Media failed to find facts behind Bush's service record
Chicago Sun Times
BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB
<font size=4>
President Bush has had a rough 10 days, beginning with the Tim Russert "Meet the Press" interview on Feb. 1 of Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who charged Bush was "AWOL" and "never served in the military." Only a week later, Bush asked to appear on Russert's show in a clear attempt to stem the damage from these charges.
For over a week they were endlessly repeated and never
analyzed by the news media.
But the only basis for these charges was summarized by London's Sunday Telegraph on Feb. 8: "If the Vietnam veteran John Kerry becomes the next president, there will be one man to thank above all others: retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed."
It all started with a report by the Boston Globe during the 2000 presidential election questioning Bush's National Guard service. Walter Robinson cited retired Turnipseed, of the Alabama Air National Guard, as his source.
But in an interview , Turnipseed states that Robinson's
reporting of their conversation was either distorted or
based upon his misunderstanding of how the military
functioned at the time of Bush's service. For Bush to
be "AWOL" or "away without leave," he would have had to
have been assigned to a unit and under its command.
Turnipseed states Bush was never ordered to report to the
Alabama Air National Guard. He points out that Bush never
transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the
Alabama Air National Guard. He remained in the Texas Guard
during his stay in Alabama. This was confirmed by the
Texas Guard. And Turnipseed added that Bush was never
under his command or any other officer in the Alabama
Guard.
Turnipseed added that Bush was informed of the drill
schedule of the Alabama Guard as a courtesy so he could
get credit for drills while in Alabama for his service
record in the Texas Guard. There was no compulsory
attendance. This was also confirmed by the Texas Guard.
Sen. John Kerry got in on the act on Sunday, asking, "was
he [Bush] present and active on duty in Alabama at the
times he was supposed to be? I don't have the answer to
that question." But as Turnipseed points out, Bush was
never "supposed to be" anything in Alabama. And Kerry
doesn't have "the answer" because he is taking advantage
of a partisan political fantasy that has stayed aloft this
long because of the lousy job done by the press in
reporting on it.
Now, Robinson is beginning to have second thoughts. His
latest column states: "President Bush received credit for
attending Air National Guard drills in the fall of 1972
and spring of 1973 -- a period when his commanders have
said he did not appear for duty at bases in Montgomery,
Ala., and Houston -- according to two new documents
obtained by the Globe." How could Robinson have gotten it
so wrong?
The most charitable explanation for this distortion is the
almost total ignorance the press of the realities of
military service and its record-keeping. Yet Turnipseed
has been repeatedly called by news organizations since the
Globe reporting four years ago, and no one has chosen to
correct the errors he has tried to point out or cover his
denials.
The most startling aspect of this story is that the press
has continually treated this affair as a political debate
rather than a matter of fact.
An Air National Guard officer such as George Bush left an
extensive paper trail of service. The vital summary sheet
of a military record is a simple form called the DD214 or
NGB 22. It covers all the basic questions being asked
about Bush today. Every military veteran has one.
Kerry has one. On it are listed his dates of service, the
nature of his discharge and the medals and service ribbons
he has every reason to be proud of. It was filed away at
the time of discharge and is almost impossible to alter.
Did a single member of the thousands in the press take the
trouble to look up just one DD214 or NGB22 -- President
Bush's?
Apparently not. And that is the saddest part of the story.
There was already an exhaustive look at Bush's National
Guard records published and available on the Internet to
any reporter who has written on this in the last week.
None of whom bothered to look it up. It's title? "The Real
Military Record of George W. Bush: Not Heroic, But Not
AWOL, Either." It was "the first full chronology" and
concludes "he did accumulate the days of service required
of him for his ultimate honorable discharge."
The article included the pasteup pay records just released
by the White House. It also included the "two new
documents obtained by the Globe" by Robinson.
It was published four years ago in George Magazine. Its
publisher was that well-known GOP supporter -- the late
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
<font size=3>
Thomas H. Lipscomb is chairman of the Center for the Digital Future in New York.
Copyright © The Sun-Times Company |
