You knew it had to happen. Once Republicans challenged John Kerry’s record in Vietnam, it was only a matter of time before reporters examined George W. Bush’s lack of service in Vietnam.
Bush may regret he ever started this fight. New documents reveal that Bush not only ducked the draft in order to escape going to Vietnam, he failed to perform his obligation to the National Guard – and got paid for duty he never showed up for. He’s worse than the guys who ran away to Canada.
According to records obtained by the Boston Globe, the young Mr. Bush twice fell short of meeting his duties in the Guard, but was never disciplined for it. In 1968, he signed a pledge for “satisfactory participation” in Guard activities, including 24 hours of weekend training and 15 days of active duty each year.
Yet, during six months of 1972 and three months of 1973, while he was working on a Senate campaign in Alabama, Bush never reported for duty. Pentagon records prove he appeared at Dannelly Air National Guard Base in Montgomery only once – for a dental appointment.
After the Senate campaign, Bush went back to Texas and requested permission to leave the Guard five months early, in order to attend Harvard Business School. In July 1973, he got the green light, with one string attached – signing a second pledge: “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.” Bush broke that pledge, too. He never joined a unit in Massachusetts, as required.
CBS News, meanwhile, released records of another broken commitment by Bush: a memo from Col. Jerry Killian, his squadron commander, ordering him to take the annual physical exam required of all pilots. For failing to do so, Bush was grounded in August 1972 – after American taxpayers had spent over $1 million training him to fly.
In all three cases, Bush could have been disciplined or ordered to active duty, but never was. Instead, he again received special treatment. And not for the first time. That’s how he got into the Guard in the first place. Ben Barnes, former lieutenant governor of Texas, told CBS’ Dan Rather that Bush was only one of many sons of influential friends he placed special calls for – to help them get out of going to Vietnam. That’s what we did in office, Barnes admits: “helped a lot of rich people.”
Most devastating of all is the testimony of retired Lt. Col. Robert Mintz, member of Alabama’s 187th Tactical Squadron, which Bush was assigned to. Mintz told the New York Times they were excited to hear that a young hotshot from Texas, who had dated Tricia Nixon and was son of the U.N. ambassador, was joining their unit. But Bush never showed up. The whole unit numbered only 25 to 30 pilots, so they couldn’t have missed him. “I’m sure I would have seen him,” Mintz said. “It’s a small unit, and you couldn’t go in or out without being seen.”
Mintz is not alone. Today, despite several offers of a $10,000 reward, not one person has come forward to claim he saw or served with George W. Bush when he was supposedly doing his Guard duty in Alabama. Not one. Back in Texas, he still didn’t show up for duty. In May 1973, his two superiors at Ellington Air Force Base reported they couldn’t complete his final evaluation because “Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report.”
The evidence is clear. As a young man, George W. Bush sought special favors to avoid going to Vietnam. Once in the National Guard and trained as a pilot, he sought special favors to work on a Republican Senate campaign. From that point on, he never showed up for duty in Alabama or Texas and did not take his annual physical. He next sought special favors to leave the Guard five months early in order to go to graduate school.
George W. Bush was nothing but a spoiled rich kid who pulled all the strings to avoid military service. How dare he attack the combat record of another young American, who volunteered for Vietnam, and still walks around with shrapnel in his thigh?
