Posted on 09/11/2004 11:12:23 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Frank Jones says he's angry about newly revealed memos that indicate President Bush got preferential treatment in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam war, but he's not surprised by favoritism in the Guard.
Jones, a Republican from Troy, N.Y., served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971 before doing 16 years in the Guard himself. As the presidential election nears, Jones says controversy over both candidates' military records and the mounting death toll in Iraq are important issues.
"I'm really in neither camp at this point," he said. "However, I do see a direct correlation to Vietnam. The body count is really starting to get to me."
Some current and retired members of the National Guard and other military services say the newly revealed Bush documents do not bother them, while others say they are troubling.
The documents, which became fodder for Democratic critics last week, indicate Bush was suspended from flying with his Texas Air National Guard unit because he missed a medical exam and that he missed six months of training. Questions have been raised about the documents' authenticity.
Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll, spokesman for the Georgia Army National Guard, said retired service members may comment on political issues such as the Bush documents, but most current reservists and active-duty service members will hesitate to voice their political opinions.
"It would be inappropriate," he said. "The president is our commander-in-chief and so we have to be very careful from an ethical perspective of how we express our political opinions."
Some who served in the National Guard say it is common practice to miss drills - even up to six months - because of job conflicts, family problems or illness.
Ralph Bradley, 56, a Republican from Albany who served three years in Vietnam in the Air Force and 17 years in the Georgia Army National Guard, said members are encouraged to make up drills so they don't lose pay or retirement benefits.
"There's all kinds of situations ... that cause a person to go out of state for a period of time," he said.
Army Reserve Sgt. Tim Wilding, 37, of Jefferson City, Mo., agreed.
Back home for two weeks of leave from Iraq, Wilding said he remains a staunch Bush supporter despite allegations Bush may have tried to get out of Guard drills for several months in 1972.
"A lot of guys don't serve for four or five months at a time," he said. "They've got other stuff going on. They'll make it up later on, or they just won't get paid. That's really no big deal to a lot of National Guard soldiers."
Allegations of suspect conduct during the Vietnam war also have been leveled at John Kerry, who won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in Vietnam.
A group sponsoring television ads challenging his wartime record contends Kerry's own gunfire caused the wound that brought his first Purple Heart. Navy records and other veterans do not support the charge.
Ahmad Majied of Albany says the latest allegations about Bush's military record are more troubling to him than allegations about service honors leveled at Democratic challenger Kerry.
Majied, a Democrat from Albany who served 30 years in the Navy, including five years as a SEAL in Vietnam, said the memos support his belief that Bush was a "playboy" during his service years.
"He had enough money to get what he wanted," Majied said. "I think his main concern was not to go to Southeast Asia. I bet he never dreamed it would come back to haunt him."
Neal Eubanks of Leesburg, who served 39 years in the military - 23 in the Air Force and 16 in the Georgia Army National Guard - said the presidential candidates should move beyond their military records and focus on the issues, such as the economy and unemployment.
"You don't see Korean veterans or World War II veterans or Grenada veterans always talking about 'I served here and I served there,'" said Eubanks, 67, a Bush supporter.
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Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., David Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., and Michael Gormley in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
The AP is rendering almost every news paper in America, unfit to line a birdcage. The Paper arrives in our driveway, pre-crapped on by endless bs articles furnished by the AP.
AP=All Puke.
The AP's main number in New York is 1-212-621-1500. I told them if the story is in my Sunday paper I will cancel my subscription. The guy I talked to was polite and connected me to a comment line.
"So, in their mind, the words of Vietnam veterans who served with Kerry is somehow so evil that it must be countered with forged documents from a man who is dead and cannot refute them."
Yes.
1. The Swift Boat vets' ads caused Kerry's numbers to go down.
2. They think Bush's numbers will go down if they attack HIS record as fair-turn-about.
a. Truth or falsity of the claims and supporting evidence is irrelevant to them.
b. They think Bush's poll numbers will go down. I think they are wrong. The worst thing for Kerry is to keep the campaign on VietNam. Even if it gives some uninformed people a "reason" to vote against Pres. Bush, it gives no one a reason to vote FOR Kerry; a reason to stay home, maybe. That is the last thing the pundits think Kerry's campaign needs. To win, he has to have a reason for the undecideds to vote FOR HIM.
Thanks for the LINK!
I myself cannot fathom a navy seal spouting this bull, I am sorry I would have to see HIS RECORD,yesterday my husband and I were pulling in to a wendys here in RENO , and there was a compact car with a sticker that sayed ' democrat and proud of it ' the car had california tags ,we waited a few minutes to see who it belonged to ,and all that was left was a old gimme couple filling out papers, so we went shopping and on our way out they were still there probably filling out an absentee ballot.
Check this out ... see what is really going on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1300188,00.html
It proves your point.
Neal Eubanks, a retired Georgia Army National Guard master sergeant, stands in his patio in Leesburg, Ga., Friday, Sept. 10, 2004, while showing the letter and Georgia flag he received when he retired with 39 years of military service. Eubanks said he supports President Bush. He said he wishes the military service records of Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, during the Vietnam War had not become issues in the campaign. (Elliott Minor / AP)
It could be worse....
He didn't. Rather was discharged as medically unfit from Marine Corps recruit training in May of 1954; he suffered from rheumatic fever as a child which damaged his heart therefore he couldn't physically handle the rigors of boot camp. A fact which makes one wonder how he was medically fit enough to serve in the Army Reserve as a college student during the Korean War. Student deferments did not exist thus college pukes could be drafted. Rather joined the reserve so he wouldn't get drafted, hoping his reserve unit wouldn't get activated and sent to Korea. Rather never became a Marine. Anyone, especially Rather, who claims that he served in the Corps is full of s***. Read all about it in the book "Stolen Valor".
1. Mr Jones. Thank you for your service and welcome home.
2. Mr Jones. You are either ignorant or just plain stupid. How long did it take your back to go out once you returned home? [Oh I know that was a low blow]
Look at the comment in POST #1. The media is trying to give this story legs while it can still damage President Bush's image. Sure people can say "I'm sorry" and the documents can be proven to be a lie but will it ever completely remove the tarnish some people feel about George W. Bush's past?
Dan Rather and the rest of the establishment media are partisan whores. They need to be as publicly ridiculed and shunned as Geraldo Rivera was after opening "Al Capone's vault" on live television.
Never again let these lying rats into your home to spread the latest DNC talking points.
This is war. I'm not talking bloodshed or violence but these propaganda tactics are every bit the same as Communist dictatorships have used for the better part of a century. The liberal media is the enemy. They have revealed their true colors in ways that even the man on the street would be hard pressed to deny.
Old Media is the western bureau of Al Qaeda.
They are enemy #2. Right behind the jihadists.
Old Media has become irrelevant and very, very tired.
International socialists are the #2 enemy right behind the jihadists. The same domestic communists that threatened our safety and security in the 20th century are still running/ruining our schools and institutions.
If John Kerry stops talking about Vietnam, it's over.
He is listed at superpages.com in Troy, NY. Maybe he needs to be freeped.
Thank you for your service and welcome home.
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