Sherry Horton, a friend of recently freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, said Monday morning that his hometown of Hailey, Idaho, is ready for him to come home whenever he is able and that he was never one to walk away or back out of a challenge.
“Our main focus was getting him home, as soon as he could get home,” Ms. Horton said on CNN’s “New Day.” “We knew it was going to be a long, uphill battle going forward from there. … We didn’t expect Bowe to come bouncing off a plane when he got back to the U.S.”
Army Sgt. Bergdahl was captured under unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country. Some of Sgt. Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers have said he deserted in 2009, but Ms. Horton said he was never one to quit.
“In the whole time I’ve known Bowe, and I’ve known him for quite awhile, Bowe’s never been a quitter, either,” she said. “Bowe’s never been one to back out of a challenge. Bowe’s never been one to stop what he was doing. … Yes, he was curious, but he was also committed to finishing everything he started. … He never was one to walk away or to quit.”
Sgt. Bergdahl, the last remaining prisoner of war in Afghanistan, was handed over to U.S. special forces by the Taliban Saturday in an area of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. Five former Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to Qatar as part of the deal for his release.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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