Aides Study President's Service Records

The Washington Post ^ | February 13, 2004 | Mike Allen and Lois Romano

[RWR8189]

President Bush's aides are reviewing an inch-thick file they first received from the Texas Air National Guard in preparation for the 2000 election as they await a new set of military records and try to determine whether to make additional documents public.

Bush has been under fire from critics who contend he shirked his duty in the National Guard, and Republican lawmakers have begun to complain privately that the controversy is hurting the party.

The White House used fanfare to release 13 pages of records this week to rebut Bush's critics, but those same records did not provide details about Bush's service. The president's aides have said they would release anything in the documents under review "relevant" to his service.

-snip-

A Republican close to Bush supplied phone numbers yesterday for an owner of an insulated-coating business in the Atlanta area, John B. "Bill" Calhoun, 69, who was an officer with the Alabama Air National Guard. Calhoun said in an interview that Bush used to sit in his office and read magazines and flight manuals as he performed weekend duty at Dannelly Field in Montgomery during 1972. Calhoun estimated that he saw Bush sign in at the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group eight to 10 times for about eight hours each from May to October 1972. He said the two occasionally grabbed a sandwich in the snack bar.

"He'd sit on my couch and read training manuals and accident reports and stuff like that," Calhoun said. "The pilots would read those so they would see what other guys did wrong. . . . He never complained about coming."

Calhoun, a retired lieutenant colonel who said he was the group's flying safety officer and later its plans officer, described Bush as "a typical fighter pilot -- he was aggressive with his talk."

[KellyAdmirer]

So how many witnesses do we now have for President Bush serving in Alabama? Two? More? The liberals won't give up, but I hope this fellow they mention and the others who saw Bush down there agree to appear with the President and put this liberal trash to rest for once and for all.

[Just mythoughts]

I want JFKerry's records brought forth. Time for his show and tell from the offical record.