--- title: The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl description: Troops suggest that Bergdahl's desertion makes him more traitor than hero canonical: https://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/ author: Mark Thompson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-02T16:08:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:27.253Z article:section: Politics og:title: The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl og:description: Troops suggest that Bergdahl's desertion makes him more traitor than hero og:url: https://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef7304f91bf6a787/698695bdd0b6f25b50304ac1/time-i-bergdahl-140601.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Bowe Bergdahl og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl twitter:description: Troops suggest that Bergdahl's desertion makes him more traitor than hero twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef7304f91bf6a787/698695bdd0b6f25b50304ac1/time-i-bergdahl-140601.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Bowe Bergdahl Won't Serve Prison Time for Deserting His Post in Afghanistan [Watch (HLS stream): Bowe Bergdahl Won't Serve Prison Time for Deserting His Post in Afghanistan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yIVBVFDI.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2017-10-16. A military judge ruled Friday that Bowe Bergdahl should serve no prison time for endangering his comrades by walking off his Afghanistan post._ by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Jun 2, 2014 4:08 PM UTC  This US Army handout photo obtained June 1, 2014 shows Private First Class(Pfc) Bowe Bergdahl, before his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Bergdahl went missing from his post in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009\. He was the only US service member known to be held captive there. Bergdahl was freed May 31, 2014 in exchange for five Taliban inmates held at the Guantanamo prison in a dramatic deal brokered by Qatar. US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was in "good" condition after Taliban fighters handed him over to "a few dozen" US special operations forces backed up by helicopters at an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan, defence officials said. AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / US ARMY == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO HANDOUT- US ARMY "/ NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS NO A LA CARTE SALES / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images This US Army handout photo obtained June 1, 2014 shows Private First Class(Pfc) Bowe Bergdahl, before his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Bergdahl went missing from his post in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009\. He was the only US service member known to be held captive there. Bergdahl was freed May 31, 2014 in exchange for five Taliban inmates held at the Guantanamo prison in a dramatic deal brokered by Qatar. US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was in "good" condition after Taliban fighters handed him over to "a few dozen" US special operations forces backed up by helicopters at an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan, defence officials said. AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / US ARMY == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO HANDOUT- US ARMY "/ NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS NO A LA CARTE SALES / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images US Army/AFP/Getty Images by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Jun 2, 2014 4:08 PM UTC Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was [freed](http://time.com/2804869/hagel-soldiers-health-required-urgent-action/) by the Taliban over the weekend after they held him for nearly five years, in exchange for five Taliban leaders, who will spend a year cooling their heels in Qatar. You might have heard about it on the [news](http://time.com/2803616/bowe-bergdahl-american-afghanistan-returned/). Chances are you haven’t heard of the six soldiers who [died](http://time.com/2809141/bergdahl-veterans-deserter/) hunting for him after he went missing, according to military officials. Now that Bergdahl has been sprung—in exchange for five senior Taliban officials, who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo—soldiers who served with Bergdahl are grumbling that he deserted and shouldn’t be hailed as a hero, especially given the resulting cost in American lives. td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;} The bile surrounding his rescue is [blunt](https://www.facebook.com/SpartanBrigade) on his Fort Richardson, Alaska brigade’s Facebook page: * “I say we welcome him home with a firing squad.,” one says. “He’s a piece of trash and everyone from \[Fort Richardson\] knows it the only person less American than that man is the president for giving up 5 hvt’s \[High-Value Targets\]” * “Now he can stand trial for deserting his post,” says one message on his unit’s Facebook page—a sentiment that has garnered 44 “likes”. * “Do you know how many families never saw their loved ones because of him?” a third poster asked. Commenters who suggested such comments were unduly harsh were dismissed by and large. “Maybe if you knew the truth and the sacrifices made from people in our units in Alaska to find this douche you wouldn’t feel the way you do,” one responded to a poster urging restraint. “I feel worse for the kids who have to grow up fatherless cause their daddies died looking for this punk.” Tellingly, President Obama [lauded](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/05/31/statement-president-sergeant-bowe-bergdahl) the “courage” of Bergdahl’s parents throughout his imprisonment, but merely extended an unadorned “welcome home” to Bergdahl himself. Conflicting [reports](http://time.com/2809141/bergdahl-veterans-deserter/) have surrounded Bergdahl’s disappearance. But there is evidence that he was upset over U.S. policy in Afghanistan