Bergdahl platoon medic says captured soldier deserted his post, 'not a hero'

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, disappeared from his post in Afghanistan's Paktika province on June 30, 2009. Two of Bergdahl's fellow soldiers told FoxNews.com they're surprised they haven't been recently contacted by Army investigators regarding a new probe into his actions. (AP/US Army)

A member of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s platoon in Afghanistan said Sunday the former Taliban prisoner deserted his post before being captured and fired back against Obama administration arguments that only Bergdahl knows exactly what happened.

“After Bowe Bergdahl purposely and willfully walked away, every single mission was titled toward finding him,” platoon medic Joshua Cornelison told “Fox News Sunday.” “We were there. This isn’t some second- or third-hand account.”

Cornelison’s comments come several days after a State Department spokeswoman told Fox News that Bergdahl is “probably the person who knows best what happened on that night” and dismissed published accounts from platoon mates about the events surrounding Bergdahl’s June 5, 2009, disappearance and capture.

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Cornelison also spoke on the same day Fox News confirmed with Defense Department officials specifics about Bergdahl’s recovery at a U.S. military base in Landstuhl, Germany, including that he attempted to escape at least once -- possibly twice -- and that he was put in a metal cage or small room for periods of time that included solitary confinement.

The escape and confinement was reported earlier this week by Fox News, based on secret documents prepared for the Defense Department by a private firm.

Bergdahl also is being treated for some nutritional deficits that would be considered normal after being in captivity for five years and still has not spoken to his parents, officials said.

Bergdahl was returned by his Taliban captors June 3 in eastern Afghanistan in exchange for the release of five Taliban detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“The American people need to be educated that Bowe Bergdahl is not a hero,” Cornelison said.