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George W. Bush in uniform

The George W. Bush military service controversy is a political issue that surfaced during the 2000 presidential campaign and again in the 2004 presidential campaign. The controversy centers around the questions of how George W. Bush, now the President of the United States, came to be a member of the Texas Air National Guard, why he lost his flight status, and whether he fulfilled the requirements of his military service contract during the Vietnam War.

Political significance

Since World War II, in most U.S. presidential campaigns, both of the major party nominees were military veterans or had otherwise participated in war work. During the 1992 and 1996 campaigns, however, Bill Clinton was the successful nominee, although he had never served in the military and despite the fact that his opponents in each campaign were World War II combat veterans. This reflected a generational change, as the Vietnam War, in which Clinton failed to serve, was broadly unpopular and thus lack of service had little stigma, and there was also a broad change in popular attitudes toward warfare. The fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S.'s chief adversary in the Cold War in 1989, and the easy victory of the U.S. and its allies, backed by the United Nations in the First Gulf War in 1990 encouraged the concept that it was no longer important that the U.S. President be a military veteran.

The issue of military service was revived in the 2000 Presidential Campaign. Neither of the candidates, Mr. Bush nor Al Gore had the advantage of incumbency, though Mr. Gore held the lesser post of Vice President, and both were military veterans of the Vietnam era. Since Mr. Gore was an enlistee in the regular Army and had done a five-month tour in Vietnam and Bush was in the United States Air National Guard, a reserve force and did not see any overseas duty, Gore's supporters attempted to delegitimize Bush's service in comparison to Gore's.

In the 2004 Presidential Campaign the Democratic Party chose a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, John F. Kerry as their presidential candidate. It was thought at the time that Bush's status as war president was his greatest asset, therefore his opposition attempted to emphasize Kerry's combat service as much as possible while diminishing Bush's service in comparison.

The claims specifically questioned the quality of Bush's service in the Guard, whether he received favortism in obtaining the position (since at the time it was considered probable that reservists would avoid combat), and whether he fulfilled all of the requirements of his service contract.

Various charges about Bush's military service were also made by his opponents during Bush's successful Texas gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998 and the controversy briefly resurfaced in 2005, after Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1998, Miers, then the president of a prominent Dallas law firm and Bush's personal attorney, was paid $19,000 by the Bush gubernatorial re-election campaign to examine rumors questioning Bush's service in the National Guard.

Timeline

Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard on May 27, 1968 during the Vietnam War, with a commitment to serve until May 26, 1974. In his 1968 Statement of Intent (undated), he wrote, "I have applied for pilot training with the goal of making flying a lifetime pursuit and I believe I can best accomplish this to my own satisfaction by serving as a member of the Air National Guard as long as possible." He performed Guard duty as an F-102 pilot through April 1972, logging a total of 336 flight hours [1] and was promoted once during his service, to first lieutenant[2].

In November 1970, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, the commander of the Texas Air National Guard, recommended that Bush be promoted to First Lieutenant, calling him "a dynamic outstanding young officer" who stood out as "a top notch fighter interceptor pilot." He said that "Lt. Bush's skills far exceed his contemporaries," and that "he is a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership. Lt. Bush is also a good follower with outstanding disciplinary traits and an impeccable military bearing."

Bush's six-year obligation to serve required him to maintain his immediate readiness as an individual and a member of a unit to be called to active duty in the event of a national emergency. Bush's military records indicate that until May 1972 he fulfilled that obligation. But from that point on, Bush failed to meet the general requirements established by Federal law, Department of Defense regulations, and Air Force policies and procedures for "obligated" members of the Air National Guard, as well as the specific requirements for pilots established by the Air Force.

Acceptance into the National Guard

File:Pres GW Bush mounting jet.jpg
Bush poses with a jet.

