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babylonsister

(171,107 posts) Sun Jun 1, 2014, 09:48 AM Jun 2014

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl: Flight to freedom

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/31/world/meast/afghanistan-bergdahl-aboard-helicopter/

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl: Flight to freedom
By Chelsea J. Carter and Barbara Starr, CNN
June 1, 2014 -- Updated 0127 GMT (0927 HKT)
Watch this video

(CNN) -- It was another day in nearly five years of captivity for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and he didn't know what the 18 Taliban fighters had in store for him Saturday.

There, in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, the heavily armed fighters turned Bergdahl over to U.S. military commandos.

The soldier's plight had come to an end.

Within minutes he was airborne. The helicopter's rotors whooped so loudly that Bergdahl couldn't communicate clearly with the men on board.

So he grabbed a paper plate and wrote three characters: "SF?"

The men understood: Special Forces?

The U.S. commandos didn't bother to write back.

"Yes!" shouted at least one over the roar of the flight. "We've been looking for you for a long time!"

snip//

Flight to freedom

It was late afternoon Saturday in Afghanistan, about 10:30 a.m. ET, when Bergdahl surrounded by 18 Taliban fighters was led to a meeting point.

There, waiting, were U.S. commandos, according to the officials. In the air above, helicopter gunships circled.

Slowly, Bergdahl walked toward the commandos.

It is believed the soldier was searched by the commandos, who as a matter of protocol would check to make sure the Taliban had not strapped explosives on him.

Within a matter of minutes, Bergdahl was aboard a helicopter bound for Bagram Air Base.

On the helicopter, with the knowledge he was in the hands of Special Forces, Bergdahl broke down and cried.

He was free.