To: LindyBill who wrote (2558 ) 1/22/2003 9:28:03 AM From: zonder Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 15987 How about you try to READ and FOLLOW THE LINKS TO ACTUAL DOCUMENTS rather than rush to writing a reply?This is not "Documentation," Zonder. There are actual documents in the links. Follow them and you might be surprised.If any of this had been true, you better believe that the mainline Press and TV media would have run with it. Check this out. You would have seen it had you followed the links:washingtonpost.com That article is from Washington Post of November 2000. And it says, among other things: ---------------------------------------------------- Bush signed up with the Texas National Guard for six years in May 1968, which allowed him to avoid the Vietnam draft. The personnel officer in charge of Bush's 147th Fighter Group, now-retired Col. Rufus G. Martin, says he tried to give Bush a light load , telling him to apply to the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron in Montgomery, Ala. On Aug. 1, 1972, Bush's commander in Houston, Col. Bobby W. Hodges, ordered him grounded for "failure to accomplish annual medical examination." Some critics say this should have triggered a formal board of inquiry . In September, Bush was assigned to another Alabama unit, the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group. Since "Lieutenant Bush will not be able to satisfy his flight requirements with our group," the unit told him to report for "equivalent training"--such as debriefing pilots--on the weekends of Oct. 7-8 and Nov. 4-5, 1972. There is no evidence in his record that he showed up on either weekend. Friends on the Alabama campaign say he told them of having to do Guard duty, but the retired general who commanded the 187th, William Turnipseed, and his personnel chief, Kenneth K. Lott, say they do not remember Bush ever reporting. The Bush campaign points to a torn piece of paper in his Guard records, a statement of points Bush apparently earned in 1972-73, although most of the dates and Bush's name except for the "W" have been torn off. However, Bush's annual effectiveness report, signed by two superiors, says "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of the report," May 1, 1972, to April 30, 1973.