Prominent American liberal political figures--most notably Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore--have questioned whether Bush's father used his political influence to keep him out of the Vietnam War. During the 1968-1974 period, Presidents Johnson and Nixon decided against calling up National Guard units for service in Vietnam. As a result, National Guard service was widely seen as a way to avoid combat. The waiting list for the Guard at that time was extremely long, and there have been charges that young men from influential families were improperly moved to the top of the list (a similar accusation was leveled at J. Danforth Quayle III, who served in the Indiana National Guard, and was vice-president in 1989-93, when Bush's father was president).

According to some news reports, Bush jumped to the top of a list of over 500 applicants for his position as a pilot despite receiving the minimum passing score (25) on the pilot entrance aptitude test and listing no other qualifications. Other reports indicated that although there were many candidates interested in weekend enlisted duty, there were fewer, if any, people who were both sufficiently educated to qualify for an officer pilot position and willing to commit to the more than one year of full-time service required of Air National Guard pilots. [3] Ben Barnes, the former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and Lieutenant Governor of Texas, stated under oath that he had called the head of the Texas Air National Guard, Brig. Gen. James Rose, to recommend Bush for a pilot spot at the request of Bush family friend Sidney Adger [4]. Later, Barnes repeated these claims in an interview with CBS News on 8 September 2004. Barnes's daughter said that her father was lying about President Bush. Former Texas legislator Jake Johnson has stated that before General Rose died, Rose told him that he had been responsible for Bush's acceptance into the Guard. Yoshihiro Tsurumi, one of Bush's Harvard professors, claims that Bush told him that his "Dad's friends" got him into the Guard. [5]

Both George W. Bush and his father have stated that they did not ask Adger to intercede and were unaware of any action he may have taken. Walter Staudt, the colonel in command of Bush's squadron, has stated that he accepted Bush's application without receiving any outside pressure to do so. In a 1994 interview, Bush stated that he joined the Guard because "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes." [6]

The unit in which Bush served was known as a "Champagne unit," where the scions of the Texas aristocracy could avoid combat duty with relatively few demands on their time. Serving in that unit with Bush were the sons of three prominent men: Democratic Governor John Connally, Democratic Senator and future Vice-Presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen, and Republican Senator John Tower, as well as seven members of the Dallas Cowboys professional football club, and a man named James R. Bath, who would become a longtime friend of Bush's.

Air National Guard members could volunteer for active duty service with the Air Force in a program called Palace Alert, which deployed F-102 pilots to Europe and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Thailand. According to three pilots from Bush's squadron, Bush inquired about this program well after all F-102s had been withdrawn from Southeast Asia, and was advised by the base commander that he did not have the necessary experience (500 hours) at the time and that the program was winding down and not accepting more volunteers.[7]

Flight performance and flight status in 1972 and 1973

Flight logs released by the White House in September, 2004 in response to a lawsuit (see below) showed that Bush had been flying the F-102A Delta Dagger, an interceptor until February and March of 1972, when he was assigned to a T-33, a two-seat trainer. He also resumed conducting practice sessions on a flight simulator. Both changes are unusual; they are signs of flight performance problems.

Janet Linke, the widow of the pilot who replaced Bush in the Texas unit, said in a recent interview that she (and her husband) had been privy to adverse comments about Bush's performance from his commanding officer: "He was mucking up bad, Killian told us," Linke said. "He just became afraid to fly." [8] Linke's version of events have not been corroborated.

The final two entries of Bush's official flight logs show him being assigned to work as an instructional pilot in late May 1972 at a Texas Air National Guard base. But Bush left for Alabama in mid-May (see next section) and his pay records show he wasn't paid for any work on the two dates of the instructional pilot assignment. The logs have a code indicating the assignments were eventually deleted from his official records. [9]

By regulation, National Guard pilots were required to take and pass an annual physical in order to remain in flight status, in the three months prior to a pilot's birthday (in Bush's case, July 6). For reasons that are unclear, Bush apparently chose not to take this mandatory physical examination in mid-1972. As a result, his flight status was suspended by a National Guard Bureau order on September 29 1972 [10], which meant he no longer was authorized to fly as a pilot. The same order suspended the flight status of Major James R. Bath, a long-time friend of Bush.

