| CNN | - |
(CNN)
-- Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last American prisoner of war, returned
home early Friday, his hero's welcome supplanted by a controversial
prisoner swap and his reputation tarnished by accusations he was a
deserter.
Bowe Bergdahl returns home -- to a long road ahead
updated 5:13 PM EDT, Fri June 13, 2014
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's family was not present for his arrival
- NEW: Army officer says there's no set time line for the soldier's reintegration
- Bergdahl is described in stable condition
- A homecoming in his hometown is on hold
He arrived in San Antonio from a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he'd been recuperating since his release May 31 in exchange for five Taliban figures held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The 28-year-old Bergdahl,
the longest-held U.S. soldier since the Vietnam War, was taken to the
San Antonio Military Medical Center.
"The Army will continue
to ensure that Sgt. Bergdahl receives the care, time and space he needs
to complete his recovery and reintegration," Pentagon spokesman Rear
Adm. John Kirby said.
Officials at an afternoon press conference described Bergdahl's condition as stable.
"We're pleased with his
physical state. He was able to walk into the hospital in a functional
manner. We're going to be planning more comprehensive testing," said
Col. Ronald Wool, admitting physician at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Wool said Bergdahl, who has not had the opportunity to practice and speak English for the past five years, spoke in English.
Why isn't Bergdahl speaking to family?
Official: Bergdahl returning to the US
This next phase of his
recovery will likely not be as intense as what he underwent at the U.S.
military hospital in Germany, Chris Heben, a former Navy SEAL commenting
on the case, told CNN.
"Emotionally, it's
probably almost surreal for him," Heben said. "He's back in the U.S.,
and he's no longer under that intense microscope where he was at
Landstuhl from a medical standpoint of psychiatric evaluation"
Bergdahl's full physical recovery may take months; his public rehabilitation will likely take longer.
The swap that freed
Bergdahl has stirred up a political storm in Washington. And
almost-daily revelations about Bergdahl's time in Afghanistan have not
helped matters.
"Everybody has a piece of the story, and very few people have the whole story," a Defense Department psychologist told reporters.
The backlash has gotten
so bad that a public celebration in his hometown of Hailey, Idaho -- one
that the 8,000 residents there had waited five years for -- has been
scrapped for fear of protests.
Bergdahl has not yet spoken to his family and his parents were not present for his arrival.
"It isn't over for us,"
Bergdahl's father, Bob, told reporters last week. "In many ways, it's
just beginning for Jani and I, and our family. There's a long process
here."
The disappearance
Bergdahl went missing on
June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika province, where he was deployed
with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat
Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Several veterans and soldiers call him a deserter who walked off his base.
An Army fact-finding
investigation conducted in the months after his disappearance concluded
he left his outpost deliberately and of his own free will, according to
an official who was briefed on the report.
The Army has no
definitive finding that Bergdahl deserted because that would require
knowing his intent -- something officials couldn't learn without talking
to the soldier, a U.S. military official told CNN.
The reasons
On Thursday, The Daily Beast published two letters the solider reportedly wrote to his family while imprisoned by the Taliban.
In the letters -- dated 2012 and 2013 -- Bergdahl discusses his life and partially explains why he disappeared.
"Leadership was lacking,
if not non-existent," he wrote.. The conditions were bad and looked to
be getting worse for the men that where actuly (sic) the ones risking
thier (sic) lives from attack," he wrote.
"If this letter makes it
to the U.S.A., tell those involved in the investigation that there are
more sides to the cittuwation (sic)," Bergdahl said. "Please tell D.C.
to wait for all evadince (sic) to come in."
Heben, the former Navy SEAL, said the letters could hold clues about what happened to Bergdahl.
"I think he's planting a seed of justification for why he went AWOL and why he abandoned his post," he said.
Sen. John McCain, in an
interview on CNN's "New Day," said his advice is to discount anything
that Bergdahl wrote while in captivity.
"In that situation, it's clear his captors had the ability to force him to write whatever they wanted him to," McCain said.
The captivity
Bergdahl was captured by
insurgents with links to the Haqqani network in Pakistan, an Afghan
Taliban commander not authorized to speak to the media told CNN.
Photos: Americans detained abroad
Over the five years, the captive was transferred back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Taliban commander said.
Citing an American
official, The New York Times reported that Bergdahl told medical staff
that the box he was kept in for weeks at a time was pitch black and like
a shark cage.
CNN has reported that
Bergdahl has said he was kept in a small box after trying to escape,
according to a senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of not
being identified.
A Defense Department
psychologist notes that historically, those held by "less organized
groups" -- such as those holding Bergdahl -- "have harsher treatment"
than those held by representatives of governments recognized by the
world.
