President Bush's military service was thoroughly examined in '00 by most people who cared. I don't have all of the details, but he didn't just spend a year to no account. As I remember it, the sequence was:
1. The plane on which he had trained was being phased out of service. Vietnam was winding down, and the military was dumping pilots. I work with a guy who was a Navy pilot from that time. We've never talked about it from a political perspective, but I've heard him telling stories about how pilots were being phased out of the service because there was no place for them.
2. George Bush was shuffled into a reserve unit to finish his service period. He was looking for work and was interested in helping a senate candidate in Alabama. He was hired by that campaign and had his service location transferred to Alabama.
3. The unit to which he was assigned didn't take things seriously. Instead of drilling for a weekend a month, they met for a few hours in the evening once a week or so. Many members treated it as a club, and few attended as regularly as they should. George Bush fell into this habit as well.
4. When the time came for him to leave the service, he was living in Houston again, and the issue of his missed drills had to be resolved before he could be discharged. He went to the Air Force and served a month of active duty doing whatever they needed in order to fulfill his obligation.
5. He was honorably discharged.
Certainly this history doesn't make him a hero, but it doesn't show any flaws either. In wanting to fly planes for the military, he was following his father's footsteps. There's nothing wrong with that desire or taking steps to pursue it. He didn't make it into a front line plane, but there's nothing to indicate that he was trying to shirk service. He was wrong to skip drills in Alabama, but when the unit is being handled the way that his unit was being handled, I don't see a major issue in his following what was a common practice. The important point is that he made everything right before he left the service.
For those who are determined to run him down, no explanation will matter. Maybe you are one of those people. For the rest of us, the truth shows that the charge of desertion is just a partisan, Democrat lie.
WFTR
Bill
No, I am not one of those. Just a disabled vet who wanted a reasonable -- and reasoned -- answer to the original question. You are the first person to provide that and I thank you for it. I know it would be a LOT more exciting if I was some sort of left wing mole sent to the site, but truth is my only sin [from what I can tell from the tenor of this site] is that I was a big McCain supporter in 2000. I DO plead guilty to that, and my resignation will be on your desk in the morning. By the way, I have forwarded the main parts of your post to colleagues of mine. It truly is the best explanation of this issue I have seen. Thanks again.