News Snips

Two recent articles that mention hostages Jonathon Cote (deceased) and Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (alive), who is still held captive in Afghanistan.

Motorcyclists hit the road in memory of local man
By Kathleen Ronayne, Buffalo News, August 13, 2012

More than 300 motorcycle riders turned out Sunday afternoon for the fourth annual Memorial Motorcycle Run in honor of Jonathon Coté, who was kidnapped and killed in Iraq while working as a private security contractor.

In the on-and-off rain, the group rode from Williamsville North High School, from which Coté graduated, to Lewiston. […] Proceeds from Sunday's ride will go to a scholarship for a local high school student and to Western New York Heroes.

Obama tells family: Hostage soldier is a focus
By John Miller, Army Times/Associated Press, August 9, 2012

President Barack Obama called the parents of an American prisoner of war to assure them that he and the U.S. Department of Defense were doing everything in their power to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl three years after his capture in Afghanistan.

The soldier's father, Bob Bergdahl, told The Associated Press on Thursday through a spokesman that the family is now confident that everything that can be done to return their son to U.S. control is being done.