The wait
In the half-decade that he was gone, Bergdahl's parents held rallies, maintained a website and lobbied congressmen.
The elder Bergdahl grew a
long beard, immersed himself in books about Afghanistan and its Pashto
language, to speak to his son's captors if only from afar.
The Rocky Mountain town
of Hailey is just minutes from the renowned tourist destination of Sun
Valley, famed for its skiing. Yellow balloons and American flags line
the sidewalks of Hailey. And residents planted one tree for each of the
five years Bergdahl was held captive in Afghanistan.
"There were times where
we wondered, but (parents) Jani and Bob Bergdahl never once gave up
faith that their son was coming home to them," family friend Stefanie
O'Neill said.
The rescue
With Qatar as the
broker, the United States struck a deal with the Taliban to free
Bergdahl. The price: the release of five Taliban fighters from
Guantanamo.
Guantanamo detainees swapped
The Obama administration
didn't tell Congress of the releases. Under law, the White House has to
give a 30-day notice to Capitol Hill before any terrorists are
transferred from Guantanamo.
Believing that his health was deteriorating, the administration said it acted quickly to save his life.
U.S. special operations
forces recovered Bergdahl without incident on May 31 at a pickup point
in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.
The reintegration
Bergdahl's daily routine will focus on four key areas: medical care, psychological support, debriefings and family support.
"This is to help a
person who has had no control of their own life for years now regain
that control step by step," said Army spokeswoman Arwen Consaul.
Traumatizing experiences
-- known only to Bergdahl -- may have distorted any sense of normalcy
that he might have had, as well as mechanisms he might have used to cope
with everyday life.
"They've been in a
situation where everybody else has controlled them or something else has
taken charge. And they have not been able to choose," the Defense
Department psychologist said about long-held captives generally. "Now
they're overwhelmed with daily living, and so we kind of start the
process of giving them back the ability to predict."
The case for each returnee is different.
"The reintegration of
Sgt. Bergdahl is a comprehensive process. There is no set time line for
any phase of reintegration. Each phase that Sgt. Bergdahl participates
in is a custom event, fitted to his individual circumstances," Maj. Gen.
Joseph DiSalvo told reporters Friday.
David Rhode, a former
New York Times journalist who was held captive by the Taliban for seven
months, said Bergdahl faces a long road ahead.
"Psychologically, there
will be a long debrief," said Rhode, who was taken in Afghanistan and
held in Pakistan until he managed to escape. "They're actually going to
want intelligence (about) who held him."
Army human resources
officials will determine where Bergdahl goes after he completes the
reintegration process. He'll receive follow-up care and have access to a
psychiatrist for the rest of his life.
Bob Bergdahl appears understanding about the delay.
He compared his son's situation to that of a diver going deep on a dive: "If he comes up too fast, it could kill him."
The backlash
What was initially
touted as America's commitment to never leaving a man behind, Bergdahl's
release has been anything but universally celebrated.
In the partisan frenzy
permeating Washington in an election year, lawmakers have accused the
White House of overstepping presidential authority without consulting
Congress.
Republican critics
contend the cost of the deal was too high because it freed hardened
terror suspects to possibly rejoin the fight against U.S. interests,
especially in return for a soldier accused by some in his unit of
deserting his post.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has defended the deal -- in sometimes testy exchanges -- saying it was Bergdahl's last and best chance to get out.
Former soldiers involved in the operations to find Bergdahl asserted to CNN this week that at least six soldiers were killed because of the search for Bergdahl in 2009.
A U.S. official told CNN
that Pentagon and Army officials have looked at the claims, and "right
now there is no evidence to back that up."
But the damage has been done.
The FBI said it was investigating threats against Bergdahl's parents.
The homecoming
The controversy has
forced Hailey to put its homecoming on hold. Town officials say it would
be too hard to manage all of the supporters as well as all the
protesters who might show up.
"I got a phone call from
a person -- well, an attorney at an event organizer in California who
didn't want to reveal the group, but wanted to know if they could bring
2,000 people up to protest the event, if they'd be allowed into the
event," Police Chief Jeff Gunter told CNN. "So that was definitely a
concern. There was also a gentleman in Texas who wanted to bring up a
bunch of people to protest the event as well."
The future
Bergdahl is still technically in the Army.
Up for promotion in June, he could return to his unit in Alaska, get reassigned somewhere else or be discharged.
Some members of his platoon want Bergdahl to face military trial for desertion under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Still, even if he deserted, a senior defense official said earlier this month that Bergdahl will not likely face any punishment.
As he told CNN, on condition of anonymity: "Five years is enough."
CNN's Ed Payne, Dana Ford, Holly Yan and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
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