- Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released after 5 years in Taliban captivity
- He is at a medical center in Germany and will likely be transferred to Texas
- His release has set off a debate about negotiating with terrorists
- 5 Taliban members were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl
Hailey, Idaho (CNN) -- No one here knew exactly where he was or what he was going through, but this tiny city in Idaho never forgot about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Yellow balloons and American flags line the sidewalks of Hailey, population 8,000. Residents planted one tree for each of the five years Bergdahl was held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Now, uncertainty has given wait to elation as the Army sergeant has been released from his captors -- in exchange for freeing five Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay.
This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on Saturday, May 31. 
An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on Friday, April 11. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA. 
A North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. Those alleged acts were not detailed by the country's state-run news agency when it announced the sentence in May. Bae, here in a photo from a Facebook page titled Remember Ken Bae, was arrested in November 2012. "This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN. 
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority. 
Warren Weinstein, a contractor held by al Qaeda militants, is a U.S. citizen who has been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011. 
U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport Saturday, December 7, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained October 26 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman says the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency. 
Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, on May 22, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released on Friday, May 31, and is back in the United States. 
Saeed Abedini, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013, accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches. 
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her right, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton. 
Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner. 
Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month after he was detained in April 2011. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues. 
Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010 without any apparent U.S. intervention. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul. 
Josh Fattal, center, Sarah Shourd, left, and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted. 
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was also detained at Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security. 
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, when he was jailed while working as a subcontractor. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf, but they were unable to secure his release. 
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial. 
Freelance reporter James Foley went missing in November 2012 after his car was stopped by gunmen in Syria. He is likely being held by the Syrian government, according to the GlobalPost, an online international news outlet to which he contributed, and Foley's brother. 
Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June. Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
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Americans detained abroad
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Photos: Americans detained abroad 
Bergdahl recovers in Germany hospital 
CNN has obtained photos from the purported Twitter account of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. The photos purportedly show the arrival of the Guantanamo detainees arriving in Doha, Qatar, after being released in exchange for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. This image allegedly shows Mullah Norullah Noori. 
The Twitter account says that this photo is of Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa. 
According to the Twitter account, this is Mullah Mohammad Fazl arriving in Qatar. 
Mullah Norullah Noori and Abdul Haq Wasiq can be seen in this photo, according to the Twitter account. Released detainees arrive in Qatar
Released detainees arrive in Qatar
Released detainees arrive in Qatar
Released detainees arrive in Qatar
Photos: Released Guantanamo Taliban detainees arrive in Qatar "There were times where we wondered, but (parents) Jani and Bob Bergdahl never once gave up faith that their son was coming home to them," family friend Stefanie O'Neill said.
Bergdahl's parents said the battle is far from over.
"The recovery and reintegration of Bowe Bergdahl is a work in progress," Bob Bergdahl told reporters Sunday, one day after his son was freed.
"It isn't over for us. In many ways. It's just beginning for Jani, and I, and our family. There's a long process here."
So what's next for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and the Obama administration, which has come under criticism from some lawmakers for the secretive nature of the swap?
WHAT'S NEXT FOR BERGDAHL
Recovery in Germany
Bergdahl is recovering at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, a U.S. Defense official said Sunday. He is also expected to be debriefed at Landstuhl.
"He had lost ... a good bit of weight," National Security Adviser Susan Rice told CNN's "State of the Union With Candy Crowley.
Believing that his health was deteriorating, the U.S. acted quickly to save Bergdahl's life. U.S. special operations forces recovered Bergdahl without incident early Saturday local time at a pickup point in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. American officials said the government of Qatar brokered the deal.
Some fellow soldiers: Bergdahl a deserter
"We were very concerned that time was not ... something we could play with -- that we needed to act when we had the opportunity," Rice said.
There was no immediate word on Bergdahl's condition. A senior Defense official said Bergdahl is having trouble speaking English but the reasons for that were not clear, given the trauma he's been through.
After Germany, Bergdahl will likely go to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. It's unclear whether his parents will see him first in Germany or Texas, a Defense official said.
Lawmaker on Bergdahl: Obama violated law 
Exchanged prisoners' Taliban ties Transitioning to normal life
David Rhode, a former New York Times journalist who was held captive by the Taliban for seven months, said Bergdahl faces a long road ahead.
"Psychologically, there will be a long debrief," said Rhode, who was taken in Afghanistan and held in Pakistan until he managed to escape. "They're actually going to want intelligence (about) who held him."
But there's a chance Bergdahl might not know much about Taliban commanders.
"I was kept with very young guards, most of the time, and I didn't really meet very senior commanders that often," Rhode said.
Facing criticism
One question that remains unanswered is how Bergdahl disappeared in the first place.
Several veterans and soldiers call him a deserter who walked off his base on June 30, 2009. At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for him.
"Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him," said former Sergeant Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon.
Vierkant said Bergdahl needs to not only acknowledge his actions publicly but face a military trial for desertion under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
When asked Sunday whether Bergdahl had left his post without permission or deserted, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel didn't answer directly.
"Our first priority is assuring his well-being and his health and getting him reunited with his family," Hagel said. "Other circumstances that may develop and questions, those will be dealt with later."
A senior Defense official said Bergdahl will not likely face any punishment.
"Five years is enough," he told CNN on condition of anonymity.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE ADMINISTRATION
Defending the swap
Some lawmakers are openly wondering whether Bergdahl's release sets a dangerous precedent for future kidnappings of Americans.
"The methodology in what we used is very troublesome," said Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.
"We have a changing footprint in Afghanistan, which would put our soldiers at risk for this notion that if I can get one, I can get five Taliban released."
Rice defended the Obama administration's efforts.
"If we got into a situation where we said, 'Because of who has captured an American soldier on the battlefield we will leave that person behind,' we would be in a whole new ear for the safety of our personnel and for the nature of our commitment to our men and women in uniform," she said on CNN's State of the Union.
"Because it was the Taliban that had him did not mean that we had any less of an obligation to bring him back."
Briefing lawmakers
Some members of Congress are trying to understand why they didn't know what was happening.
Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he still hasn't been briefed by administration officials on the detainee swap.
The California Republican said he plans to hold hearings about the Bergdahl exchange, he told CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash on Sunday.
"We're getting our information -- other than a very brief notification -- we're getting most of our information now from the media," he said in an exclusive interview on "Newsroom."
McKeon said the Defense Department notified his staff on Saturday, after the exchange took place. But he pointed to a law that requires the administration to notify Congress 30 days before detainees are released from the facilities at Guantanamo Bay.
Rice said Sunday that the "acute urgency" of Bergdahl's declining health justified the administration's decision to execute the swap without telling Congress.
"It was determined that it was necessary and appropriate not to adhere to the 30-day notification requirement, because it would have potentially meant that the opportunity to get Sgt. Bergdahl would have been lost," she said.
CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to this report from Hailey, Idaho. CNN's Alexandra Field, Victoria Eastwood, Steve Almasy, Jake Tapper and Ashley Killough also contributed to this report.
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