Free Republic

U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was promoted while held prisoner by the Taliban, said he wants to be recognized by his old rank, according to a senior U.S. official. "In his mind, he's a Pfc," the official told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr on Sunday. Now in the beginning of the lengthy road to reintegration after his exchange for five Taliban commanders previously held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, Bergdahl is letting those around him know he still feels like a Pfc, regardless of his in-absentia promotion. The U.S. official could not confirm to CNN whether...

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has declined to speak to his family after five years in harsh captivity that included being held in a cage after one attempted escape, according to a U.S. official familiar with the Army soldier's recovery. Doctors treating Sgt. Bergdahl at a U.S. military hospital in Germany are moving slowly because of the swirling controversy over the soldier's release, the U.S. official said. While he spent five years in captivity after being captured by Afghan insurgents in 2009, Sgt. Bergdahl doesn't yet want to talk to his family on the phone, the official said. Details of Sgt. Bergdahl's...

U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at an American military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape, a senior U.S. official said Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss what Bergdahl has revealed about the conditions of his captivity. The New York Times first reported on the matter. The official said it was difficult to verify the accounts Bergdahl has given since his release a week ago. [....] Military doctors at...