HAILEY Idaho (Reuters) - A hometown celebration of Bowe Bergdahl's release from five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan will go on this month as planned, despite a growing backlash against the U.S. Army sergeant over allegations he was a deserter, friends and supporters say.
Days after the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho, erupted in elation over news that he had been freed in a prisoner exchange, the festive mood in town has been tempered by claims from former members of his combat unit that Bergdahl had deliberately abandoned his post.
Some of his one-time comrades assert that the massive search for Bergdahl after he went missing in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, may have cost the lives of up to six fellow soldiers who searched for him.
The U.S. military has said the circumstances under which Bergdahl disappeared have yet to be fully investigated, though Pentagon officials have indicated Bergdahl is unlikely to face charges regardless of what the Army learns of his capture because he has suffered enough.
Still, for all the outpouring of hometown joy and national media attention lionizing Bergdahl immediately following his release on Saturday, supporters in Hailey insist they never regarded him as a hero.
“People in Hailey have been aware for some time that there were questions about how Bowe came to be captured, and that there was a chance that Bowe could be in trouble when he came home,” said Stefanie O'Neill, a co-organizer of a welcome-home rally planned for June 28.
