LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl climbed into an American helicopter. He took out a pen and wrote on a paper plate, asking the troops who had come to find him in eastern Afghanistan if they were U.S. special operations forces.
Over the roar of the rotors, one of them shouted to Bergdhal: “Yes, we’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
The only American prisoner of the Afghan war, Bergdahl broke down in tears.
The emotional moment was described by a defense official, one of several U.S. officials who detailed Bergdahl’s weekend release. In exchange for the 28-year-old American, President Barack Obama agreed to release five high-level Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.