The order directs Bush to acknowledge the suspension in writing ("Off will comply with para 2-10, AFM 35-13"). Air Force regulations required the commander of Bush's Texas National Guard unit to "direct an investigation as to why the individual failed to accomplish the medical examination." Following the investigation, the local commander was required to either convene a Flying Evaluation Board to review Bush’s suspension or to forward a detailed report on his case up the chain of command. Either way, there should have been a record of the investigation. (Arizona Daily Star, February 12 2004, [11])

Bush has claimed that he wanted to wait to take the physical until it could be done by his own private doctor, but regulations required that the physical be performed by an Air Force doctor. Flight physicals were typically given during a drill weekend. Air Force Flight Surgeons were assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where Bush was drilled in October and November 1972 and in January 1973.

There is no record of a physical being taken in either 1972 or in 1973, the last two years in which Bush attended drills. According to his released military records, Bush never flew again as a National Guard pilot after April 1972.

Bush has claimed that he did not take the National Guard flight physical because he was no longer flying and it was therefore unnecessary. This is incorrect - during all of 1972 he was assigned to a pilot's position in his unit, and an annual flight physical is required of all assigned pilots. Rumors of Bush's use of cocaine in his youth have prompted speculation by Bush critics that Bush was afraid of testing positive for illegal drug use (random drug testing during physicals had begun in 1972). (For more information, see the article on the George W. Bush substance abuse controversy.)

Drill attendance in 1972 and 1973

File:Pres GW Bush in Army jacket.jpg
President G.W. Bush in present-day U.S. Army jacket delivering a speech to a military audience

During 2004, various people, including Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, accused Bush of being absent without leave (AWOL) from the National Guard in 1972-73. Initially, these charges were based on gaps in the documentation of Bush's service. As records were released (see separate section, below) during 2004, the accusations were based on actual gaps in service (one exceeding six months) and the number of drills performed.

White House communications director Dan Bartlett and others, who called the charge election-year propaganda, attempted to rebut the charges by noting that Bush was honorably discharged [12] and that there is no known record of an AWOL charge against him. Critics also contend that Bush could have been given an honorable discharge by the National Guard due to his influential father, who at the time was the US Ambassador to the United Nations and had held a number of influential positions, including Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Released military records show that Bush's documented service record through mid-April 1972 (Bush drilled on the 15th and 16th) is without gaps. Then, on May 24, 1972, Bush filled out a form requesting a transfer to the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron in Montgomery, Alabama. According to his application, he was already in Alabama at work on the Senate campaign of Winton M. Blount, who was a friend of his father. Bush was employed by the firm of Allison & Travalan in Montgomery; Jimmy Allison was a longtime family friend. On May 26, Reese H. Bricken, commander of the 9921st, wrote to Bush to tell him that his application had been accepted.

On July 21, 1972, the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, the final approval authority, rejected Bush's reassignment request to the 9921st, stating that as "an obligated Reservist" he could only be "assigned to a specific Ready Reserve Position." The ARPC wrote that Bush "is ineligible for assignment to an Air Reserve Squadron." According to Bricken, in an interview with the Boston Globe, We met just one weeknight a month. We were only a postal unit. We had no airplanes. We had no pilots. We had no nothing.. This rejection left Bush obligated to continue his duty with his Texas Air National Guard unit, the 111th at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston, Texas.

From the records, and from statements from Colonel Bricken, it seems clear that Bush did not report for any duty at the 9921st, and no claims to the contrary have been made. Pay sheet summaries and attendance records show no recorded service, and no payments for service, from mid-April until late-October 1972.

