Posted on 09/23/2004 8:46:45 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
Edited on 09/24/2004 2:23:34 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Gannett News Service Multimedia
Man who swore Bush into Air Guard speaks out
2004-09-24
by Lance Coleman
of The Daily Times Staff
Ed Morrisey Jr. has his opinion about rumors President Bush received preferential treatment when he was allowed into the Texas Air National Guard in the late 1960s.
The Blount Countian also has firsthand knowledge.
The 75-year-old Jackson Hills resident is a retired colonel with Texas Air National Guard. He swore Lt. George W. Bush into the service in May 1968.
On Thursday, Morrisey said the argument that Bush got off easy by being in the National Guard doesn't take into consideration the context of the 1960s.
``Bush and the others were flying several flights day or night over the Gulf of Mexico to identify the unknown,'' he said. ``The Cold War was a nervous time. You never knew. There were other things going on equally important to the country, and the Air National Guard had a primary role in it.''
Morrisey said the commander he worked for at the unit in Texas was sent there to rebuild the image of the unit. There were only two to four pilot training slots given to them per year, he said. Individuals questioned by an evaluation board and then chosen by the commander had to be the best.
``Bush was selected and he turned out just fine,'' he said.
According to Morrisey, after Bush began working as a fighter pilot, he became regarded as one of the best pilots there. Unit commander Col. Maurice Udell considered Bush to be one of his top five pilots, Morrisey said.
``The kid did good,'' he said.
Each pilot had to perform alert duty where they patrolled for unidentified aircraft during the threat of the Cold War, Morrisey said.
``Bush Jr. did good for us,'' Morrisey said. ``He pulled alert and he did it all.''
Morrisey said that while Bush didn't get preferential treatment, not everyone was allowed into the National Guard.
``We wanted the best we could get. We never knowingly took an unworthy individual in the units I belonged to,'' he said. ``You're only as good your worst individual.''
This isn't the first time a reporter called Morrisey asking whether or not Bush received preferential treatment. Shortly after Republicans nominated Bush for president in 2000, a reporter from Texas called Morrisey.
``That floored me. The only people that got preferential treatment was when Jimmy Carter pardoned those guys that went to Canada,'' he said of individuals who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during the war in Vietnam.
Speaking of the controversy surrounding Bush's Guard service during the Vietnam era, Morrisey said: ``I think it's tragic. I think real people can filter through this. At least I hope so.''
Morrisey said he agreed with Bush's work as president and supported the administration's aggressive stance toward fighting terrorism and the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
``We've got to eliminate terrorists,'' he said. ``Let's get them where they're living instead of them getting my grandkids and great-grandkids here.''
Morrisey worked as the executive officer of the 147th Fighter Group from February of 1967 to July of 1968. From Texas he came to Alcoa where he was the first commandant of the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base. He also was ``dedicated to the development'' of the Air National Guard Leadership School and the Officer Preparatory Academy to commission Air Guard officers.
He was commandant for all three schools and became the first commander of the I.G. Brown Professional Military Education Center.
One fact that should be pointed out is that SeeBS apparently made no effort to verify Burkett’s source. Burkett and SeeBS seem to be in agreement that Burkett gave his source as George Conn, who is apparently currently working with the Army in Europe. Hoe difficult would it have been for SeeBS to verify or dispel Conn as Burkett’s source? This is yet more proof, IMHO, that Rather/Heyward/Mapes acted knowingly and intentionally in proffering forged documents.
I just love how this scheme is backfiring on the rabidly anti-Bush, Mapes and Rather. Instead of helping Kerry, they just hit Kerry's campaign with a broadside... reminds me of the scene in "The Hunt for Red October" when the Russian's torpedoed their own sub. Hahahaha!
“I'm proud of our story. I'm proud of CBS News I'm proud of the team I work with and stand with them completely. I appreciate the sources who took risks to authenticate our story. One - there's no internal investigation Two - someone may be shellshocked but it is not I and not anybody at CBS news. And you can tell who's shellshocked by the ferocity of people who are spreading these rumors.”
and
“I know that this story is true. I believe the witnesses and documents are authentic. We wouldn't have gone to air if they had not been. There isn't going to be an apology . . . hasn't even been discussed, nor should there be.”
Well, Danny, WHO is shellshocked now?
Let no one forget!
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