Soviet MIA found in Afghanistan

[Grunt]

Found this rather interesting...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21668541

Soviet war veteran found in Afghanistan after 33 years

A Soviet soldier who went missing in Afghanistan nearly 33 years ago has been found living with Afghans in the western province of Herat. The soldier is semi-nomadic, has the adopted Afghan name Sheikh Abdullah and practises herbal medicine, Russia's RIA news agency reports. An ethnic Uzbek, he was found by ex-Soviet veterans of the war. He was wounded in battle in 1980, only months after the Soviet invasion, and was rescued by local Afghans.

The head of the official veterans' committee, Ruslan Aushev, said Sheikh Abdullah - real name Bakhretdin Khakimov - was tracked down in Shindand district after a year-long search. He had served with a motorised rifle unit. The committee lists 264 Soviet soldiers as still missing in Afghanistan, half of them Russians. In the first decade after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 the committee found 29 missing soldiers - and 22 of them decided to return home, while seven opted to stay in Afghanistan, RIA reports. The committee says it is determined to track all of the missing men down.

Sheikh Abdullah was married but his wife died and he has no children. The committee's deputy chairman, Alexander Lavrentyev, said Sheikh Abdullah bore the scars of his war wounds - a shaking hand and shoulder and nervous tic. The ex-soldier, from the city of Samarkand, was able to name his former place of residence in Uzbekistan and the names of his relatives, Mr Lavrentyev said. He understood Russian but spoke it very poorly.

In 2009 the BBC's Lyse Doucet interviewed two ex-soldiers from Ukraine, now Muslims and living with Afghans in northern Afghanistan. Some 15,000 Red Army soldiers and more than a million Afghans were killed in a decade of fighting between a Soviet-backed government in Kabul and mujahideen fighters armed by the West and Islamic neighbours.

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Thanks for posting. We don't think about this subject much, but in the back of our mind we know it happens. There were stories of US soldiers during the Viet Nam War going rouge. I don't know that its true, but in the back of my mind . . .I think it is.


RLTW!!!

[Jim]

Thanks for posting. We don't think about this subject much, but in the back of our mind we know it happens. There were stories of US soldiers during the Viet Nam War going rouge. I don't know that its true, but in the back of my mind . . .I think it is.


RLTW!!!

Well, I always heard the rumors that there were a couple in IV Corps area. And we all know about Bobby Garwood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Garwood

[Sleepy Doc]

Thanks for posting. We don't think about this subject much, but in the back of our mind we know it happens. There were stories of US soldiers during the Viet Nam War going rouge. I don't know that its true, but in the back of my mind . . .I think it is.


RLTW!!!

A friend of mine spent several weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia about three years ago. He didn't follow any guided tours and just wandered around, checking things out. He said that it was an "open secret" among the locals that there were still US Soldiers being held. They were supposedly in the mountain regions of the north, and they had no intentions of letting them go while they were alive.

[Grunt]

I'm a little surprised that Khakimov did not try to reunited with the Soviet Army. But, I say that from an American perspective. The stories you hear about how the Soviets treated their troops, the fact that he was a draftee, and the obvious "shell shocked" nature he continues to display years later, he simply may have preferred to remain MIA.

Now, I have to wonder how the Russian govt will handle the situation. IMO, they'd be fools to even make a comment on it and would suffer a lot of internal political loss if the tried to bring him up on desertion.

Grunt

[Baseplate]

The article I read stated that he is a native Uzbek. He probably hates the Russians

[Bushwack]

Thanks for posting. We don't think about this subject much, but in the back of our mind we know it happens. There were stories of US soldiers during the Viet Nam War going rouge. I don't know that its true, but in the back of my mind . . .I think it is.


RLTW!!!

Well, I always heard the rumors that there were a couple in IV Corps area. And we all know about Bobby Garwood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Garwood

I remember watching a story about him on TV. I thought then that he was a cock bite fuck. He completely disregarded the Code of Conduct. I have no idea how anyone could withstand POW treatment and torture. American POWs (Heros every one of them) did find a way to endure, but not this fucker.

Following is John McCains statement about this shithead and the movie about him.

http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/ind ... &Issue_id=

[IEDmagnet]

I've often wondered if this isn't the case with Bergdahl now....maybe we will find out in 10 or 20 years.