Bush's failure to drill in Alabama during July, August, and September 1972 potentially means that Bush was "Absent Without Leave" for the months in question, and that even if he later "made up" the absences (most were not), he was AWOL at the time. Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for President Ronald Reagan, has reviewed the payroll records and concluded that they indicate that Bush did not fulfill his obligations and could have been ordered to active duty as a result. [13]

On September 5, 1972, Bush requested permission to "perform equivalent duty" at the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Alabama "for the months of September, October, and November." He quickly received approval to do so, and was told to report to Lt. Col. William Turnipseed, the base commander, for drills on October 7 and 8, and November 4 and 5 (the September drill dates of the unit had already passed). Bush's grandfather, former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush, died of cancer on October 8th, and Bush served as a pallbearer at the funeral in Greenwich, Connecticut. Turnipseed has said that he could not recall whether Bush reported on those occasions. Bush's records do not list any service on those dates, but they do show that he was paid for service on October 28 and 29, a weekend; on November 11 and 12, also a weekend; and November 14 and 15, a Tuesday and Wednesday. The location of the service and the duties performed are not described in any released records.

In 2004, a man named John "Bill" Calhoun, a former Alabama Air National Guard officer who had served at the Dannelly Air National Guard Base in Montgomery, home of the 187th, claimed he had seen Bush report for duty eight to 10 times between May and October 1972, and that Bush had in fact spent time in his office. His recollection has been questioned due to the fact that Bush did not apply for temporary duty with the 187th until September of that year.

A column in the Birmingham News (Alabama) elicited memories from people who remembered Bush when he was in Alabama, working for the Blount campaign: "None have specific recollections about Bush and the National Guard. Some heard he was serving but never saw for themselves." Opinions of him during this time ranged from good (amiable, well liked, and fond of sports) to bad (bragging about drinking and allegations he trashed a cottage where he was living). Winton Bount's son Tom said "He was an attractive person, kind of a 'frat boy.' I didn't like him." Winton Blount's nephew C. Murphy Archibald, who also worked on the Blount campaign, said that Bush also made an impression on the "Blue-Haired Platoon," a group of older Republican women working for Blount. Behind his back they called him "the Texas soufflé," Archibald said, because he was "all puffed up and full of hot air." [14] [15] [16]

Timeline of George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard

Released records show that Bush was paid for service for the days of January 4-6 and 8-10, 1973, and that he received a dental examination at Dannelly in Alabama on January 6. It is unclear why he stayed - or returned - to Alabama in January, since his campaign job had ended in November (with the defeat of candidate Blount).

Between 1972 and 1973, Bush dated Mavanee Bear, another member of Blount's campaign staff. Bear stated "I know he served" because he had to regularly reschedule meetings, but also stated "I didn't see him in uniform." When later back in Texas, she frequently saw him in uniform, stating "I think he was mostly just flying in circles over Houston." [17].

Back in Houston, in late 1972 or early 1973, Bush did unpaid volunteer work for a number of months with an inner-city poverty program, Project P.U.L.L. (Professional United Leadership League) the brainchild of the late John White, a former professional football player and civic leader. [18] As for National Guard work, pay records and attendance records show no service in February or March, and two days of paid drilling on April 7-8. The April service presumably occurred at his home base, Ellington Air Force Base, in Houston. However there is nothing in the released documents showing that he actually reported on those days, or where, or what duties he performed.

In a document dated May 2, 1973, Bush's immediate superiors gave him his annual performance review for the period from May 1 1972 to April 30 1973. The review stated that "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of the report." Lt. Col. William D. Harris Jr. and Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian also wrote, "A civilian occupation made it necessary for him to move to Montgomery, Ala. He cleared this base on 15 May 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non-flying status with the 187 Tac Recon Gp. Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama."

For May 1973, Bush was paid for service on 1-3, 8-11, 19-20, 22-24, and 29-31 May. For June, he was paid for 5 days; for July (his last month of drilling) for 19 days. As of the end of July, 1973, he had been in the National Guard for a little over five years.

