DNC Continues Drumbeat on Bush's Military Service
Who Asked the Bush Family Friend To Secure Him A Spot in the National Guard?
Washington, D.C. - The Democratic National Committee continued its drumbeat to find out the truth about George W. Bush's military service today by releasing the first in a series of unanswered questions. The DNC's first unanswered question comes on the heels of the launch of their new "Where Was Bush" website, and asks "Who asked the Bush family friend to secure him a spot in the National Guard?"
Unanswered Question #1:
Who Asked the Bush Family Friend To Secure Him A Spot in the National Guard?
"I heard from contemporaries that there were openings for pilots in the Texas Air National Guard, and I called to ask about them."
—Then-Gov. George W. Bush [A Charge to Keep, George W. Bush, p. 51]
"They were looking for pilots, and I was honored to serve."
—Then-Gov. George W. Bush [Dallas Morning News, 9/8/99]
At the height of Vietnam War, President Bush, then a Yale senior said he, "heard from contemporaries that there were openings for pilots in the Texas Air National Guard." After visiting the commander of the Texas National Guard, he applied and was accepted, despite a waiting list of over 150 applicants. In 1999, it was disclosed family friends helped get Bush a spot in the Guard. Bush has said that no member of his family asked to help secure him a spot in the Guard.
FACT: Bush Got Coveted Slot in Texas Guard Shortly After Graduating from College.
Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard after his student deferment ran out when he graduated from Yale in 1968. Before he graduated, Bush personally visited Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt — the commander of the Texas Air National Guard — to talk about the Guard. After Bush met with Staudt, he applied and was quickly accepted — despite a waiting list of over 150 applicants. Staudt recommended Bush for a direct appointment, which allowed Bush to become a second lieutenant right out of basic training without having to go through officer candidate school. The direct appointment also cleared the way for a position in pilot training school. [Houston Chronicle, 10/10/92; Los Angeles Times, 7/4/99]
FACT: Bush Got Into Guard Through Family Connections.
During a 1999 lawsuit in Austin, TX, former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes testified under oath that he had helped get Bush a slot in the Texas Air National Guard in 1968. Then-Speaker Barnes made the call after a friend of the Bush's father — Houston oilman Sidney Adger — asked him to. In 1999, Bush said "Not one person named George Bush asked Ben Barnes for help," which he later amended to include "No Bush ever asked Sid Adger to help." [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9/10/99; New York Times, 9/27/99; Dallas Morning News, 9/8/99]
FACT: No Shortage of Pilots in Texas Guard.
Although a Bush spokesman claimed Bush was fast-tracked because the Guard needed pilots, Charles C. Shoemake, a chief of personnel in the Texas Guard from 1972 to 1980 remembered no such shortage. "We had so many people coming in who were super-qualified," Shoemake said. Texas Guard Historian Tom Hail said there was no apparent need to fast-track applicants. "I've never heard of that," he said. "Generally they did that for doctors only, mostly because we needed extra flight surgeons." [Los Angeles Times, 7/4/99]
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