and deserted his post in a war zone in Paktika province, in the southeastern part of the country by the Pakistan border, while serving with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel didn’t issue Bergdahl a blank check for his pre-capture actions. “Our first priority is assuring his well-being and his health and getting him reunited with his family,” he said. “Other circumstances that may develop and questions, those will be dealt with later.” Soldiers who fought in Afghanistan are waiting. “Those allegations can—and should—be handled administratively or legally once he’s back,” says a former Army officer who served in Afghanistan. Because he’s now working at a senior level in the U.S. government, he wouldn’t allow his name to be used. “If he did, in fact, desert, then he unnecessarily risked the lives of many brave people.” Pentagon officials have suggested that Bergdahl will likely not be charged with any violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, believing that five years in Taliban custody was punishment enough. But those irate over Bergdahl fear that the nation has forgotten the men they say were lost in the hunt for him:  Bowen Army **Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen**, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, and **Private 1st Class Morris Walker**, 23, of Chapel Hill, N.C., were [killed](http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=12915) by a roadside bomb in Paktika province on Aug. 18, 2009, while trying to find Bergdahl. Like Bergdahl, they were part of the 4th BCT from Fort Richardson, Alaska. Bowen’s mother last heard from her son the night before he died. “Clay called me around midnight to tell me I wouldn’t hear from him for a few days,” she [said](http://www.army.mil/article/87835/Gold%5FStar%5FMothers%5Fremember%5Floved%5Fones/). She never heard from him again, although she can still hear his voice in the two CDs he recorded with the 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus. “He was the only bass in the group,” she said, “so you could always hear him.” “What I think of first when I think of Morris is his smile because he was always smiling,” his junior-high teacher,  Walker Army Wanda Bordone, [told](http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/army-pfc-morris-l-walker/4245889) the Associated Press after he died. “He had a great sense of humor, lots of friends.” **Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss**, 27, of Murray, Utah, [died](http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12936) Aug. 26 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while his unit was supporting Afghan security forces during an enemy attack. Like Bergdahl, Bowen and Walker, he was part of the 4th BCT.  Curtiss Army “I’ll never forget you Kurt,” Adrian Ramirez a fellow soldier from Fort Richardson, [posted](http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/saltlaketribune/kurt-curtiss-condolences/132163304?cid=full) on a memorial site. “You were my first team leader from the beginning and my squad leader to the end. I will miss you and all the memories I have shared with you.” **2nd Lieutenant Darryn Andrews**, 34, of Dallas, Texas, [died](http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=12954) Sept. 4 in Paktika Province when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device and a rocket-propelled grenade. Like Bergdahl, Bowen, Walker and Curtiss, Andrews was part of the 4th BCT.  Andrews Army “We grew up with an enormous amount of pride for our nation,” Andrews’ mother, Sondra, [told](http://amarillo.com/stories/090909/new%5Fnews3.shtml) the _Amarillo Globe-News_. That was understandable: his father. grandfather and uncle had served in uniform. “We passed it on to our children, never thinking we would pay the ultimate sacrifice.” **Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey**, 25, of Snyder, Texas, [died](http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12957) Sept. 6 in Paktika province after being wounded by an IED. Like Bergdahl, Bowen, Walker, Curtiss and Andrews, Murphrey was part of the 4th BCT. “On his 17th birthday his family took him skydiving and after that,” his obituary [read](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/savannah/obituary.aspx?n=michael-chance-murphrey&pid=134882889), “he decided he wanted to be an Army paratrooper.”  Murphrey Army On Sept. 4, 2009, **Private 1st Class Matthew Martinek**, 20, of DeKalb, Ill., was seriously wounded in Paktika province when Taliban forces attacked his vehicle with an improvided explosive device, a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire. The U.S. military rushed him to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany—the same medical facility where Bergdahl is now being treated. Bergdahl is expected to fly home to the U.S. soon for additional care and counseling. Martinek never got that chance. He [died](http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12973) a week after the attack—on Sept. 11. Martinek “tried not to talk too much about what he was doing, but he said he liked helping people,” his brother, Travis Wright, [told](http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/army-pfc-matthew-m-martinek/4279471) the AP.  Martinek Army Like Bergdahl, Bowen, Walker, Curtiss, Andrews and Murphrey, Martinek was part of the 4th BCT. The diversion of these men and their units to the hunt for Bergdahl thinned the ranks of U.S. troops elsewhere in the region, contributing to several more American KIAs, U.S. soldiers who were there at the time believe. Military justice can be swift and merciless, although that appears unlikely in this case. But the past cannot be erased, and it’s that legacy that gives the troops involved a markedly different view of Bergdahl and his rescue than that of most Americans sitting at home, paying scant attention to the nation’s only soldier missing in action in Afghanistan until Saturday. The reason, for anyone who has been in combat, is pretty simple. Soldiers never forget. 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