Really now? :)
talion.com
Transcript
News Conference Requesting Records: George W. Bush Military Suspension and Punishment
Senator Inouye
Senator Bob Kerrey
Excerpt:
"During my service, if I missed training for two years, at the least, I would have been court-martialed." Senator Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) said in demanding that George W. Bush account for his missing two years of National Guard Service.
Synopsis:
Inouye challenged the ability of Bush to lead the military in light of the Governor's checkered National Guard career. He joined Senator Bob Kerrey (Nebraska) in a noon conference call today [Thursday Nov 2] that focused on Bush's failure to inform the American public about his unexplained multi-year absence from service.
George W. Bush was suspended from flying and spent his last six months assigned to a punishment detail in Denver. See photocopied documents to left, obtained through Freedom of Information Act.
Inouye and Kerrey each lost limbs during their tours of duty. Citizens groups have offered over $2,000 in rewards for anyone who saw George W. Bush show up for the last months of his National Guard service. No one has claimed the cash.
Military Suspension, Punishment ... Help George Find 1972,73 and 74
Transcript: Nov 2, 2000 News conference
Kerrey: Well, good morning, this is Bob Kerrey speaking from Omaha, Nebraska, with Senator Inouye in ??
Kerrey: Well, I want to thank Bob Clemens for the very nice introduction and I want to thank the Tennessee Democratic party and all that you've done to put this together. I want to thank our good friend Max Cleland who has done such an outstanding job of making certain that we keep our word and commitment to America's Veterans. And, we're all real proud.
Kerrey: We're are fortunate to have as our standard bearer a man who has not only served this country but has put himself on the line saying that we have to keep and honor the commitments that we have made to our Nation's Veterans and who has put before the American people spending proposals that call for putting more resources and more resources for taking care of our Veterans.
Kerrey: It's not enough just to talk. It's not enough just to say I'm going to be compassionate. You've got to put your money where your mouth is or, otherwise, you're not going to be able to keep your word. So, we're fortunate to have as our standard bearer a man who has served his country, Al Gore, and a man who has put before the American people a promise that says he is going to keep our military strong, and he's going to keep our word that we have given to our Nation's Veterans.
Kerrey: I want to correct one thing that Congressman Clemens made about me. I didn't earn the Congressional Medal of Honor — I received it. And I was very moved and very fortunate to have had the chance to be there when Senator Inouye received his Medal of Honor, and I heard him say that day something that I believe very much, which is that we receive these medals for others and we wear them for others who were heroes, but were not similarly recognized.
Kerrey: Then I heard Senator Inouye say that day that he wished that some of the Medics that have saved our lives, that was the first word out of my mouth when I was injured, had gotten comparable recognition. There are a lot of people in this country who have sacrificed for this Nation. Our most recent example is the USS Cole. 17 men and women on that destroyer were on their way to the Persian Gulf on what was a dangerous and obviously dangerous mission for them. We had an opportunity to get to know those young folks because their biographies were printed in almost every newspaper in America. And I note that with great interest and great personal interest that they had slightly different life experiences than I did. All 17 of these folks were high school graduates, not a college graduate among them.
Kerrey: I attended the University of Nebraska in 1961 to 1965 and at that time the Selective Service Laws said that you got a deferment from service. You didn't have to go into service. You were given what was called a 2S classification. My family could put me in college, and they did, as they did for the rest of my brothers and sisters. But there were an awful lot of folks who were not fortunate. So, when I got out of college in 1965 staring the draft in the face, I volunteered for the Navy, as did Al Gore when he got out of Harvard.
Kerrey: On the 27th of May when Governor Bush got out of Yale University, after having a four year deferment. During May 1968, there were 350 Americans dying every week in Vietnam, and he applied, as was his right, to the Texas Air National Guard. He applied to the Texas Air National Guard. In spite of the fact that there were 500 people ahead of him; he was accepted on the same day he applied. Now, I'll let him explain how that happened. I don't question that both he and I were both given an opportunity to go to college, and we were not required to go to Vietnam while we were in college.
Kerrey: When we got out of college, we were required to serve; he made a commitment to the Texas Air National Guard. And, God bless him for doing so. There have been many moments when Nebraska National Guard folks are on their way to Bosnia or some other deployment and they say goodbye to their families, too. They rip their lives as well. I'm not taking anything away for our Guard or our Reserve men and women.
