Bush Guard Memos Scrutinized (Kerry's lying pals at CBS begin a slow back-peddle)

CBS supposed "News" ^ | Friday, September 10, 2004

[JohnHuang2]

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Bush Guard Memos Under Microscope
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2004


Questions were raised Thursday about the authenticity of newly unearthed memos purporting to have been written by one of President Bush's National Guard commanders in 1972 and 1973.

The memos, which were publicized on CBS News' 60 Minutes, say Mr. Bush ignored a direct order from a superior officer and lost his status as a Guard pilot because he failed to meet military performance standards and undergo a required physical exam.

The network defended the memos, saying its experts who examined the memos concluded they were authentic documents produced by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian.

But Killian's son, one of Killian's fellow officers and an independent document examiner questioned the memos.

Gary Killian, who served in the Guard with his father and retired as a captain in 1991, said he doubted his father would have written an unsigned memo which said there was pressure to "sugar coat" Mr. Bush's performance review.

"It just wouldn't happen," he said. "No officer in his right mind would write a memo like that."

The personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time also said he believes the documents are fake.

"They looked to me like forgeries," said Rufus Martin. "I don't think Killian would do that, and I knew him for 17 years." Killian died in 1984.

Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines, a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, pointed to a superscript — a smaller, raised "th" in "111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" — as evidence indicating forgery.

Microsoft Word automatically inserts superscripts in the same style as the two on the memos obtained by CBS, she said.

"I'm virtually certain these were computer generated," Lines said after reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She produced a nearly identical document using her computer's Microsoft Word software.

In the Wednesday broadcast, 60 Minutes said the purported memos were "documents we are told were taken from Col. Killian's personal file. The program says it consulted a handwriting analyst and document expert who believes the material is authentic.

"As is standard practice at CBS News, the documents in the 60 Minutes report were thoroughly examined and their authenticity vouched for by independent experts," CBS News said in a statement. "As importantly, 60 Minutes also interviewed close associates of Colonel Jerry Killian. They confirm that the documents reflect his opinions and actions at the time."

The White House distributed the four memos from 1972 and 1973 after obtaining them from CBS News. The White House did not question their accuracy.

Robert Strong was a friend and colleague of Killian who ran the Texas Air National Guard administrative office in the Vietnam era. Strong, now a college professor, also believes the documents are genuine.

"They are compatible with the way business was done at the time. They are compatible with the man that I remember Jerry Killian being," says Strong. "I don't see anything in the documents that is discordant with what were the times, what was the situation and what were the people involved."

The documents were described in a 60 Minutes that featured a retired Texas politician's claim that he pulled strings to get young Mr. Bush, then a college graduate at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968, into the Guard — a posting that made service overseas unlikely.

Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes — then the 29-year-old speaker of the Texas House — told CBS News Anchor Dan Rather that he used influence on Mr. Bush's behalf at the request of a Houston businessman friendly with the Bush family, oilman Sid Adger.

Mr. Bush has denied he received special treatment. The White House ascribed Barnes' remarks to political motives. Barnes is an adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry.

The president's service record emerged as an issue during the 2000 race and again this winter. The Killian documents revived the issue of Mr. Bush's time in uniform after weeks in which Kerry, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, has faced questions over his record as a Navy officer and an anti-war protester.

In May 1968, Mr. Bush signed a six-year commitment to fly for the Air Guard. Mr. Bush was honorably discharged from the Guard in October 1973 and left the Air Force Reserves in May 1974.

Early in his military career, Mr. Bush received glowing evaluations from Killian, who called Lt. Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot" who "performed in an outstanding manner."

Documents released this week show Mr. Bush with scores of 88 on an airmanship test, 98 on aviation physiology and 100 on navigational abilities.

The questions about Mr. Bush's service center on how Mr. Bush got into the Guard and whether he fulfilled his duties during a period from mid-1972 to mid-1973.

After taking his last flight in April 1972, Mr. Bush went for six months without showing up for any training drills.

That May, Mr. Bush skipped a required yearly medical examination. In response, his commanders grounded him on Aug. 1, 1972.

In September 1972 he received permission to transfer to the Alabama unit so he could work on a political campaign there.

What the Killian memos purported to show is that Mr. Bush defied a direct order to appear for the physical, that his performance as an officer was lacking in other ways and that Mr. Bush used family connections to try to quash any inquiry into his lapses.

In a separate revelation, the Boston Globe this week reported that Mr. Bush promised to sign up with a Boston-area unit when he left his Texas unit in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School. Mr. Bush never signed up with a Boston unit.

Bartlett claimed in 1999 that Mr. Bush had joined a Boston unit. Bartlett told the Globe this week that he "misspoke."



©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[FireTrack]

"I'm John Kerry and I approve this forgery."

LOL, That's a great line!

[Cboldt]

I have emailed CBS advertisers as well as CBS executives. I have freaking had it with their blatant and continued bias!

File a letter with your local CBS broadcast affiliate, requesting revocation of their broadcasting license based on acting AGAINST public interest in this matter.

