After five years of Taliban captivity and two weeks at an air base in Germany, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl landed in San Antonio, Texas, last night. There, he “will continue the next phase of his reintegration process,” which could take weeks “or longer,” the New York Times reports, and will end when he’s allowed to see his parents. They’ve had no direct contact with Bergdahl since he was freed in a trade for five Taliban detainees from Guantánamo at the end of May. Then the Army has to figure out if he’s a deserter or worse.
There will be no party for his return. Bergdahl’s hometown of Hailey, Idaho, canceled a celebration it had planned for the return of the last American prisoner of war amid backlash about his motives for leaving his post in Afghanistan five years ago. Following reintegration, the Army said it “would continue its comprehensive review into the circumstances of his disappearance and captivity.”
The 28-year-old may have offered some vague clues in his writing, which includes references to loneliness, wandering, and Ayn Rand. The Daily Beast also obtained (poorly spelled) letters Bergdahl allegedly wrote to his parents from prison in 2012 and 2013. “Leadership was lacking, if not non-existent. The conditions were bad and looked to be getting worse for the men that where actuly the ones risking thier 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 … Please tell D.C. to wait for all evadince to come in.”
