FOX News: Bowe Bergdahl gives emotional statement at sentencing hearing, apologizes to wounded service members
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl unexpectedly took the stand at his sentencing hearing Monday -- and choked up several times as he apologized to service members who were wounded in the years-long hunt to save him.
"I would like everyone who searched for me to know it was never my intention for anyone to be hurt, and I never expected that to happen," he said during the hearing at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. "My words alone can't take away their pain."
He was the first witness for the defense, who hadn't previously made it known that Bergdahl would address the court. It was his most extensive remarks in court yet.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: One thing that I have learned abut the military while doing this blog is that there are always consequences for one's actions .... both good and bad. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's actions on the night day that he deserted set into motion a number of actions that some families must now live with for the rest of their lives. There are consequences for this .... and while Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is probably sincere in his apology .... it is too little and way too late.
The military judge said that Trump's remarks would be mitigating circumstances, when it came to sentencing.
ReplyDeleteI find that abhorrent.
If it was not for Trump, Bergdahl would have gotten away with it.
IMO Obama made damn sure that Bergdahl would not be prosecuted on his watch, which also says bad things about some general officers and their cajones.
Wnu he never apologized before?
ReplyDeleteThat'd be pretty late and lame indeed. If I ever f*ck up like that I hope I'll be strong enough to first apologise (and not listen to my lawyer who'd probably aim to talk me out of it unless it's good for me/doesn't incriminate me..that's their job after all).
But luckily for me I don't have to serve/risk my life/risk other's lives...that's what people like Bergdahl do. ..before he ran off and became a coward to everyone, he was certainly braver than me to go there in the first place. (And every soldier is. ..even if I were drafted, I'd try to find a way out -unless- I believed in the fight to be rightful)
What I'm trying to say is that he was quite young when he f'ed up and God knows what was going on in his head. ..he was probably scared - others were scared too, of course, and duty & fellowship demands to act professional and not risk your brothers health/life etc. But different people act differently under the same situation. It's not necessarily cowardness in the sense of "all things equal you are the one who let us down". Ceteris paribus doesn't exist among human bodies and especially not the brain and CNS. So why do we keep acting outraged at someone's weakness? Of course it's terrible that people died and got injured (and those were really freaking brave), of course we can call him a coward and asshole for leaving his fellow soldiers like that while on duty, BUT we must realise that people are entirely different - how they grow up, their genes, even what they ate that day and how they slept has huge impact on combat survivability (Google nutrition diarrhea and combat readiness for the non science part and goggle gene protein expression, inhibition in mice cats for a bit more science perspective on it. .there's a few papers that show how mice infected by a virus transmitted through poo by a cat can lose their fear of being killed - surrendering to the cat and in turn allowing more of the virus to spread- my point being, the biochemistry and genes of every human being are so complex and so different from one another that just a sleeping disorder for a few days may make you weaker both physically and emotionally than your fellow soldiers. .I know it sounds crazy and liberal heart bleeding, and you could argue that you never slept poorly and then wanted to run off and I get that, but that's a false logic. Just because it didn't happen to you or no one you know doesn't mean it's not happening. And I'm not saying it was sleep. But accusing someone of cowardness is such a black and white thing. ..you are a coward... There's so much to discover when it comes to the human psyche and how protein expression changes (incl. hormones) hour by hour...it influences not just mood swings, but everything from fear to combat readiness etc.
Anyways. .enough of the hippie crap. .I don't know the guy, seems to have a tough life before and ahead of himself, but in the end legal rulings are not meant to be objective or fair, they are meant to satisfy the demands of parties, incl. the party of the public eye...and the public hates cowards and loves simplicity and "justice". So. ..finished my beer ;) jk
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI mentioned in a previous post that in view of what has happened .... he should be apologizing every day instead of saying things like this .... http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.ca/2017/10/bowe-bergdahl-complains-that-us-army.html
But ... he chose not too. As I said .... there will be consequences for this.
well he seems to have his head up his a***, that's for sure. But I do get his point.. he probably despises the Taliban, but finds them somewhat honest because they would tell him "I would be the one who cuts your throat", while in the US Army bureaucracy it feels like a machine eating him up and a bunch of fellow humans condemning him for his choices (judging from how he speaks and acts he seems to feel betrayed/treated poorly/misunderstood)..
ReplyDeleteanyways, if you have time to watch a good war movie on cowardliness and how the armies of this world (used to and to some extent still) operate, watch the classic "Paths of Glory" - one of Kirk Douglas best performances.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI posted that movie a few years back. You just convinced me to post it again this week (if I do not forget). Thanks :)