[stevem]

I am too young (49) to have been worried about going to Vietnam when I was 18, so I don't know a lot about the deferment process in the 60's. But were they not legal?

Not only were they legal, but in another venue, serving in the Air National Guard was an honorable way to fulfill the military requirement.

[silverleaf]

Not to mention the fact that the US had more than one military mission in 1969!

Some ANG units (including the dual-tasked unit Bush joined) were needed to support NORAD requirements to provide for air defense of the North American continent.

And yes- the Texas ANG was tasked to guard the "skies of Texas" and other areas, which is why pilots like GWB pulled alert duty 24/7.

In the late 1960's and thereafter, Russian bombers were routinely flying along our eastern coastline (collecting intelligence and practicing for wartime bombing/mine-laying runs) - swinging out in the Gulf of Mexico toward the entrance to the Panama Canal - and then recovering in Cuba.

And the Cuban air force was receiving an extensive inventory of modern Soviet aircraft to use for missions against US targets, like our ports and military bases, along the southern coast in the event of general warfare (a 90 mile hop gives a pretty good mission radius to even a MiG).

So here's to the unsung ANG "cowards" who VOLUNTEERED to sit alert 24/7 for dozens of years as our last line of defense in the Cold War.

[Howlin]

Bump to that!

Imagine how surprised they must be to find out John Kerry calls them draft dodgers!