Bowe Bergdahl Fast Facts
CNN Library
Here are some facts about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a former American prisoner of war.
Personal:
Birth date: March 28, 1986
Birth date: March 28, 1986
Birth place: Sun Valley, Idaho
Birth name: Bowe Robert Bergdahl
Father: Robert Bergdahl
Mother: Jani Bergdahl
Military: U.S. Army, 2008-present
Other Facts:
Traveled in Europe before enlisting in the Army.
Traveled in Europe before enlisting in the Army.
Worked as a crew member on a sailboat that traveled along the East Coast and to the Caribbean.
It is believed he was being held by the Taliban and al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan.
Timeline:
2008 – Enlists in the Army.
2008 – Enlists in the Army.
May 2009 – Is deployed to Afghanistan.
June 30, 2009 – Is captured in Paktika province, Afghanistan.
July 2, 2009 – A U.S. military official says that the soldier is being held by the clan of warlord Siraj Haqqani. The Taliban previously claimed to have captured the soldier.
July 19, 2009 – A video of Bergdahl is posted on the Internet.
December 25, 2009 – Bergdahl’s captors release a video of him.
April 7, 2010 – Another video of Bergdahl is released.
June 12, 2010 – Bergdahl is promoted to specialist.
December 7, 2010 – His captors release a nearly 45-minute video of a thin Westerner identified as Spc. Bowe Bergdahl.
February 2011 – Another video of Bergdahl is released.
May 6, 2011 – Robert Bergdahl, Bowe’s father, makes his first statement since the disappearance of his son. He releases a YouTube video asking for his son’s release.
June 12, 2011 – Bergdahl is promoted to sergeant.
May 2012 – The U.S. government acknowledges that it has engaged in talks with the Taliban to free Bergdahl.
June 6, 2013 – Bergdahl’s family announces that “through the International Committee of the Red Cross, we recently received a letter we’re confident was written to us by our son.”
January 2014 – A U.S. military official tells CNN that the military has obtained a new video of Bergdahl.
February 18, 2014 – A U.S. official tells CNN that discussions are under way with intermediaries overseas to see if there is any ability to gain Bergdahl’s release. The discussions are being led by U.S. diplomats and the Defense Department is involved.
May 31, 2014 – President Barack Obama announces the release of Bowe Bergdahl. In exchange for Bergdahl’s release, five detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be released to Qatar.
June 13, 2014 – Bergdahl returns to the United States.
June 16, 2014 – The U.S. Army announces that a two-star general will investigate the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s decision to leave his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
July 14, 2014 – The Army announces that Bergdahl has completed medical care and mental counseling at an Army hospital in San Antonio and will return to active duty with a desk job.
July 16, 2014 – Bergdahl retains attorney Eugene Fidell.
March 3, 2015 – The U.S. military charges Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with one count each of “Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty” and “Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place.”
March 25, 2015 – Bergdahl’s attorney, Eugene Fidell, releases a statement outlining his defense of the soldier and containing a two-page letter from Bergdahl describing the torture he endured, which included months spent chained to a bed and further years spent chained on all fours or locked in a cage.
September 18, 2015 – Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, the Army general who led the investigation into Bergdahl’s actions in Afghanistan, testifies at a preliminary hearing that jail time would be “inappropriate” for Bergdahl. Dahl says he interviewed Bergdahl for a day and a half and “did not find any evidence to corroborate the reporting that Bergdahl was … sympathetic to the Taliban,” but rather, Bergdahl wanted to call attention to what he considered poor leadership of his unit.
December 10, 2015 – The second season of Serial podcast begins with the odyssey of Bergdahl. The podcast features Bergdahl speaking for the first time about the nearly five years he spent as a captive of the Taliban.
December 14, 2015 – Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, orders Bergdahl’s case to a general court-martial, breaking with the U.S. military officer overseeing Bergdahl’s preliminary hearing who recommended that Bergdahl be referred to a special court-martial and face no jail time.