Six-year service obligation

On May 27 1968, Bush signed a six year obligation to complete "48 scheduled inactive-duty training periods" each fiscal year (typically consisting of four four-hour periods during one weekend each month), plus a minimum of 15 days of Annual Active Duty Training (for Bush, as a pilot, typically split into periods of duty of a few days each during the year). Exceptions can made in this obligation, for hardship, the needs of the service, or other reasons.

Some critics have claimed (1) that disciplinary action should have been taken against Bush for his failure to meet his service obligation during 1972 and 1973, because he missed so many drills, and that (2) Bush should not have been released from the Texas National Guard in October 1973 because he had not fulfilled his six-year obligation. Defenders of President Bush have countered that he was honorably discharged, which normally would not happen if he had not satisfactorily completed his service.

In early 2004, at the request of the White House, retired Texas Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Albert Lloyd reviewed Bush's payroll records and stated that Bush earned 253 points for service done during his 1968-69 retirement year (May 27 through May 26 of the following year), 340 points for 1969-70, 137 points for 1970-71, 112 points for 1971-72, 56 points for 1972-73, and 56 points for 1973-74. National Guard members needed at least 50 points for a given year for a satisfactory retirement year. The memorandum from Lloyd concluded 'This clearly shows that 1LT George Bush has satisfactory years for both 72-73 and 73-74 which proves that he completed his military obligation in a satisfactory manner."

In February 2004, Factcheck.org, [19] a non-partisan group that analyzes many claims by politicians and groups for accuracy, concluded that "despite a six-month gap in service while working on a Senate campaign in Alabama, Air Force Reserve records show Bush was credited with enough points to meet his requirements for that year -- barely."

Missed drills during 1972 and 1973

With regard to drill attendance, there are two major problems with Lloyd's conclusions, other than that the records actually show that the points for 1973-74 should, by his methodology, total 50, not 56. (Lloyd has acknowledged this error.) The first, and lesser, is that Lloyd's gave 15 points to Bush for his membership in the National Guard during his 1973-74 retirement year (in National Guard terminology, these are called gratuitous points). 15 points is what a National Guard member would get for a full year of service. But because Bush went to inactive status as of October 1 1973, he was entitled to only 5 gratuitous points (for the period of May 27 to September 30), not 15 points (for an entire 12 months). Bush's "ARF Retirement Credit Summary" of January 30, 1974, does in fact show 40 points, ten points less than calculated by Lloyd (after correcting his math error). [20]

The second problem is more serious. The '50 point' standard is used to determine whether or not a particular service year (as noted above, May 27 through the following May 26) is counted as a "good year" for military retirement benefits. This question is moot, however, as Bush had no intention of being in the military long enough to qualify for lifetime benefts. The more appropriate measure of whether Bush met his obligations is the attendance requirements, which, for the National Guard, are on a fiscal year (which, in 1972 and 1973, was July 1 through the following June 30).

Regulations allowed commanders to excuse a National Guard member for a maximum of 10% of these training drills in any given fiscal year, thus requiring that Bush complete at least 43 drills to satisfy his obligation. Failure to complete the required drills would, according to the (standard) signed obligation, allow the National Guard to transfer Bush to active duty, quite possibly in Vietnam.

Bush's payroll records show that he was paid for only 40 drill periods in the 1972-73 fiscal year (he missed, and did not make up, May and June) and for only 36 for the 1973-74 fiscal year (he missed, and did not make up, July, August, and September). In addition, his payroll records show only 9 days of Annual Active Duty Training in fiscal year 1972-73, all in May (1-3, 8-10, and 22-24).

When asked about attendance requirements, Lloyd stated that if these standards were strictly enforced then "90 percent of the people in the Guard would not have made satisfactory participation." Bush's defenders have also argued that, at a time with a glut of pilots with the end of the Vietnam War, Bush was doing the Air National Guard a favor by leaving early, because excess pilots were then being assigned to desk jobs.

