It's apparent that the Lt. Col wrote these for CYA (Cover Your Ass) so obviously he would make anyone else out to look bad, himself, good.
Bottom line, these memo's aren't that damning. All they say is exactly what Bush said happened. It's just written in a scornful tone, exactly what you'd think someone would do in a "CYA" memo.
Making a big deal out of this may backfire. These memo's aren't worth it.
We should concentrate on Kerry's work in the VVAW for the Viet Cong.
The guy on Little Green Footballs has superimposed the pdf of the memo from the CBS website with one he created with MS Word in Times New Roman 12. They are exact, perfect, inerrant duplicates.
I completely agree with you regarding the VVAW. And that will be handled by former POW's.
In the interim, this from a military freeper:
1--the month in a military date is always three letters. August is spelled out.
2--no one issues an "order" through a "memo." Maybe a letter, but nothing as informal as a "memo."
3--the signature (initials) of Lt. Col. Killian is clearly a cut-and-paste job. The last letter ("K") is cut off at the top, where two lines start to curve toward each other in a loop. Impossible to to do by hand. This signature was cut from another document and pasted or taped on the document.
4--No letterhead. Do you really think commanders typed out a the squadron on every letter? No. Letterhead was used.
5--No way there were superscripts back then. No way. Even if it was theoretically possible (which it wasn't), the national guard isn't exactly an early-adopter of technology. This ability wasn't even available at any price for several years.
Not uncommon among officers, BTW, nor is the scorn heaped upon the part-timers by the full-timers. Just a fact of life in the military, especially the Guard and Reserves.