Can we charge them with animal cruelty?
Posted on 09/12/2004 4:30:57 PM PDT by blake6900
"I saw him each drill period," retired Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Daytona Beach, Fla., where he is preparing to watch this weekend's big NASCAR race.
"He was very aggressive about doing his duty there. He never complained about it. ... He was very dedicated to what he was doing in the Guard. He showed up on time and he left at the end of the day."
Calhoun, whose name was supplied to the AP by a Republican close to Bush, is the first member of the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group to recall Bush distinctly at the Alabama base in the period of 1972-1973. He was the unit's flight safety officer.
The 69-year-old president of an Atlanta insulation company said Bush showed up for work at Dannelly Air National Guard Base for drills on at least six occasions. Bush and Calhoun had both been trained as fighter pilots, and Calhoun said the two would swap "war stories" and even eat lunch together on base.
Calhoun is named in 187th unit rosters obtained by the AP as serving under the deputy commander of operations plans. Bush was in Alabama on non-flying status.
"He sat in my office most of the time — he would read," Calhoun said. "He had your training manuals from your aircraft he was flying. He'd study those some. He'd read safety magazines, which is a common thing for pilots."
Democrats have asked for proof that Bush, then a 1st lieutenant with the Texas Air National Guard, turned up for duty in Alabama, where Bush had asked to be assigned while he worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of family friend Winton "Red" Blount.
Pay and medical records released by the White House this week failed to quash allegations that Bush shirked his Guard responsibilities. (Related story: Bush's driving records disclosed)
The 187th's former commander, retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, has said he doesn't remember Bush ever turning up on base, and more than a dozen members of the 800-person unit, including its commander, told The Associated Press this week they have no recollection of Bush. Critics have made much of the fact that the White House has failed to produce anyone who could remember seeing Bush there.
Calhoun said he contacted Texas GOP leaders with his story in 2000 when the issue was raised just before the November general election.
"I got on the phone and got information and called Austin, Texas, and talked to the Republican campaign. They said I was talking to the campaign manager," he said. "I told him my story and said I would be glad to provide information to that effect. At that time they said ... The story is not true. And we don't think it's got enough weight to stay out as a story.' And they said, 'But if it does we'll call you back.' And I never heard from them again."
Last week as the issue raged again, Calhoun sent an e-mail to the White House offering to tell his story. "I got a response back, one of those automatic responses," he said. It wasn't until his wife contacted Georgia GOP officials that Calhoun's name surfaced.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday that the White House was not making any effort to try to locate people who might have served with Bush. He also accused reporters of trying to raise new lines of questioning, beyond whether Bush served in Alabama.
Critics have suggested that Bush used his family connections to get the safe Guard assignment ahead of thousands of others. But Calhoun said Bush never mentioned his congressman father while they sat together at Dannelly.
"I knew he was working in the senatorial campaign, and I asked him if he was going to be a politician," said Calhoun, who is a staunch Republican. "And he said, 'I don't know. Probably.'"
Calhoun has not made any donations to Bush this election season or during the 2000 season, according to campaign finance records.
Simple.. If they say it often enough, it will stick in voters' minds. The only thing sticking to anyone after this election is how they lied.
Hey, doesn't that mean that Texans for Truth owe him some money? Werent' they the ones that were offering a reward?
>>How is it the Democrats-like Paul Begala-continue to say the Bush campaign cannot produce a single individual that served with GWB in Alabama when this guy has been around for months?<<
Because they're used to having the Old Media cover their lies.
There were 400 boys in my Catholic high school graduating class. When I look in my yearbook, I don't remember about half of them. It would not be extraordinary if 12 people from high class did not remember me and we were in much closer proximately more often for a longer period of time.
At the risk of sounding crude I can only remember even the first names of about half the girls I "dated" thirty years ago and might not recall them if reintroduced tomorrow.
I've been sending the names to TforT as I find them. The list is up to about 6 names. I asked TforT how many times they were willing to pay up the $10k. No replies, so far.
