It’s impossible to wrap your mind around it. It’s one more story, with evidence, that our honorable and deserving military men and women are getting fleeced.

While we watch deserving veterans – and their families – who have sacrificed so much, we see a once-great United States military being neutered, gutted, downsized and wuss-ified. In the midst of the VA medical care (or lack thereof) scandals, we see another disgrace. I refer to Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Bergdahl was a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based out of Fort Richardson, Alaska. The unit was deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan outpost Mest-Malak. He went missing June 30, 2009.

Berghdahl sympathizers would call him a captive of the enemy – a POW. The men who served with him say otherwise; they term him deserter. Since they were the witnesses, encamped with and living with Bergdahl, there should be no mystery why many believe them.

Medic Joshua Cornelison reported: “After he actually left, the following morning we realized we have Bergdahl’s weapon, we have Bergdahl’s body armor, we have Bergdahl’s sensitive equipment (but) we don’t have Bowe Bergdahl.”

Multiple fellow servicemen said Berghdal walked off of his duty taking “a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera and a diary” but abandoned his weapons.

The platoon members left behind to clean up the mess have a right to be bitter. Many, if not all, see Bergdahl as “a deserter, not a hero” and should be held accountable with due punishment.

There were increased danger and deaths ensuing as a result of Bergdahl’s actions. Reportedly the six men who lost their lives searching for Bergdahl were Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen, Pfc. Morris Walker, Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss, Lt. Darryn Andrews, Pfc. Matthew Michael Martinek, and Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey; all were killed between Aug. 18 and Sept. 5, 2009.

In June 2014, CNN reported that many of the soldiers said the distraction of the intense search was an advantage for the enemy. It allowed them to recognize patterns of our troops and calculate ambushes, place IEDs more efficiently, etc. “The lack of assets is one reason the closure of a dangerous combat outpost, COP Keating, was delayed. Eight soldiers were killed at COP Keating before it was ultimately closed.”

One soldier with the 509th Regiment, a sister unit of the 501st, told CNN that after Bergdahl disappeared, the U.S. Army essentially was told to lock down the entire province of Paktika. He described sitting in the middle of a field with his platoon, vulnerable, with capabilities and personnel mismanaged throughout the region. Different platoons ran out of water, food and ammunition. Ultimately two more died: Mortar men Pvt. Aaron Fairbairn and Pfc. Justin Casillas were killed in a July 4, 2009, attack.

These are the true victims. Indirectly, there could be more to come. Bergdahl’s rescue came at a high price for Americans. Five worst of the worst were handed over in exchange for one dishonorable anti-American. The carnage of that decision is yet to appear.

Washington is doing its usual “investigation.” Although Berghdahl has been in their full care, custody and control since May 31, 2014, the Army claims it has not interviewed him. However, someone in the hierarchy didn’t waste any time getting the unit to sign nondisclosure agreements saying they were never to reveal any information about Bergdahl’s disappearance or the ensuing rescue efforts.

Bravo for the ones who spoke out anyway to get the story out. Some documentation was set forth by the late journalist Michael Hastings, who wrote of Bergdahl’s anti-American sentiment in 2012 for Rolling Stone Magazine.

In the meantime, there is no investigation, Bergdahl roams unrestricted and has been charged with nothing. Yet, somehow he has procured high-powered lawyer Eugene R. Fidell, a Yale Law School professor and recognized military justice expert. In spite of all of the information known to date, Fidell sees his client as “vilified” and being set up as a “piñata.” To that I suggest re-reading the aforementioned names of the dead.

Our honorable veterans cannot get decent medical care, but Bergdahl has a lot of TLC. The media were prolific with his alleged bad five years of captivity, yet with a mere five weeks of therapy, he is back on the job with no restrictions. How did that happen? The country has tens of thousands of deserving veterans suffering from PTSD for prolonged periods of time with no relief.

By the way, does this guy have an Army-issued gun?

If an authentic investigation were to occur, attorney Fidell would have significant push-back. As one soldier summed it up: “It was unbelievable. … All because of the selfish act of one person. The amount of animosity (toward him) is nothing like you’ve ever seen before.”

Betty Arenson has lived in the SCV since 1968 and describes herself as a conservative who’s concerned about progressives’ politics and their impacts on the country, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She says she is unashamed to own a gun or a Bible, couldn’t care less about the color of the president’s skin, and demands that he uphold his oath to protect and follow the Constitution of the United States in its entirety. Her commentary publishes Fridays.