Suspected deserter Bergdahl getting medical treatment stateside

a reply to: LarryLove

As a military wife of a former marine now retired, my husband sat in court martials many times as a high ranking enlisted, things no always goes very nice when desertions is involved for the active duty soldiers.

So I got a pretty good idea that he either will be find incompetent to stand trial or mentally unstable and we will never know exactly what happen, this will be the only way the present administration can save face and keep everything under the table, remember transparency is not Obamas best trait.

a reply to: LarryLove

Larry, before pointing out how much you disagree with my personal opinion, as a member of this site, about a major figure in a modern news story...........

Did you notice what I wrote at the bottom of that same message?

I hope this guy gets the best care money can buy, and then I hope he gets the best defense in a Courts Martial that can be supplied, for him to get a half way decent bunk at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I'd wish for world peace too... I'm used to disappointment in that way.

I'm not for some lynch mob, or stupidity by people outside the Justice system (people inside it have plenty of their own already). I'm very much looking to see this boy put on trial for walking away from his unit, as his own unit reported on the record, the morning it happened..and subsequent reports through the search to recover him, confirmed.

That's proof enough for me to want to see him stand trial. Though as I also noted..I seriously doubt what I want will factor into anything, anywhere in this. After all..when did citizens desires matter these days?

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

As you know, military courts are not the same as our judiciary system of a Judge and jury of your peers, especially if you're being charged with violating military law (the UCMJ).

Normally if something gets all the way to an actual court martial (instead of Non-Judicial, in the Navy we called that Captain's Mast), the evidence against you is going to be pretty damming.

However, pressure from above can be brought to bear on a military court....as has been suggested in this thread.

My brain says that logically he should be formally charge (at a minimum) of violating articles 86 and 85 of the UCMJ (Unauthorized Absence and Desertion), and that he will be found guilty quite easily of at least article 86. Other charges might be harder to prove.

BUT.....my gut says that this man will most likely never face a court martial (as has been suggested...."unfit" to stand one), or, he'll be found "not guilty" by reasons classified by the panel (as ordered by the chain of command above).

There will not be any transparency on this. There wasn't any in the deal being made.

Not to mention that this administration has yet to live up to the promises made of being the "most transparent" one yet......

Someone wanted this to make the WH look good......only it blew up in their faces.

Should have found an actual "hero" to rescue.....and not someone that deserted their post. Would have been easier to sell to the public.

a reply to: rockledr

To be convicted of desertion you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt he had no intentions of ever coming back, almost impossible if not impossible to prove.

Bergdahl wrote letters explaining why he "walked away" That trumps the shadow of a doubt card.

a reply to: Staroth

The letters were written after he was captured. We don't know if he was under duress or if he honestly meant what was written. We won't know until the court martial. We may never know.