US Army Sgt Bergdhal, thoughts?

K

Keith

Moderator
Especially our military sense of humour, but there would be a serious implication re: the pardon. It would have meant military pensions rights (revoked upon execution) would have been restored to the families.

I was quite horrified with the number of WWII desertions though - never had a clue it was so high, however I believe many may not have deserted per ce, they just got 'left behind' from the many spots around the globe we got our arses kicked out of...
 
A

Al Wohlstrom

Keith1 said:
Especially our military sense of humour, but there would be a serious implication re: the pardon. It would have meant military pensions rights (revoked upon execution) would have been restored to the families.

I was quite horrified with the number of WWII desertions though - never had a clue it was so high, however I believe many may not have deserted per ce, they just got 'left behind' from the many spots around the globe we got our arses kicked out of...
Click to expand...

Imagine the number of desertions without a penalty. And WTF did they pardon them for?
 
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N

Nick

Larry L. said:
...not to mention completely useless from their standpoint.
Click to expand...

Have you spoken to them about it?


Al Wohlstrom said:
Imagine the number of desertions without a penalty. And WTF did they pardon them for?
Click to expand...

The Last American Soldier Executed for Desertion

Pvt. Eddie Slovik was the bravest soldier that one World War II veteran says he ever encountered. A witness to his execution.

But from the last execution comes a lesson in the importance of considering the totality of a person and not allowing a charge of desertion to eclipse everything else about the accused.
 
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M

Jack

Bergdhal was disillusioned by his assigned role, period! He deserted.
Now in hospital for a week, not allowed to speak to anyone. Mark my words that he will be found (they will say) disorientated, difficulty speaking English, and mentally unprepared for an Article 32 military court martial. All in the administration hopes it will all go away, again...

If you have been following the reports of the contract investigators, it was disclosed they knew where he was, where he was moved to (several times) since 2009.
 
N

Nick

Larry L. said:
Are you seriously suggesting that a posthumous "pardon" would mean diddly to those who received one?

Seriously?

They're dead...
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Ah ha, thread drift combined with a cunning plan, ( as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the U.N. at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning ) by the US to steal our ironic title.

I admit defeat the irony of your statement exceeds anything I could have come up with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH3-Gt7mgyM
 
Veek

Pat

Supporter
Nick Brough said:
Have you spoken to them about it?

Pvt. Eddie Slovik was the bravest soldier that one World War II veteran says he ever encountered. A witness to his execution.

But from the last execution comes a lesson in the importance of considering the totality of a person and not allowing a charge of desertion to eclipse everything else about the accused.
Click to expand...

You need to do your homework Nick and read why MG Cota and GEN Eisenhower allowed the execution of PVT Slovik. (Hint: it wasn't for Slovik's benefit). As for Pvt Slovik's "bravery", you need to read up on that as well. What you're at it, read up on the battle for the Hurtgen Forest which was going on during his sentencing. It and the subsequent Battle of the Ardennes, had a direct affect on his sentence. He is buried in the same area as the 95 other soldiers executed during the war. Their crimes ranged from rape to murder.
But if you are correct, I'm sure you support the release of the 5 Taliban in exchange for SGT Berghdal. By all accounts. they were loyal, dedicated, hard working individuals and I'm sure these positive attributes were considered in the "the totality of a person" and not allowing mere charges of war crimes and mass murder to eclipse everything else about these noble accused.
 
J

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
Okay, this is going to be unpopular, but I think we need to wait here and allow the full story of what happened to Bergdahl to come out in due course. The more I read about him and the differing accounts of what went on in the platoon he was in, the less comfortable I feel making any kind of judgment about what he did or didn't do. It isn't clear that he deserted. It isn't clear what kind of soldier he was.

Can we just all wait and let a lot more information emerge before we continue to do two things I don't think we ought to? the first is getting our exercise jumping to conclusions. The second is condemning Bergdahl in the court of public opinion, before all the facts are available.

To put it another way, we are participating in ruining someone's reputation before we have all the information about what and when things happened. We all have reputations ourselves, we would not want them ruined when we were not able to defend ourselves, so can we all take a couple of steps back from this and give it some time to play out- and make our opinions at that time?
 
K

Keith

Moderator
Good thinking Jimbo and it's already been hijacked by extreme partisan politics leaving the man in the street with just crumbs of innuendo and rumour.

Can't get cross-party discussion in any Western country it seems these days.....

In the UK, the truth about this kind of shit at the very top levels usually comes out when official embargoes are removed 30, 50, 100 years hence or in some extreme cases - never.

But in any event when most contemporaries are either dead or drifting around in la la land...
 
L

Larry L.

Lifetime Supporter
Doc,

Is it likely all 6 of these guys would lie about what they saw/know? They were there on site at the time he left.

(Note the 'vote' at 1:00)

Exclusive: Platoon opens up about Sgt. Bergdahl's desertion | On Air Videos | Fox News

It seems highly unlikely to me that they'd all be doing the so-called 'swiftboating' thing. What would be 'in it' for them by doing that?

One thing I do know for sure, though, is I won't be too quick to believe a darned thing people in the White House may have to say about any of this. Their record is faaar too short of stellar when it comes to telling the truth.



(Edit: Well, I see Al beat me to it!)
 
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K

Keith

Moderator
Very inconsequential video and poor anchor -I don't believe she let them finish a sentence. However, they seemed believable enough but I am somewhat bemused, how is it they were able to talk to the media?

Don't get me wrong I'm glad they did, but I can think of other countries where that might not have happened - the UK almost certainly.

Finally, I think their speculation about what you would do if captured by the enemy somewhat naive especially one that makes a speciality of beheading people live on camera.
 
Veek

Pat

Supporter
Keith, there are really two issues here. One, the nature of SGT Bergdahl's departure from his unit and subsequent actions and possible casualties lost in his attempted recovery.
The second, and for me the much larger issue, is the release of five senior Taliban for his exchange. While I believe there is a lot of information to be disclosed on the former and debate is somewhat speculative, the latter is unadulterated insanity and the blood of future victims of the released "Taliban 5" is sadly on those that released them.
In that regard, it doesn't matter if SGT Berghal was a Medal of Honor winner or a deserter, the world is no longer as safe a place with those war criminals and mass murderers on the street.
 
Pete

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
As usual Pat, you go straight to the nub of the matter. I totally agree! Rule 1.never negotiate with terrorists. Rule2. See rule1.
 
Pete

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
I too was curious as to how they were able to talk to the Media. Certainly an enlisted man in Australia could not talk to the media without permission from his C.O.
Can American soldiers appear on a show like that without permission?
 
A

Al Wohlstrom

Keith1 said:
Very inconsequential video and poor anchor -I don't believe she let them finish a sentence. However, they seemed believable enough but I am somewhat bemused, how is it they were able to talk to the media?

Don't get me wrong I'm glad they did, but I can think of other countries where that might not have happened - the UK almost certainly.

Finally, I think their speculation about what you would do if captured by the enemy somewhat naive especially one that makes a speciality of beheading people live on camera.
Click to expand...

What did the quality of the video, or your opinion of the anchor have to do with the statements made by the platoon leader and the men in the platoon. They clearly said that Bergdhal had deserted.

Pete, I got the idea that these guys were out of the Army now, I may be wrong.
 
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