shrub: Non-locatee >>>> DESERTER:
Bush’s request for discharge from TXANG, dated September 5, 1973, does not contain any information regarding where mail should be sent, despite noting that Bush was moving to Boston.
Nevertheless, Bush’s discharge papers (dated 10/1/73) indicate that TXANG had changed Bush’s official address. Under “Permanent Address For Mailing Purposes”, the discharge papers say “Harvard Business School, Boston, Mass 02263.”
However, this is not the first place where a “Harvard Business School” address occurs. In his indorsement of Bush’s discharge (dated 9/18/73), Major Bobby Hodges (Commander of the 147 Fighter Interceptor Group) listed Bush’s “HOR” as “Harvard Business School, Soldiers Field, Boston, Mass 02263.”
It is this same address that is included in the written orders (dated 10/16/73) that accompanied Bush’s discharge itself.
Of particular note is that this is actually an incorrect address for Harvard Business School. There is no “02263” zip code, and Harvard Business School’s actual zip code is 02163.
It should also be noted that, despite this address appearing on three separate documents in the Bush files, there is no evidence that either Bush or TXANG ever officially notified ARPC (through the required “change of address” procedures) that Bush was no longer living in Texas.
In fact, it can be determined that no official change of address occurred prior to October 1, 1973. Bush’s payroll report for the third (calendar) quarter of 1973 (which could only have been generated on or after 10/1/73) listed Bush’s “check address” as “#4, 2910 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77006.”
And it is to this “Westheimer” address that the “Retirement Credit Summary” that was “prepared” on January 30, 1974, and that notes that Bush’s status had been changed to “Inactive”, was sent..
Bush’s failure to respond to mail is confirmed by the use of a different address in a document that was mailed to Bush on March 7, 1974, a mere five weeks after January 30. “5000 Longmont, Apt B, Houston TX 77027” was the address that Bush listed as his residence when he signed up for TXANG in 1968. However, he had not lived at that address for at least three years on March 7, 1974.
There are two possible reasons why the Longmont address would have been used. The first is that “5000 Longmont” was the address that Bush had listed as the home of his parents on the “emergency data” form that Bush had filled out for the Air Force in 1968.
However, it appears that the “Longmont” address may have only been the “official” address being used by George HW Bush in 1968 when he was a congressman from Harris County (Houston), Texas. GHWB had built a “family home” on Briar Lane in Houston when he first moved to that city in 1959 after hitting it big in the oil business. (The GWHB archives contain documents indicating that he stilled owned the Briar Lane property in 1971, after he had left Congress, and contemporary articles about GWHB and Barbara Bush reference the fact that they currently live in the “family home” built by Bush.)
The second explanation for the use of this address is that “Longmont” may have been the most recent address that Bush’s local draft board had on file for him. APRC and Selective Service policies guaranteed that there would have been communication between the Air Force and Bush’s Houston draft board, especially when Bush was placed on “Inactive Status”, and ARPC may have found this address on such communication.
Bush’s official address had changed once again by May 1, 1974, when ARPC notified Bush that upon the completion of his MSO, Bush would be transferred to the “Inactive Standby Reserve List Section (ISLRS). Mail was being sent to “Harvard Business School” address, but this time with the correct (02163) zip code.
Bush at this point finally does provide ARPC a street address in an undated letter in which he requests information about how to get out of the “Standby Reserve”.
The Air Force made the appropriate change in Bush’s personnel data, because the final entry in the Bush papers (dated November 21, 1974) are sent to “mail to” address indicated by Bush in the undated letter.
This address sequence, especially the inclusion of the ”Longmont” address, can only be explained if Bush was not responding to significant communications from the Air Force, and in fact was being treated as a “non-locatee.” Bush’s status as a “non-locatee” provides the explanation for his being placed on “inactive status” on or around January 30th, 1974, and the fact that the Longmont address is used over a month after that date indicates that he remained a “non-locatee” for some time.
shrub's White House released documents shown:
glcq.com
Documents released by White House posted on USA Today website...there is NO dispute that the USA Today site displays the authentic documents. |
