Posted on 09/10/2004 7:06:51 PM PDT by ambrose
Posted on Fri, Sep. 10, 2004
Man named in Bush memo left Guard before document was written
BY PETE SLOVER
The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - (KRT) - The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugar coat" President Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo was supposedly written, his own service record shows.
An order obtained by The Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged on March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of Bush's service, was dated Aug. 18, 1973.
That added to mounting questions about the authenticity of documents that seem to suggest Bush sought special favors and did not fulfill his service.
Staudt, who lives in New Braunfels, Texas, did not return calls seeking comment. His discharge paper was among a packet of documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News from official sources during 1999 research into Bush's Guard record.
A CBS staffer stood by the story, suggesting that Staudt could have continued to exert influence over Guard officials. But a former high-ranking Guard official disputed that, saying retirement would have left Staudt powerless over remaining officials.
The authenticity of the memo and three others included in Wednesday's "60 Minutes" report came in for heavy criticism Friday, prompting an unusual on-air defense of the original work. Experts on typography said they appeared to have been computer-drafted on equipment not available in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
And the family of the officer who supposedly wrote them, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984, said it wasn't his nature to keep detailed personal notes.
In its network news broadcast Friday, CBS said the documents were supported by both unnamed witnesses and others, including document examiners.
Earlier, CBS anchor Dan Rather told The Dallas Morning News that he had heard nothing to make him question the legitimacy of the memos. He attributed the backlash to partisan politics and competitive journalism.
"This story is true. The questions we raised about then-Lieutenant Bush's National Guard service are serious and legitimate," he said, expressing confidence the memos are authentic. "Until and unless someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill."
The interview concluded before The Dallas Morning News determined the date of Staudt's departure, so that issue was not included. But a CBS staffer with extensive knowledge of the story said later that the departure doesn't derail the story.
"From what we've learned, Staudt remained very active after he retired," the staffer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He was a very bullying type, and that could have continued."
In the "60 Minutes" report, Rather said of the memo's contents: "Killian says Col. Buck Staudt, the man in charge of the Texas Air National Guard, is putting on pressure to `sugar coat' an evaluation of Lt. Bush."
Staudt was the person Bush initially contacted about Guard service, and he was the group commander at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston when Bush arrived there to fly an F-102 jet. He later transferred to Austin, where he served as the chief of staff for the Air National Guard.
In the disputed memo, Killian supposedly wrote "(another officer) gave me a message today from group regarding Bush's (evaluation) and Staudt is pushing to sugar coat it."
It continues: "Austin is not happy either."
The CBS staffer said that the memo appears to recognize that Staudt has retired, since it differentiates between his displeasure and that of Austin, where he served his final Guard stint.
But another Texas Air National Guard official who served in that period said the memo appears to wrongly associate Staudt with his group command in Houston, and - based on that mistake - the memo distinguishes his views from that of the Austin Guard headquarters.
Retired Col. Earl Lively, who was director of Air National Guard operations for the state headquarters during 1972 and 1973 said Staudt "wasn't on the scene" after retirement, and that CBS' remote-bullying thesis makes no sense.
"He couldn't bully them. He wasn't in the Guard," Lively said. "He couldn't affect their promotions. Once you're gone from the Guard, you don't have any authority."
The report about the memos originally appeared to stir anew longstanding questions about Bush's Guard service, including whether he defied a direct order to take a physical exam, and whether his suspension from flying was partly for failure to meet military performance standards.
The campaign of Bush's Democratic rival, John Kerry, stood mostly mum, saying Bush should answer all questions about his service. Earlier this year, though, Kerry aides raised the exact points the memo seemed to address.
Bush has not commented publicly about the CBS report, and aides say his honorable discharge proves he fulfilled his obligations.
But the White House, which contends that all known records of Bush's service have been released, also took the unusual step of distributing the CBS memos to reporters the night of the broadcast.
"We don't know whether the (CBS) documents were fabricated or are authentic," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday.
I've been emailing Free Republic threads to local talk radio, Drudge, blogs, Fox, etc...
I think now that they are coming here for their research. Why have to spend all that time for story ideas and different angles on a story when FR does it for you.
Good going people.
p.s. I did email this story to Drudge though
CBS would have more credibility if they hired Baghdad Bob.
This statement will go down in history, as a last dying gasp from the Old Media.
And I don't like people impugning my pajamas.....
You don't think that guy was on the threads here with us during the Election fiasco 2000, do you? Ick, gives me the creeps!
Details, details.
As the Dems like to say, it is the seriousness of the charge that is important, not the substance.
This is BREAKING NEWS -- yesterday. No wonder FR is running at a snails' pace. Before you post an article as BREAKING NEWS, you ought to at least read the BREAKING NEWS column and do severales search using various word combinations.
W don't respond to garbage like this. The WH distributed the docs to all the media hoping someone might do the job that the blogs ended up doing. Congrats to FR, Powerline and the rest for outting lardarse Dan and the gang!
Why would Bush involve himself in this? He's busy being President.
I share your mmmmmm! The smell is a stench and getting worse.
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I did not post this as breaking news. Someone else added the 'breaking' after it was posted.
OK, but still, we need a greater effort to avoid dupilcate threads. The crawl is pathetic.
If you would read the thread before jumping to conclusions, you would see that I bumpd this into Breaking. I have been on here 24/7 the last couple of days and even live in the DFW area, and I hadn't seen this before. It is news that a LOT of people have missed...
Cancel AOL, get cable/dsl, and quit kvetching.
If Kerry could find a hole this week, do you think he would have crawled into it? (After all, Saddam had one!) It lasted for a while for Saddam.
Maybe Kerry's would remain undiscovered at least until Nov 3....
Better play the ol' race card Danny Boy. Don't be suprised though, if you pissoff whatever race you claim to belong to.
And another CBS Staffer said he was the "bullying type".
These people are like kindergardener caught in a stupid lie and coming up with even dumber explanations. This is shocking!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.