Wasn't Bush at a campaign stop a month or two ago, and someone in the audience said that they were in the National Guard with him?
"Hey, doesn't that mean that Texans for Truth owe him some money? Werent' they the ones that were offering a reward?"
I was thinkintg the same thing - are they going to welch on their debt now ?
******
This story was published in February of this year. How is it the Democrats-like Paul Begala-continue to say the Bush campaign cannot produce a single individual that served with GWB in Alabama when this guy has been around for months?
******
First law of propaganda as espoused by Joseph Goebels and Adolf Hitler: Tell a big enough lie and tell it often enough and people will believe it.
Paul Begala is a damned liar. Why do you think the Clinton's hired him.
"The 187th's former commander, retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, has said he doesn't remember Bush ever turning up on base, and more than a dozen members of the 800-person unit, including its commander, told The Associated Press this week they have no recollection of Bush. Critics have made much of the fact that the White House has failed to produce anyone who could remember seeing Bush there..."
Gen Turnipseed has disclosed that he is suffering from alzheimers disease. I do not suppose anyone except the DNC would use him as a source of memory from 33 years ago. Not that the ANG senior officers came in on weekends and met every transient Guardsman pulling drill duty, especially in a unit of 900 men during a time when the unit mission and aircraft were changing and new faces were common.
Yet seldom reported is that Joe Lefevers, an officer with the Alabama ANG, has reported that he met Bush in the unit orderly room and introduced him to Turnipseed, who has admitted that if LeFevers said so- then LeFevers is probably to be trusted more than Turnipseed's decaying memory.
This guy doesn't count because he has something good to say about Bush. His testimony is obviously biased by his overt Republican talking points.
I think somebody owes this guy 50 grand.
Former Dannelly worker: Bush not AWOL [another eyewitness steps forward]
Bush met military obligation [Bush Was At Alabama Base, Says Ex-Guardsman ]
Joe LeFevers, a member of the 187th in 1972, said he remembers seeing Bush in unit offices and being told that Bush was in Montgomery to work on Blount's campaign.
50 Grand!
Not good enough. He didn't serve on Kerry's Swift Boat also. To be credible to "Texans for Half-Truths" and the DNC he must have both served in the Alabama National Guard and on Kerry's Swift Boat.
50,000 dollars, hell yes! We should freep them on their welching!
I saw this story earlier but the demoncRATS won't believe it nor the pro-demoncRAT media. These demonizers want Bush to be AWOL and will overlook the proof.
Articles indexed to wguardwitness (in order of time indexed.)
Dems asked for the name of one person that served with GWB in Alabama. Here's one...
Posted by blake6900
On News/Activism 09/12/2004 4:30:57 PM PDT · 14 replies · 494+ views
Associated Press | February 13, 2004 | Associated Press
Former Guardsman: Bush served with me in AlabamaBy the Associated Press A retired Alabama Air National Guard officer said Friday that he remembers George Bush showing up for duty in Alabama in 1972, reading safety magazines and flight manuals in an office as he performed his weekend obligations. "I saw him each drill period," retired Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Daytona Beach, Fla., where he is preparing to watch this weekend's big NASCAR race. "He was very aggressive about doing his duty there. He never complained about it. ......
Bush in Alabama Air National Guard. Local Residents Reflect.
Posted by My Dog Likes Me
On News/Activism 02/13/2004 4:08:11 AM PST · 15 replies · 40+ views
The Montgomery Advertiser ^ | 02/13/2004 | Jessica M. Walker
Montgomery Advertiser, front page, 13 Feb 04 Pair Say President in Area Members of Bush's unit have yet to say they remember the president serving duty ---- No member of President Bush's Air National Guard Unit has come forward with recollections of him at the Montgomery base, but a Selma Republican leader who campaigned with Bush says she saw him in uniform on his way to drills in 1972. Jean Sullivan volunteered with Bush on the unsuccessful Senate campaign of Winton Blount in fall 1972, and she says even then there were rumors and rumblings that Bush wasn't showing up...