A final issue concerning Bush's inactive duty training is worth noting. National Guard regulations only allowed weekend drills to be made up during the period of 15 days prior to the scheduled drill to 30 days after the scheduled drill. In fiscal year 1972-73, three months of drills for which Bush was paid were in violation of this requirement. (He was paid for November 13-14, 1972, in place of December 2-3; for January 6 and 8, 1973, in place of February 10-11; and for January 9-10 in place of March 10-11.) In fiscal year 1973-74, two more months of drills for which Bush was paid were in violation of this requirement. (He was paid for July 16-17 in place of August 18-19, and for July 18-19 in place of September 22-23.) It is unclear why the centralized Air Force payroll system was not programmed to reject the pay input for these weekends; possibly these exceptions were not uncommon.

Early release from military obligations

On July 30 1973, his last day of paid service in the Texas National Guard, Bush signed a statement that "I have been counseled this date regarding my plans to leave my present Reserve of [sic] assignment due to moving from this area. I undestand that: a. If I disassociate from my current Ready Reserve Assignment, it is my responsibility to locate and be assigned to another Reserve Forces unit or mobilization augmentation position. If I fail to do so, I am subject to involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months under the provisions of AFM 35-3, chapter 14."

There is no record that Bush attempted to find a position in any National Guard unit, or in drilling Air Force Reserve unit, or any position that would have met the criteria mentioned in his July 30 1973 statement.

On September 5, 1973, Bush requested discharge from service, to be effective on October 1. He wrote, "I am moving to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Harvard Business School as a full time student." Jerry Killian recommended approval of the discharge the following day. Bush had completed five years, four months, and five days toward his six-year service obligation.

On October 1, 1973, Bush was honorably discharged from the Texas Air National Guard and transferred to the inactive reserves in Denver, Colorado. He was discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974.

Arguments have been made that since Bush's service should have ended in May 1974 (he enlisted in May 1968 and had a six-year obligation), there was some sort of disciplinary action involved with his discharge from the Texas Air National Guard that resulted in an additional six months of obliged service. No documents to prove such arguments have been produced.

Release of military records

During the 2000 presidential campaign, various military records of Bush were made public by the Bush campaign.

On February 13, 2004, more than 700 additional pages of documents on Bush's service were released, including those from the National Personnel Records Center, under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. This release is claimed by some to contradict the February 8 2004, statement by Bush to Meet the Press interviewer Tim Russert that "We did [authorize the release of everything] in 2000, by the way." In response, Bush contended that he was referring only to documents already in his possession, as opposed to the newly released documents from military sources.

James Moore, an Emmy Award winning TV news correspondent from Texas, has said that the documents that were given out in February 2004 were incomplete because they "were shipped to General Danny James in Washington. They were all printed out and vetted by General James' office. Then they were sent to the White House, and they were vetted by the White House. And then they did the Friday evening document dump on the reporters." [21]. He also said that he has a statement from the National Personnel Records Center that the records of George W. Bush have not been altered in any way since they were committed to microfiche there. He believes that full disclosure of the entire microfiche could be quite damning [22].

On June 22 2004, The Associated Press sued the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force, seeking access to all of Bush's records during his military service.

On July 8 2004, the Pentagon reported that the microfilmed payroll records of Bush and numerous other service members had been inadvertently ruined in 1996 and 1997 by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service during a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. The records lost included those covering July through September of 1972, when Bush's claims of service in Alabama are in question, and the Pentagon reported that no paper backups could be found.

On July 23 2004, the Pentagon reported that the records it had previously reported destroyed had been found. A Pentagon official said the earlier statement that the records were destroyed was an "inadvertent oversight." The Pentagon released computerized payroll records covering Bush's 1972 service. Like the records released earlier by the White House, the newly released documents did not indicate that Bush performed any drills, in Alabama or elsewhere, during July through September of 1972.

