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‘Awareness’ No Longer The Issue For Bergdahl’s Network Of Supporters

Courtesy of Buster Hickam

The parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl issued a statement through social media Monday, thanking supporters for standing by them for nearly five years as they waited for their son to be freed from Taliban captivity.

Meantime, Bergdahl's broad network of online supporters continues to back the POW amidst a raging debate about whether Bergdahl deserted.

Michael Geer was just 13 when he heard about Bergdahl. The teen from southern California launched a social media campaign in 2012 to raise awareness about the POW. Last week, the teen's father took to Facebook to say he was disgusted by the barrage of negative comments on his son’s page.

And they're not the only people who have very quickly gone from trying to get Bergdahl's name in the news to defending him.

Buster Hickam is a member of a Georgia chapter of Rolling Thunder, a POW-MIA awareness group. Hickam has distributed about a quarter of a million Bowe Bergdahl arm bands since 2010.

“Did we know the information that we have today? Yes, most certainly. None of the things the people are saying today is a surprise,” Hickam said.

Hickam, a retired Army first sergeant, says he will continue his support until the Army determines Bergdahl committed a crime.

Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the FBI was looking into death threats against the Bergdahls. Hickam says those aren't the first threats Bergdahl's parents have received during their son’s captivity.

Inland Northwest Correspondent Jessica Robinson reports from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covers the economic, demographic and environmental trends that are shaping places east of the Cascades.