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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (334282)	12/28/2002 5:34:01 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769668

Bush's War Record: The Last Thing He Wants to Bring Up "After George W. Bush became governor in 1995, the Houston Air National Guard unit he had served with during the Vietnam War years honored him for his work, noting that he flew an F-102 fighter-interceptor until his discharge in October 1973. And Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, 'A Charge to Keep,' recounts the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970." I continued flying with my unit for the next several years," the governor wrote. But both accounts are contradicted by copies of Bush's military records, obtained by the Globe. In his final 18 months of military service in 1972 and 1973, Bush did not fly at all. And for much of that time, Bush was unaccounted for. For a full year, there is no record that he showed up for the periodic drills required of part-time guardsmen. Bush was AWOL for a WHOLE YEAR. Bush, who declined to be interviewed on the issue, said through a spokesman that he has ''some recollection'' of attending drills that year, but maybe not consistently. Some recollection. Heere is what he was really doing. From May to November 1972, Bush was in Alabama working in a US Senate campaign, and was required to attend drills at an Air National Guard unit in Montgomery. But there is no evidence in his record that he did so. And William Turnipseed, the retired general who commanded the Alabama unit back then, said in an interview last week that Bush never appeared for duty there. During his fifth year as a guardsman, after April 1972, Bush's records show no sign that he ever appeared for duty at all. In a word, he was AWOL : Absent Without Leave. The Globe's timeline of Dubya's post-April-1972 military career is as follows : -----May 24, 1972 : Bush, who has moved to Alabama to work on a US Senate race, gets permission to serve with a reserve unit in Alabama. But headquarters decided Bush must serve with a more active unit. Sept. 5, 1972 : Bush is granted permission to do his Guard duty at the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Montgomery. But Bush's record shows no evidence he did the duty, and the unit commander says he never showed up. November 1972 to April 30, 1973 : Bush returns to Houston, but not to his Air Force unit. May 2, 1973 : The two lieutenant colonels in charge of Bush's unit in Houston cannot rate him for the prior 12 months, saying he has not been at the unit in that period. May to July 1973 : Bush, after special orders are issued for him to report for duty, logs 36 days of duty. July 30, 1973 : His last day in uniform, according to his records. Oct. 1, 1973 : A month after Bush starts at Harvard Business School, he is formally discharged from the Texas Air National Guard -- eight months before his six-year term expires. As has been documented long ago, Dubya had all manner of strings pulled merely to get him into the Air Guard and away from actual combat -- even though he did horribly on the pilot's exams -- yet still be able to claim "military service" on his political resume later on in the future. Then, once he gets into the Air Guard and does four years, he suddenly decides "That's enough, time to work on my REAL career, the Bush Political Dynasty", and goes AWOL for a year. All while we veterans were actually fighting the Vietnam War."