On September 9 2004, the White House released the flight logs recording the flights done by George Bush as a pilot. A Pentagon spokeswoman said the logs were found at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, which is the central repository for veterans' records. She said the logs were found among a batch of records sent to St. Louis from Norton Air Force Base in 1993, which were originally thought to contain records of active-duty officers rather than of National Guardsmen such as Bush.

On September 29 2004, the White House released a November 1974 document, saying it had been in Bush's personnel file and that it had been found by the Pentagon.

On October 5 2004, more than a week after a court-imposed deadline to turn over all records of Bush's military service, the Texas Air National Guard produced two previously unreleased documents (four pages of records) that include Bush's orders for his last day of active duty in 1973.

On October 14 2004, the Texas National Guard released 31 pages of documents found by two retired Army lawyers who went through Guard files under an agreement between the Texas National Guard and The Associated Press, which sued to gain access to the files. A Guard spokesman defended the continuing discoveries, saying Guard officials didn’t find all of Bush’s records because they are disorganized and in poor shape. "These boxes are full of dirt and rat (excrement) and dead bugs. They have never been sitting in an uncontrolled climate," said Lt. Col. John Stanford. "It’s a tough task to go through archives that were not set up in a way that you could easily go through them." [23]

Memos allegedly from Jerry Killian

Main article: Killian documents

Coincident with CBS News's September 8 2004, interview with Ben Barnes was the release of another set of documents relating to preferential treatment during Bush's National Guard service. The documents, allegedly from the personal files of the late Jerry Killian, added new allegations against Bush, but their authenticity was immediately questioned by bloggers and subsequently by the mainstream media. The documents were identified by some experts as almost certain forgeries. CBS and Dan Rather initially defended the documents and the report but, on September 20, CBS News stated that it had been "misled" and that it could not authentic the documents and should not have used them. The independent commission established to investigate the incident strongly endorsed this view. As a result of the scandal, producer Mary Mapes was forced to resign from CBS News. Dan Rather left 60 Minutes Wednesday edition in which the story aired, following the airing of the story. Allegedly, the cancellation of the Wednesday version of 60 Minutes was due to poor ratings and not the false memo scandal. Critics of Bush felt that the validity of Rather's original story had been under-reported by the media, having been eclipsed by the controversy surrounding the alleged authenticity of the documents themselves.

Rewards offered for information

Several organizations and individuals offered cash rewards to those who could offer proof that Bush had fulfilled certain military obligations. The purpose of the offering of these rewards by Bush opponents was not to actually prove his service, but to support innuendo that the service was unfulfilled by showing that the rewards went unclaimed.

On October 14 2000, the Birmingham (Alabama) News reported that a group of Alabama veterans offered $1,000 to "anyone with proof that Texas Gov. George W. Bush actually served in the Alabama National Guard." It went unclaimed. (The original Birmingham News article is now archived. An abstract can be located by searching the Birmingham News October 2000 archives for "bush veterans vietnam $1000" [24].)

On February 23, 2004, cartoonist Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury, personally offered a highly-publicized $10,000 reward (in the form of a donation in the winner's name to the USO, which entertains U.S. troops) to anyone who had "personally witnessed" Bush reporting for drills at Dannelly Air National Guard Base between May and November 1972 [25]. As of yet, the reward has not been paid.

On February 27, 2004, Trudeau announced that despite over 1,300 responses, his offer had unearthed no new evidence to show that Bush actually turned up for duty in the time period in question. A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee dismissed the reward as a "silly stunt." Trudeau agreed, saying, "She's right, but as a simple investigative cartoonist, I don't have a very big tool kit." [26]

In September 2004, the 527 group "Texans for Truth", offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who could prove that Bush fulfilled his service requirements by either "first-hand, eye-witness testimony," or authentic "documentary evidence." [27]

See also

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