The US soldier freed in a swap with the Afghan Taliban is in stable condition after five years in captivity, but has not yet been reunited with his parents, military officers said on Friday.
US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl returned to the country in an overnight flight and is undergoing medical treatment and speaking to psychologists at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The 28-year-old soldier “looked good” upon arrival, Major General Joseph DiSalvo told a news conference.
He joked that Bergdahl appeared “a little bit nervous” before a two-star general like himself, “just like any sergeant would.”
Bergdahl was able to walk into the hospital without problems and doctors were encouraged by his stable condition, said Colonel Ronald Wool, a physician at the medical center.
“Overall, we’re pleased with his physical state,” he said. “We allowed him to get settled in to the hospital and into his room and his environment, and we are going to be planning more comprehensive testing and consultation.”
The only American in uniform to be held by insurgents in the Afghanistan war, Bergdahl will eventually face questions from investigators about the circumstances of his disappearance and whether he deserted his post.
However, he will first receive more medical attention, as specialists try to help him shift from a prisoner’s survival mode to more “normal” behavior, officers said.
“In captivity, fundamentally, your decision to make any choice is taken away so we increase their chances to make choices and have a sense of control,” psychologist Colonel Bradley Poppen said.
“We also work to normalize the behaviors, letting them know that copious skills they used in captivity, although functional in that environment, may not be functional now, but they were normal at the time,” Poppen added.
Under the US military’s “reintegration” rules for freed prisoners of war, Bergdahl is permitted to see his parents, but the timing of his eventual reunion remains unclear.
The soldier can decide when to meet family, but officials declined to specify a date for his parents’ first visit to safeguard their privacy.
Amid a media frenzy over his case, Bergdahl’s parents, who live in Idaho, appealed to be left alone while they try to help their son.
“While the Bergdahls are overjoyed that their son has returned to the US, Mr and Mrs Bergdahl don’t intend to make any travel plans public,” the family said in a statement issued through Idaho National Guard spokesman Colonel Tim Marsano. “They ask for continued privacy as they concentrate on their son’s reintegration.”
His father, Bob Bergdahl, has said his family now faced a long road to aid their son’s recovery.
“It isn’t over for us,” he said last week. “In many ways, it’s just beginning for Jani and I, and our family. There’s a long process here.”
Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance from a base in eastern Afghanistan fueled speculation that the soldier abandoned his post before he was captured and that he may face prosecution by military authorities.
The US Army said it would ensure Bergdahl “receives the necessary care, time and space” to complete his transition after the ordeal, but added that once the “reintegration” is complete, “the army will continue its comprehensive review into the circumstances of his disappearance and captivity.”
Bergdahl has been denounced by some commentators and retired soldiers, who say he placed his fellow troops in danger by allegedly walking off the base alone.
A petition to the White House demanding he be prosecuted has acquired tens of thousands of signatures.
Bergdahl’s family has reportedly faced death threats and his hometown of Hailey, Idaho, had to cancel a planned celebration for his release due to security concerns.
The soldier was handed over to US special forces in Afghanistan on May 31 in return for five senior Taliban detainees who were sent to Qatar from the US military-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The exchange has triggered outrage among some US lawmakers who have accused US President Barack Obama of capitulating to “terrorists” and failing to fulfil his obligations to give the US Congress advance notice about transfers of Guantanamo detainees.
Bergdahl has yet to speak to the media about his experience, but some former soldiers in his unit claim that he walked off the base alone and have expressed anger about his actions.
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