Escorting Sergeant Bergdahl

Like many ex-servicemen, I take a mean pleasure in seeing Bowe Bergdahl marched into a courtroom under escort. It seems pretty clear that he deserted his unit in a war zone, and that American soldiers were harmed while trying to find him. That he suffered as a prisoner of the Taliban is tough, but just too damned bad. That President Obama swapped five Guantanamo prisoners for him is a national embarrassment. And that he was given back pay and promoted to sergeant for his non-service is a travesty. I served every day of my two-year hitch, plus a Leap Day, and I was a specialist, never a corporal and certainly never a sesrgeant. (Stripes are an honor. They signify that a man is fit to command other men in combat.)

I wonder if Bergdahl's guards are obliged to address him as "Sarge"?