[Zellenn]

Wow! You took the words right out of my thoughts!! I was just watching FNS and REJOICING and thanking God because--Wed. night--I sent up a short but very earnest "picture prayer" that the flaming lies the Evil One was trying to shoot at our President be snatched up and aimed right back at the Accuser (and Father of lies) who has launched them. I TRULY believe our Lord has a great sense of humor, because I can almost see the Accuser hopping around having just shot himself in the hoof!!

[staytrue]

[penelopesire]

LMAO! That is too funny! CONGRATS TO ALL THE FREEPERS FOR BLOWING THE LID OFF THIS WHOLE LIE!! My letters are being sent today to CBS and all the 'sponsors'!

[serpentineshel]

FOX NEWS is following up with the story now regarding the format...citing experts who believe the memos to be forged. Also now stating that the content is incorrect. Saying that the physical was not due at the time the memo says it was among other discrepancies. Then they moved onto poll numbers.

I hadn't heard much about the dates of the physical exam being such a discrepancy, but it seems that the experts are looking into that now as part of debunking the memos as well!!!

[AMDG&BVMH]

"Do military officers keep personal files with would be official military documantation in them that does not become part of the official record?"

That is the point. These documents do not in any way change LT Bush's official record, which demonstrates that he DID complete his Guard service honorably. The Democrat talking-point questions are all meaningless. If there had been anything to those questions, they would have resulted in OFFICIAL ACTION via OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION.

How can they say Pres. Bush "hid" information on his service? How could HE "hide" memos a person wrote to himself??

I never did understand how the Democrats thought they could do anything with these allegations to begin with. A person's letters to himself -- FORGED OR REAL -- do not change what happened in LT Bush's career, which is documented in his official file.

(Unless they could charge that Bush forged his DD214 to claim he completed his service, or forged his commander's signature on a faked evaluation report or award -- something like Kerry is alleged to have done . . .)

All these letters to himself do is constitute -- if true -- what the commander thought at the time. His official actions were the only thing that matter: the evaluations, etc., in the official file.

IOW even if the commander wrote them, they are superceded by the official file, which is where the actions would be recorded if he took any official actions on the basis of these thoughts.

These memos are not "official military documentation" ie they are not a part of the military record system. These memos did not come from the Pentagon, but from someone who said that they came from the commander's personal files. Which is the only place they could come from, since the memos were written to himself and did not go anywhere else to be officially noted or filed.

However, there is the added twist that the widow and son know that they did not come from his personal files . . . so whereever they came from, they are NOT a part of any OFFICIAL MILITARY RECORD.

[EdReform]

Indeed!

"A monthly donation to Free Republic
is the best insurance payment we can make
to keep our country a free republic"

-- Grampa Dave

[SpinyNorman]

DNC Jeopardy

Alec Trebeck: "Bush Guard Memos Scrutinized"

Contestant: "What are you supposed to do BEFORE you run a story, er, smear?"

[wai-ming]

Question:

Whom did Killian purportedly send the memo to?

Is that person still alive to verify receiving the memo?

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks!

This exposure of the forgery of C BS is just another example of how Freepers via Free Republic on a daily basis expose and shred the lies of the Lunatic Left and their lying mediots like CBS/Blather.



"A monthly donation to Free Republic


is the best insurance payment we can make


to keep our country a free republic"

-- Grampa Dave

[serpentineshel]

FOX NEWS is airing a phone conversation with Killian's son!!!!

[serpentineshel]

From what I understood, the memos were notes to himself. Is that correct, everyone?

[Grampa Dave]

Keep us posted re what was said.

The fact that CBS/Rather would lie about what a dead man didn't say, summarizes what a pile of BS CBS has become.

[serpentineshel]

The summary of what he said is that he does not believe that the memos were his father's. His father did not keep files, etc...The story was short, unfortunately, given by James Rosen.

I also read that his mother got a call from CBS but that they NEVER mentioned the memos nor asked her to authenticate her husband's signature.

[serpentineshel]

Grampa Dave,

I called my father-in-law last night to tell him about this story. He stopped watching CBS YEARS ago because of his distrust and eventual disgust of Dan Rather. He was delighted to find that the man may finally get his due and may actually tune in if in fact Blather may have to apologize to the public. It was very heartening for me to get to tell him what was going on and to be able to tell him how it was discovered. He has a healthy respect for the internet!

[wai-ming]

From what I understood, the memos were notes to himself.

How convenient! So the recipient is not around to verify.

Note to self:

Did you get my memo?

[Grampa Dave]

My Mother was warning everyone about these lying heads on TV over a decade ago. Too bad she didn't live long enough to see this event.

I stopped watching them in the late 1980's when they constantly lied about President Reagan. Many of my relatives pulled the plug during the 1992 election of lies, spins and whatever to get the Clintoons elected.

[IPWGOP]

Here’s a ‘copyright-ready’ cartoon you can email out, post on other blogs, put on posters... anything noncommercial!

[serpentineshel]

My father-in-law isn't computer savvy and they live out in the sticks, so you never saw a happier man than when FOX News came to Apalachicola, Florida!