Kerrey: But, Governor Bush made a six-year commitment. And, he's making truth telling and character a big issue in this campaign. I heard him say recently in Pennsylvania, that the Vice President was guided by a controlling legal authority. He said, 'I won't be, I'll be guided by my conscience and I'll do what's right.' Well, if he's going to do what's right, he ought to release his military records, as John McCain did and let us know where he was during that six year period of time, because, there appears to be a period of time from June of 1972 to late until about October in 1973 (when he was given an early release so he could go to Harvard Business School,) that he didn't report to meetings.
Kerrey: If you're going to make a commitment to join the Guard when a lot of us were given special privilege and special opportunities to go to college and given deferments while we did and didn't have to go into the service at the time, you've got to keep that commitment.
Kerrey: Especially, if you're going to make character an issue in this campaign.So, I call on Governor Bush to tell us where you were and to release your records, as John McCain did, and let the American people decide. If you're going to be Commander In Chief, you may have to discipline people who did the same thing you did, and it may be difficult as a consequence.
Kerrey: Once again, I thank Max and Bob Clement. I understand Bart Gordon is there as well, and John Tanner of the Tennessee Democratic Party, but most of all, I want to thank Al Gore for his service, his honesty, his integrity and his commitment to America's Veterans and his declaration to the American people, that if he is elected President of the United States of America, he intends to honor that commitment and to keep our military strong and to make certain the United States of America continue to be able to influence the world as we have done for the rest of my life.
Kerrey: So, thank you all very, very much Operator And, Senator Inouye, you can begin whenever you're ready.
Kerrey: And, now's it's a pleasure for me to introduce my friend and colleague, the senior Senator from the State of Hawaii, a man with his story inspires, Senator Dan Inouye.
Inouye: All right, thank you very much, Bob. I'm sorry I can't be there with you. I wanted to be there in person to tell you how much I admire Al Gore. I wanted to be with my fellow Veterans to tell you we have something at stake here.
Inouye: I would have hoped that all of America could have heard what Bob Kerrey just said. The question is where were you, Governor Bush? What about your commitment? What would you do as Commander In Chief if someone in the Guard or in another service did the same thing?
Inouye: During my service, if I missed training for two years, at the least, I would have been court-marshaled. I would have been placed in prison.
Inouye: But, these are different times. I am a Veteran like most of you there. And, as a Veteran, I must confess that I have a little bias. I like to serve with men who have put on a uniform, men and women, because, those of us who have been privileged to serve have a different perspective.
Inouye: I think it's different when you have to sit in a foxhole and look at the dark skies with just the stars there, not knowing whether you're going to have breakfast the following morning. That sensation, that experience, leaves something. Then those lonesome nights when you're on your bunk thinking about your loved one, far away from you; your little son or your little daughter, wishing that you were there. Being denied that has a different effect on someone. Then how about those who have to be away from home, not just for a week or two, but for a year or two, that does something to a person's psyche.
Inouye: And I've always felt that Al Gore had a special appreciation for those of us who had the privilege for servicing our Nation in uniform. Because, he senses the special concerns, the special pains that not everyone has had the privilege to do.
Inouye: Today, the war is a little different. There is no front-line. And, as Bob Kerrey indicated in the USS Cole, that was the front line. During World War II, the grand old war that I participated in, there was clear-cut front-line on the other side, where they had a man, on this side, we were the good guys.
Inouye: In Vietnam, where was the front-line? The front-line could have been in a restaurant, or it could have been in a bus, or it could have been while you were riding a truck, because Viet Cong were all over the place.
Inouye: Al Gore was there. He had to live under that threat. He was standing in harms way all of the time. And, I appreciate an American who is willing to volunteer and stand in harms way on my behalf. Today, there are thousands upon thousands, over 2 million Americans, men and women, who have stepped forward, taken the oath and said, 'I am willing to stand in harms way, and, if necessary, give my life.' I admire those men and women. Al Gore is one of those guys. That's one of the big reasons I'm going to be voting for him.
Inouye: Because I know what it is to be a Veteran and he knows what it is to be a Veteran and he will never, never let us down. Sorry I can't be there, but thank you all for joining us. Aloha.
Transcribed by Eliiot Segal — MD media consultant |
