Posted on 09/25/2004 6:12:16 AM PDT by Just another Rob
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.
Morrisey has been involved in the community, including being a former member of the Blount Chamber of Commerce, president of the Maryville Kiwanis Club, Blount County Boys Club board member and on the ALCOA Scholarship Selection Committee.
But, but, Bush was afraid to fly.
I've been thinking... If I was drafted to go to Vietnam I would probably be upset at guy's who got to stay home and "play" in the National Gaurd. However, this guy makes a great point..
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.''
Duplicate thread:
1)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1226086/posts
2)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1226496/posts
CBS/NYT summary of this article:
Man swears at Bush, speaks out
Ed Morrisey Jr. has his opinion. President Bush received preferential treatment when he was allowed into the Texas Air National Guard in the late 1960s.
Morrisey said ........that Bush got off easy by being in the National Guard.
``Bush was selected ...................'' he said.
``Bush Jr. did .......... us,'' Morrisey said.
``We ............ knowingly took an unworthy individual.......,'' he said. ``.......... your worst individual.''
Speaking of...........Bush's Guard service during the Vietnam era, Morrisey said: ``I think it's tragic.''
If you "got drafted to Vietnam" it meant you did not take charge of your own life and enlist in one of the military services and choose your own form of service- as Bush did -along with virtually every other man and woman who joined the Guard or the USAF, Marines, or Navy (which had no draft).
The people who served in Vietnam made up a VERY small segment of the total US military of the era!!!! Vietnam waa only one (small) extension of a much larger war that was going on at the time- the Cold War. Some of us served in NATO, at the Berlin Wall, at Panmunjom, and some of us were getting shot at in places like Turkey. Some of us stayed "home" to suport 24/7 alert duty in fighter aircraft, B-52's, and in missile silos.
I would suggest that Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, and John Edwards never spent Christmas Eve refueling bombers or patrolling a SAC flightline in North Dakota in minus 70 degrees. Or even with a Texas ANG unit sitting NORAD alert against Cuban defectors, hijackers or Russian bombers probing our coastal perimeter.
Your absolutely right! Those smart mouthed spoiled brats have never done anything harder then picking their nose!
Seems like everyone has forgotten this point. Just because J-Effin-K was in Vietnam (he was, you know), doesn't make IT the only thing that matters!
or humpin' a MinutemanII on the flats of northern Montana at 70 below with a wind of 35mph!
That's true, and choosing usually meant a longer term of service.
But there's another implication in these charges against Bush: that his father's influence insured a safe, comfortable assignment. It's like his wealth: an unfair advantage that he cynically exploited at the expense of us ordinary people.
It disparages the accomplishments of any man who was assisted by his father. It's an insidious development, the notion that a father should not help his son. Notice that neither Kerry-oke nor John Ed speak of their own in gratitude. Part of Clinton's appeal to his constituency was the absence of his own father.
And notice the kind of men they are.
God bless you dads; see you at scouts ;-)
Bush couldn't fly. They're making that up. Kerry was in Vietnam, and was a real hero, like Audie Murphy.
Well-said. There are many forms of service. Terry McAuliffe, John Edwards, and the like cannot identify with the courage and selfless sacrifice that it takes to go through any kind of military training. They have not earned the right to be critical of anyone who has.
There are many Vietnam-era vets who served elsewhere during the Vietnam War years, just as there are many military members who are now serving in places other than Afghanistan and Iraq. These service members, at home and abroad, active duty, Reserves, or National Guard, past and present, were and are equally important for the protection and safety of our country.
Anyone who thinks flying the F-102 in the 1960's was a "safe comfortable assignment" is not dealing with reality and probably hasn't lost a family member in an air crash. My family has lost two.
I didn't mean to imply that. I just assumed, for the sake of argument,the allegation that H. helped W. I question how they could object to a father helping a son, or a son accepting a father's help.
bttt
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.