Does it account for all his missing time in Alabama....does it say why no one remembers him? Did he suddenly remember what his duties were? Where have you seen the entire record?
"Bush Releases National Guard Files
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), trying to stamp out a political firestorm, released all his National Guard files during the Vietnam War on Friday to answer election-year charges from Democrats that he shirked his duty.
The documents offered no new evidence to place Bush in Alabama during the latter part of 1972, the period when Democrats claim he was basically absent without leave.
The White House had earlier this week said it would only hand out relevant documents after Bush said all papers would be released. But the clamor for the documents only increased.
White House officials handed out thick packets containing hundreds of pages of documents retrieved from a National Guard records center in Denver. A group of reporters was given 20 minutes to review dozens of pages detailing Bush's medical exams during his service.
"We received the entire file this afternoon and the president felt everything should be made public," spokesman Scott McClellan said. "There were some who sought to leave a wrong impression that there was something to hide when there is not."
The White House hoped to put an end for good to accusations from Democrats that the Republican president shirked Vietnam War-era military duties. Republicans are worried about Bush's recently falling job approval ratings.
NO NEW EVIDENCE
There was no new evidence, however, to show that Bush spent a lot of time on duty for the National Guard in Alabama during the latter part of 1972, the murky period Democrats have seized on to describe him as AWOL.
Bush had transferred to the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, in Montgomery, Alabama, in order to be in the state to help the Senate campaign of Republican Red Blount.
Records released by the White House earlier in the week showed Bush had a dental exam there and was paid for some stints of duty but also had long absences from service.
The new stack included an evaluation form from his Texas unit that said he could not be evaluated because "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report."
It said Bush "has been performing equivalent training in a non-flying status" in Alabama.
The New York Times said it interviewed 16 retired officers and service personnel who served during that time in the 187th, and none could remember Bush.
The Washington Post, however, quoted John Calhoun, who was an officer with the Alabama Air National Guard at the time, as saying Bush used to sit in his office and read magazines and flight manuals as he performed weekend duty at Dannelly Field in Montgomery in 1972.
Democrats were skeptical.
"If these are all the documents, it has taken the President more than four years and one week after he told the American people he would release them. Hopefully these are all the documents," said Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) communications director Debra DeShong.
"Each revelation of material from the Bush White House has raised more questions than it has answered. It remains to be seen if these newest documents will provide any answers," she said.
Bush was the son of a U.S. congressman at a time when National Guard service was seen as a way for the privileged to avoid being drafted for Vietnam War duty. Questions over his record resurfaced this year as Bush seeks to cast himself as a "war president" for his effort to win re-election in November.
FROM 1968 TO 1973
The documents tracked Bush from when he joined the National Guard in 1968, to when he later stated his goal was to make flying a "lifetime pursuit," until he was honorably discharged eight months early on Oct. 1, 1973, to attend Harvard Business school.
A 1971 performance evaluation called him a "natural leader" and an outstanding young pilot and a "credit to his unit."
The medical records portrayed the president in good health and cited a medical history that included a suspected allergy to penicillin, a case of appendicitis he had when he was young and fractured ribs he suffered as a teenager.
A Sept. 29, 1972, document from Maj. Gen. Francis Greenlief, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said on "verbal orders" of the commander, Bush was suspended from flying status. "Reason for suspension: Failure to accomplish annual medical examination."
White House communications director Dan Bartlett said Bush did not take the physical because he was going to be doing Guard duty that did not involve flying so there was no need to take the exam.
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