Revealed: Bowe Bergdahl left letter telling comrades at Afghan base he was 'leaving to start new life and didn't want to fight for America' as Army announces he DOES face desertion charges

• Sgt Bowe Bergdahl left a note for his comrades in which he said he did not want to fight for America any more and was leaving to start a new life
• Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today said 'it's premature' to think there will be no charges against Bergdahl
• Army Secretary confirms that there will be a full government investigation into the circumstances surrounding his 2009 disappearance
  
• Will put Obama under more pressure after Susan Rice said he served with 'honor and distinction' and freed five Taliban commanders
  
• Former comrade who was there when Bergdahl disappeared five years ago broke a military gagging order to speak to MailOnline
• He said: 'As far as I’m concerned Bergdahl deserted his men and should face a court martial'
  
• ‘Everyone looked at me like I was crazy but I was right, he had walked off’

By Daniel Bates

Published: 10:13 EST, 3 June 2014 | Updated: 15:32 EST, 3 June 2014

Bowe Bergdahl left a note saying he had gone to start a 'new life' and a former comrade broke his military gagging order today to tell MailOnline of the jaw-dropping moment he discovered the Taliban POW had walked off from their Afghanistan base.

That revelation came just hours before two top government officials confirmed that there will be a new, full investigation into Bergdahl's disappearance.

The soldier, who requested anonymity as he is still in the military, said: ‘Everyone looked at me like I was crazy but I was right, he had walked off.’

The New York Times reported Bergdahl also left behind a note in which he said he did not want to fight for America any more, did not believe in the war - and was leaving to start a new life.

The letter to his comrades was separate from the email he sent to his parents before he sent his goods home to them, wherein he wrote: 'life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong.... I am ashamed to even be (A)merican.'

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AWOL: Bowe Bergdahl, pictured with pipe in mouth manning an observation post months before his disappearance, left a note telling his fellow soldiers that he was leaving to start a new life, did not want to fight for America and did not believe in war

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Penalty: A former comrade of Bergdahl's (seated with Blackfoot Company, 1st Battalion 501st infantry Regiment (Airborne) 25th Infantry Division in Afghanistan) said he should face the firing squad for what he did

Rolling Stone reported the email in 2012 and said that Bergdahl had called his battalion commander a 'conceited old fool' and his peers an 'army of liars, backstabbers, fools and bullies'.

The latest fold in the saga came when General Martin Dempsey wrote today that while if any misconduct is found, Army leaders 'will not look away' but until that time, he is protected by an American ethos of assuming innocence.

'The questions about this particular soldier’s conduct are separate from our effort to recover ANY U.S. service member in enemy captivity. This was likely the last, best opportunity to free him. As for the circumstances of his capture, when he is able to provide them, we’ll learn the facts.

'Like any American, he is innocent until proven guilty.'

This comes just days after Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser said he served with 'honor and distinction'.

There are a variety of offenses related to an absence without proper approval, and a number of potential actions could be taken by the military.

He could be tried by court martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for desertion; he could be given a non-judicial punishment for a lesser charge, such as being away without leave. And he could be given credit for time already served while he was a prisoner.

It will pile further pressure on Obama over his judgement in releasing five top Taliban terror leaders from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a soldier who now faces charges for abandoning his unit and his oath to the U.S. Army.

The soldier who spoke to MailOnline made his feelings and those of his comrades very clear.

He said: ‘As far as I’m concerned Bergdahl deserted his men and should face a court martial. People died trying to save him. He was a deserter’.

Bergdahl’s platoon anxiously searched the observation post they had set up a remote area of Afghanistan but only found Bergdahl’s sleeping bag that had been neatly folded up.

It also claimed that he did not breach the perimeter wire and left by possibly hiding in a contractor’s vehicle meaning that he would have planned the escape in advance.

A huge search ensued during which time at least six US soldiers are said to have died while hunting for Bergdahl, 28, who has just been released from five years in captivity with the Taliban.

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Premeditated: Soldiers claim Bergdahl (pictured in proof of life video) planned his desertion. He sent belongings home, learned the language, did not breach the perimeter fence on the day he disappeared and would spend his time learning the local languages. He even told them he wanted to walk to China

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Killed in the search: Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen, 29, (left) and Private First Class Morris Walker, 23, (right) were killed in an IED explosion on August 18, 2009

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Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss, (left) a 27-year-old father of two, who died in a firefighter on August 26, 2009. Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, 25, (right) was killed in an IED blast on September 5, 2009

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Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews, 34, (left) and Private First Class Matthew Michael Martinek, 20, (right) died after a rocket-propelled grenade ambush on September 4, 2009

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES: WHAT IS IN STORE FOR BERGDAHL?