Late Friday morningArmy Judge Col. Jeffery R. Nance ruled Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will not face prison time for walking off his base eight years ago and abandoning his platoon mates.
Bergdahl's defense argued he has been punished enough by being held captive by the Taliban, which radio traffic showed he purposely sought out, and shouldn't be subjected to further captivity. Nance bought it and Bergdahl will simply face a dishonorable discharge, have his rank stripped and will pay $10,000.
Good men died searching for Bergdahl. Here are their names.
Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen, 29, of San Antonio, TX
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/PabZDUkKsi
Private 1st Class Morris Walker, 23, of Chapel Hill, NC
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/aLmQgMmek0
Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss, 27, of Murray, UT
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/qX1wngoMpk
2nd Lieutenant Darryn Andrews, 34, of Dallas, TX
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/PDL75OMWrD
Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, 25, of Snyder, TX
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/uqmSC86Wxv
Private 1st Class Matthew Martinek, 20, of DeKalb, IL
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 3, 2017
Died looking for Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/lhpSBbBgpr
But the consequences for Bergdahl's actions don't end with these brave men. The damage he did is far reaching and extensive.
Tragically, there were MANY more wounded & killed than this. Air assets were diverted from Troops in Contact so they could look for him. https://t.co/qIda5FPnKy
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) November 3, 2017
Hard to overstate how much Bergdahl disrupted operations across the entire country for the better part of a year, w/ consequences like these https://t.co/60OTt8oJ1X
— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) November 3, 2017
And how about the five Taliban commanders President Obama let out of GITMO in a trade for Bergdahl? What are they up to?
The U.S. military and intelligence community now suspect that one of the five Taliban detainees released from Guantanamo Bay in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in May of last year has attempted to return to militant activity from his current location in Qatar by making contact with suspected Taliban associates in Afghanistan, multiple officials tell CNN.
The development has led to an ongoing debate inside the administration about whether there is a new threat from this man, and potentially the other four.
Disgrace.