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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Soldier held by Taliban 23-year-old from Idaho
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2009, Monday
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THE Pentagon has identified the American soldier who went missing on June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed to have been captured.
The Defense Department said yesterday the soldier is Private Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho. It also said his status was now classified as missing-captured, rather than whereabouts unknown.
In a video posted online by the Taliban on Saturday, he is heard saying he is "scared I won't be able to go home."
Bergdahl is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier's dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting on a bed.
The soldier says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released on Saturday on a Website pointed out by the Taliban.
Bergdahl said the date was July 14. He says he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.
'I'm scared'
He is interviewed in English by his captors, and he is asked his views on the war, which he calls extremely hard, his desire to learn more about Islam and the morale of American soldiers, which he said was low.
Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:
"Well I'm scared, scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."
He begins to answer questions in a matter-of-fact and sober voice, occasionally facing the camera, looking down and sometimes looking to the questioner on his left.
He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.
"I have my girlfriend, who I am hoping to marry," he said. "I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I'm gone. I miss them and I'm afraid that I might not ever see them again and that I'll never be able to tell them that I love them again and I'll never be able to hug them."
He is also prompted by his interrogators to give a message to the American people.
"To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it's like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home," he says.
The Defense Department said yesterday the soldier is Private Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho. It also said his status was now classified as missing-captured, rather than whereabouts unknown.
In a video posted online by the Taliban on Saturday, he is heard saying he is "scared I won't be able to go home."
Bergdahl is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier's dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting on a bed.
The soldier says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released on Saturday on a Website pointed out by the Taliban.
Bergdahl said the date was July 14. He says he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.
'I'm scared'
He is interviewed in English by his captors, and he is asked his views on the war, which he calls extremely hard, his desire to learn more about Islam and the morale of American soldiers, which he said was low.
Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:
"Well I'm scared, scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."
He begins to answer questions in a matter-of-fact and sober voice, occasionally facing the camera, looking down and sometimes looking to the questioner on his left.
He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.
"I have my girlfriend, who I am hoping to marry," he said. "I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I'm gone. I miss them and I'm afraid that I might not ever see them again and that I'll never be able to tell them that I love them again and I'll never be able to hug them."
He is also prompted by his interrogators to give a message to the American people.
"To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it's like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home," he says.
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