This share from Nancy Engkilterra This from my husband Tom and I am in total agreement “The confusing case of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and the “Benefit of the Doubt” (The opinions and perspective of one POW/MIA Activist/Advocate) By Tom Engkilterra June 3, 2014 I began this writing several months ago as a way to help others make sense of their own efforts to gain the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, captured in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009 and released on May 31, 2014. I had never had to justify why we seek the return of America’s unreturned veterans or active duty military members held by the enemy in any theater of war except that it was the “right thing to do”. America is known for it’s tenacity and persistence on this issue throughout the world, something we are, as a people, those people who know, very proud of. Today, I find myself having to defend my principals and those who trusted me and who expended great personal effort to support my efforts to gain Bergdahl release. I find myself and others having to answer for doing what the true meaning of “Leave No Man Behind” really dictates. Sad? No, not really, but more likely not educated enough. There are those “ involved” and those not involved in the effort. Real daily work has to be done to be truly involved in an issue and in a belief in “No Man Left Behind”...”No strings attached.” Before I go on, and to be fair, let me explain where this perspective and principal originated. First of all, I knew nothing about Americans left behind during any war until 1982, and when I was enlightened, began to accept the reality of the Issue, that we left Theaters of War and left thousands of Americans behind, living or dead, on soil belonging to some other Nation: The Korean War and Vietnam. As soon as I had a grip on this reality, I contacted the first and oldest organization of it’s kind: The National League of POW/MIA Families who confirmed what I had recently learned....simple question was, how can I help? I marked 32 years of service as a volunteer for them last month mostly as a Regional Coordinator. I learned so much, and most importantly, not to judge who deserves to be returned, but how can I help return ALL OF THEM. We never qualified who deserved what attention...when I started there were over 2,500 American service members and civilians missing from the Vietnam War: It didn’t matter the circumstance or details (often fuzzy and incomplete) or what religion, branch of service or color...just that they were missing and deserved to be home on American soil and reunited with their families, dead or alive. Today, there are 1,642 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War....impressive, yes? This effort took POW/MIA Families, America’s veterans and concerned citizens to work together 2 under the motto: No Man Left Behind....and never with strings attached! No pre-conditions. When Bowe Bergdahl was returned last Saturday I and so many others were ecstatic and overjoyed because he was returned ALIVE, not dead. This Nation united and won an historic victory...we full filled to him and his family what we had all preached and understood for years in working on WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam War missing....”Leave No Man Behind”. That motto is not gray......it is black and white, just like our POW/MIA flag.....return them all.....NO STRINGS ATTACHED! I need to brutally honest at this point.....if you actively worked on Bergdahl’s case then you are sort of separate from those who just put a sticker on their car, or wore Bowe bracelet.....this has a lot to do with time and effort invested....the “passive” activist is important so I don’t want to offend you, however, many of us, me and my wife included, met with his family and put years of time sensitizing tons of Americans to get involved and why getting involved was important to our Nation, it was a principal, a belief system. I always hoped that all of your participation would signal to our President to do something towards the release of Bowe Bergdahl, alive, not dead, that was what my invested activist/advocate heart wanted.....Thank you for believing in me and all of us, thanks for your caring and concern...know that you full filled the main and chief principal of “No Man Left Behind” now modified to “No Man Left Behind...No Strings Attached!” If Sgt. Bergdahl committed a crime or did something wrong, that is separate and different than “No Man Left Behind”...be proud of what you did, you stood up for someone in enemy hands who could not speak for himself. You preserved for Bergdahl the right to “Due Process” as an American. If he broke any laws and enabled his captors to take him into custody then fine, again, a different issue than being held against his will...two completely different issues. You took care of gaining his freedom, our sacred promise or sacred trust with all Military Service Members, and now let the “process” take it’s action if necessary, but your and my job is over, done......We, together, got him home. The talking heads on TV were not active or involved, you and I were.....WE SECURED HIS RELEASE WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WHO LISTENED TO US AND GOT IT DONE! It doesn’t matter now what side of the political fence you sit on, I don’t judge, but you and I worked together and we accomplished something huge....I love you for it