5 O' Clock Shadow.

Why nobody else but only Bowe decided to cause DUSTWUN? What did he see coming that nobody else did in his platoon? Was it worth risking his job and even his life? All of these questions were asked to Bowe after his arrival in the USA. The statement of approx. 380 pages long were given by Bowe Bergdahl to General Kenneth Dahl (who was investigating Bowe's case) in exchange for numerous questions that had piled up since five years. "Well, sir, in order for me to explain to you what happened, I need to go back and explain to where it began", said Bowe. Bowe has always been the quiet one; the different one. He had been the one who was looked up to. He took his job seriously and cared about the surroundings he was in.  However, Bowe was very unhappy with his deployment in Afghanistan. The OP Mest had always bothered him. Especially the leadership of General Stanley McChrystal. Gen McChrystal's attitude, efforts, and influence was Bowe's biggest concern. Unlike his platoon mates, Bowe could not deal with it. An event that took place within a month of their deployment finally required some heroic actions. A giant military vehicle was stuck at the edge of a cliff and the mission was to save it and bring it back for security purpose.They were stuck in the middle of a desert for a couple of days instead of a few hours. Exhausted when returned, their General cared least about their efforts but a beard. Bowe's platoonmates mentioned that this incident upset him(Bowe) a lot. Bowe realized that they were just stuck in the middle of this OP Mest which had no significant impact on the operation of the war in Afghanistan.
 In that scorching desert, in the midst of nowhere and poor facility for military functioning, these US soldiers were working hard to make as much of their time to do their job and make some impact. Meanwhile, a photographer from Guardian posted a picture, The Picture which had put the final nail in the coffin. This picture (below) posted by Sean Smith went viral and created a little tension in the platoon. Officials were unhappy that US soldiers were not in their proper attire in the picture. Militants were seen to be careless and unsophisticated. General Stanley got upset and expected to look proper while working in broiling weather whereas he chilled in an AC room. Bowe was the most bothered by the malfunctions and management. He decided to walk off his post and go to FOB Sharana (another US Military base) to cause DUSTWUN, bring authority attention to the issues.

All of these pieces of information was gathered by Sarah Koenig for her podcast, Serial. Most of it came directly from Bowe Bergdahl through Mark Boal. Other intimate details about the platoon, military incidents, Gen. McChrystal, issues, and Bowe Bergdahl was shared by his inmates, Josh Korder. Jason Dempsey, Austin Lanford, Darley Henson, and Daryl Henson. Additionally, Kim Harrison, Andrew, and Michelle spoke with Sarah in regards to the search conducted for Bowe. Sami Yousafsai (an afghani reporter who knew the inner operations of Taliban and Afghanistan war), as well as David Rhode(a former captive of Taliban), shared his experience with Taliban. All of these were first-hand information that helped a lot for Bowe's case. Secondary information like WikiLeaks, articles from newspapers and video uploaded by Bob Bergdahl( Bowe's father) made Bowe's story more reliable and relatable. The Serial correspondents emphasized on things related to Bowe's case. Bowe was their prominent actor and they were reviewing facts provided by different sources in this podcast. Conversations with primary sources were highlighted the most and evaluated with what Bowe had said. From Serial, I learned that research is an essential part of our lives. We are surrounded by information that is false, partially false, partially true, or true. We need to nitpick the truths from the air. Information obtained from people who have experienced them first hand is the best. They can provide minute details (mostly) and significantly add to our story.