Bowe Bergdahl deserted, say former unit members Cody Full, Evan Buetow

Evan Buetow and Cody Full, two U.S. Army soldiers who served with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in Mest Malak, Afghanistan, said they know their disgraced former fellow mate deserted because they “were there” at the time.

“On June 30, 2009, in Mest Malak, Afghanistan, Bowe Bergdahl left his unit and deserted the U.S. Army,” the two wrote in a USA Today op-ed. “We know he deserted because we were there when he did it.”

They laid out several examples of where they found Sgt. Bergdahl’s statements disingenuous, including his claims of falling behind on a patrol and walking off base without his weapon.

“No one walks off an OP in Afghanistan unaccompanied for any reason,” they wrote. “And no one goes anywhere without his weapons. Reports that Bowe had often previously left the base alone are inaccurate.”

Sgt. Bergdahl, who was taken captive by Taliban terrorists and then released during a prisoner exchange that freed five senior Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay, could now face desertion charges from the military. Senior military officials have denied that the charges are pending; analysts on Fox News with sources in the know say Sgt. Bergdahl will, in fact, be charged with desertion.

The two soldiers said in the op-ed that the evidence is clear and irrefutable that Sgt. Bergdahl is guilty.

“We are confident that the overdue report from political and military leaders on Bergdahl’s actions, sitting pin a general’s desk since October, comes to the same conclusion,” they wrote. “It has to because the facts are clear. Whatever the reason is for the late report and confused reporting about whether Bergdahl is set to be charged with desertion, justice is being denied to those of us who were abandoned by a fellow soldier.”