With freedom comes tears

• Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl writes on a paper plate because the helicopter is too loud


• "SF?" he writes to the crew in a shorthand for "Special Forces?"


• "Yes," at least one tells him, "we've been looking for you for a long time!"


• Bergdahl breaks down after realizing he's freed after five years in enemy captivity

(CNN) -- It was another day in five years of enemy captivity, and Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl didn't know what the 18 Taliban fighters were about to do to him Saturday in Afghanistan.

The enemy handed him over to a visiting military, and Bergdahl boarded a helicopter that had just landed in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

The transfer of his custody was peaceful enough, according to an account of events provided by a senior U.S. Defense official.

Once airborne, the chopper's rotor blades whooped so loudly that Bergdahl couldn't communicate clearly with the strangers who comprised the crew.

So he grabbed a paper plate and wrote three characters:

"SF?"

The crew understood: Special Forces?

The U.S. commandos didn't bother to write back.

"Yes!" shouted at least one U.S. serviceman over the roar. "We've been looking for you for a long time!"

Bergdahl broke down and wept.

The helicopter was ferrying the 28-year-old soldier to freedom for the first time since Afghanistan militants captured him in June 2009.