bergdahls frustration is certainly understandable, his higher-up certainly has a point.
They were in hostile territory, in the open, without protection.
They could have gotten killed.
Still, Bergdahl didnt see it that way.
He saw it as a tipping point in his units morale.
Thats why I ended up doing what I did, he says.
But its still his truth.
Was getting harshly reprimanded in the army really such an unexpected thing to happen?
I mean, its the friggin army!
The army was not the Be all that you might be adventure he signed up for.
There was no romance in it.
No one pulled you aside to slap you on the back to say thank you and attaboy.
At least, thats the impression Im starting to get.
Still, is all of that reason enough to walk off?
And why was he the only one to see the need to take such drastic action?
Was Bowe Bergdahl being selfless… or selfish?