Bush met military obligation [Bush Was At Alabama Base, Says Ex-Guardsman ]
Posted by Hon
On News/Activism 02/11/2004 11:46:52 PM PST · 74 replies · 121+ views
The Birmingham News ^ | 02/11/04 | MARY ORNDORFF and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
Bush met military obligation, aide says 02/11/04MARY ORNDORFF and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE News staff writers A White House spokesman said Tuesday that President Bush worked enough days as a member of the Texas Air National Guard in 1972 and 1973 to fulfill his annual training requirements, but new payroll records he released also show a five-month gap while Bush was assigned to a small reserve unit in Montgomery. Bush did not receive military pay from May to September of 1972, according to the documents, and the former commander of the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron said Tuesday that Bush didn't show...
Former Dannelly worker: Bush not AWOL [another eyewitness steps forward]
Posted by ambrose
On News/Activism 02/16/2004 4:19:13 PM PST · 101 replies · 177+ views
THE DECATUR DAILY ^ | 2.16.04 | Eric Fleischauer
Former Dannelly worker: Bush not AWOL By Eric Fleischauer DAILY Staff Writer eric@decaturdaily.com · 340-2435 Retired Master Sgt. James Copeland does not care so much whether people think President Bush went absent without leave in 1972, but one thing he hears bothers him plenty. "Maybe the Bush family was well known in Texas, but we didn't know who he was here. He was just another guy in a flight jacket," Copeland said Sunday. Copeland, who lives in Hartselle, retired from the Air Force on Jan. 31, 1980. He was the disbursement accounting supervisor, a full-time position, for Dannelly Air National...
Memories place Bush in Alabama if records don't ["Why are you still whipping this dead horse?"]
Posted by ambrose
On News/Activism 02/13/2004 10:23:44 PM PST · 11 replies · 98+ views
Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | 2.14.04
Memories place Bush in Alabama if records don't By DAVE HIRSCHMAN in Montgomery , MONI BASU in Atlanta The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/13/04 The search for proof that young Lt. George W. Bush worked weekends at an Air Force base in Montgomery, 32 years ago has taken on a strange, forensic quality. Family photo (ENLARGE) Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun said he saw the future president each drill period when both men were serving in the National Guard in Montgomery. EMAIL THISPRINT THISMOST POPULAR Dusty dental records and copies of old pay stubs provided by the White House are...
Doctor Recalls Treating Bush
Posted by Hon
On News/Activism 02/15/2004 2:00:58 PM PST · 64 replies · 52+ views
Montgomery Advertiser ^ | February 15, 2004 | Jessica M. Walker
A retired Air National Guard physician recalls giving President Bush a physical in 1972, his son said Saturday, adding another memory to the small but growing pool of recollections of Bush's military service in Montgomery. The memories of Bush's service contradict a dearth of paperwork surrounding his time assigned to the Alabama Air National Guard, but a retired Air National Guard personnel officer said the lack of records could very well be the result of shoddy record-keeping, as opposed to deliquence on Bush's part.
Joppa man: Bush served in Guard in '72
Posted by Conservative Coulter Fan
On News/Activism 02/21/2004 9:57:49 AM PST · 11 replies · 61+ views
THE DECATUR DAILY ^ | Eric Fleischauer
Not only was George W. Bush fulfilling his National Guard duties in 1972, he was already showing the conservative political ideology that is now the bane of many Democrats, according to a Joppa man. Joe Holcombe, 71, was the office manager for Winton "Red" Blount in his unsuccessful race for the U.S. Senate in 1972. Bush was the county coordinator for Blount's campaign, Holcombe said. The Blount family and the Bush family were good friends, Holcombe said. Blount lost to Morgan County native and U.S. Sen. John Sparkman. Bush joined Blount's campaign "a little before or a little after the...
Can we charge them with animal cruelty?
Paul Begala will do and say anything - he is a Clinton man. Did you hear Richard Holbrook this morning - another Clinton man who is still thinking Cold War - they just never learn.
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