Captured soldier is 23-year-old from Idaho

HAILEY, Idaho — A soldier from Idaho who disappeared from his base in Afghanistan has been captured, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, a day after he was seen in a Taliban video posted online.

The Defense Department released the name of Pfc. Bowe (pronounced BOH) R. Bergdahl, 23, who was serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment. The private was serving at a base near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

The 28-minute video, in which Pfc. Bergdahl said he was “scared I won’t be able to go home,” provided the first public glimpse of the missing American. He said in the video he was lagging behind a patrol when he was captured, which conflicts earlier military accounts that indicated he left the base with three Afghans. The Pentagon gave no details of the kidnapping.

It wasn’t clear who initially captured Pfc. Bergdahl, but the U.S. command in Afghanistan said he was being held by the Taliban and condemned the video as a violation of international law.

“I’m glad to see he appears unharmed, but again, this is a Taliban propaganda video,” spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker said. “They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law.”

Bob Bergdahl, the soldier’s father, told the AP on Saturday that the family was requesting media respect their privacy.

“We hope and pray for our son’s safe return to his comrades and then to our family, and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us by our family members, our friends and others across the nation,” Mr. Bergdahl said in a statement issued through the Department of Defense. “Thank you, and please continue to keep Bowe in your thoughts and prayers.”

On the video, which was posted on a Web site pointed out by the Taliban, Pfc. Bergdahl says he’s from Hailey, Idaho, a town of about 7,000 people 160 miles east of Boise. The Pentagon identified his hometown as Ketchum, which is about half the size of Hailey and about 12 miles north. His family says he grew up in Blaine County, closer to Hailey.

Pfc. Bergdahl is a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

He entered the Army in June 2008 and went through basic training in Fort Benning, Ga., said Lt. Col. Jonathan Allen, spokesman for Fort Richardson. Pfc. Bergdahl also took advanced individual and parachute training in Georgia.

Pfc. Bergdahl reported for duty in Alaska in October and deployed to Afghanistan in February.

Before enlisting, Pfc. Bergdahl worked as a barista at a coffee shop in Hailey, Zaney’s River Street Coffee House, where a sign on the counter encouraged patrons to keep him in their thoughts and prayers.

“Join all of us at Zaney’s holding light for our friend Bowe Bergdahl. Bowe has been captured in Afghanistan,” the handwritten sign said.

A similar message posted July 8 on the coffee shop’s Facebook page suggests many in the small town have known for some time that Pfc. Bergdahl was in danger.

Friends and former co-workers at the coffee shop declined to speak on the record Sunday to an AP reporter, saying they were abiding by the Bergdahl family’s wishes for privacy.

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