and will never forget your effort and sense of family. The comments being made now are about how other Americans will suffer as a result of what our Government did to secure Bergdahl’s release....Americans have always been targeted. It happened in the 70’s with Navy service member Robert Stethem, who was on a plane in Beirut when it was skyjacked. Everyone’s Ids were collected, he was tortured, and beaten for days and then shot dead and thrown onto the tarmac just because he was an American service member. Col. William Higgins was the head of U.S. Peacekeeping in Lebanon in the 80’s and was kidnapped...his wife Maj. Robin Higgins was at our Annual Dinner and helped unveil that year’s POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster... 3 she and I talked and spent some considerable time together....By the time I got home to New Jersey the next day , the TV News was showing a grainy black and white video of Col. Higgins hanging by his neck in a cell. Let’s not forget Col. Nick Rowe, Vietnam Veteran POW who escaped and returned to America. Nick retired from the Military and years later was asked by our government to come back and serve as an anti-terrorist expert in the Philippines......Terrorists stalked and shot him to death on a Manila street. I believe we our military knows they are always hunted and take appropriate precautions to protect our service members..... Since his return, many on television are talking about Bowe’s father, Bob, and how creepy he looks. He has grown his beard and learned the local Afghanistan language ..is he a Muslim? Did he convert? And what about reports that Bowe celebrated Christmas with is captors or made Green Tea with them or cooked meals with them. When I met with Bob and Jani Bergdahl, Bowe’s parents, Bob told me he would grow his beard as long as his son was held...I had no problem with that..neither should you... Hey, I think that is all really smart, survival tools to practice. All Bowe and his father were trying to do is humanize Bowe and his family to Bowe’s captors....Bob Bergdahl wanted to look like “no typical American” to his son’s captors....Instead of realizing his intelligence and creativity, people question his motives from the safety of their lives, not the Bergdahls. The Bergdahl Family was in a unique situation. They did what they felt was appropriate for what they understood the situation and circumstances dictated: I supported them. What did you do? When the Wikkileak scandal broke, one of the classified files was the cable transmission between one Taliban Commander and another. Commander #1 said to Commander #2, that they were going to hit the outpost BUT....found a soldier taking a s%#it and we grabbed him...’he didn’t even have a chance to clean up.’ Deserter? Hey, where is the benefit of the doubt? When my principals were evolving into the iron-clad principals I have today, I realized one blunt-force reality.....the people who wear the uniform of the United States of America are not just a tool of our government....they serve under the same flag, wear the flag on their shoulder that I was born under at Ft. Benning , Georgia Army Hospital in 1953.......THEY ARE MY MILITARY! They are my responsibility and it is my duty as an American citizen to serve them, right or wrong, good or bad, and care for them, they are mine......so I give them all the benefit of the doubt......let the judicial chips fall where they may, not my deal....getting them home is. 4 To all of you who agree with me, have the same philosophy as I, then lets push ahead and get back as many as we can who are unaccounted for.....if you disagree, I’m OK with that, let’s part as friends with a difference of opinion, still Americans and still agree on other things....If you wish, I will not contact you with my work or opinions on this issue any longer, otherwise, let me know you understand this and that you still want to work on behalf of America’s unreturned veterans or active duty military, no matter what, We are all Americans and I love you all dearly and will always consider you my fellow Americans, even if we disagree. I have made thousands of public speeches on this issue since 1982 and 99% of the time there is a Vietnam Veteran who yells out “what about the live man”. Well America, what about him, we got him back and too many are now asking for his head.......a 23 year old idealistic American soldier who joined to protect and serve face-to-face with the Afghanistan people...to protect them, to show the American caring face. He was disgruntled, so are many of the active duty military and so many veterans who served in a war zone.’’ I was a USO Volunteer for nearly 5 years and I saw my share of “disgruntled” active duty service members.....what does that have to do with the return of those held in enemy hands and the Benefit of the Doubt...the American way? One thing that this helps with is the discussion about what “Leave No Man Behind” means....going forward, do we want all of them back no matter what the situation or circumstances are or do we qualify who deserves to be returned...that is up to God...my job is to facilitate what God decides, and what my heart believes is right...I need to sleep at night.....doing this work without judgment helps. We hope you stay with us but I understand if you don’t.......still our friend!
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 18:29:13 +0000
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