Debunking The Bush AWOL Story - From The Horse's Mouth

Brig. Gen. Turnipseed | February 6, 2004 | Hon

[Hon]

I just got off the phone about an hour ago with Brig. Gen. William R. Turnipseed. He is the sole source for the four year old story that Bush was AWOL during his National Guard service.

Mr. Turnipseed is very unhappy with the way what he said "casually" four years ago has been twisted by the "Bush haters" (his words) in the media, especially the Boston Globe (who first reported the story) and the New York Times.

In a nutshell here is what happened, according to Turnipseed. Back in 1972 his Alabama National Guard unit received a letter from Bush (who was in the Texas Nation Guard) asking if he while he was in Alabama do some equivalancy training with the Alabama unit.

Turnipseed said that this request was as a matter of routine turned over to his administrative assistant, Lott, who wrote back to Bush, giving him the dates of the next unit drills. Lott told Bush he could report for those dates.

Neither Turnipseed nor Lott can now remember whether Bush appeared for these drills or not. Turnipseed says he himself might not have even been around the base at the time, so he wouldn't know one way or the other. And he says he has always said this.

The points Turnipseed wanted to stress are these: Bush was never ordered to report for duty to his unit. Since Bush was in the Texas National Guard and Turnipseed was in the Alabama National Guard, he couldn't have ordered him even if he had wanted to. But he didn't want to.

He (or his assistant, Lott) simply gave Bush the dates he could report if he wanted to do equivalency training with them. There were no orders given. If he showed up or didn't show up, it wasn't their concern.

Additionally, Turnipseed says that he never once said anything about Bush being "AWOL." He said it isn't even a term used in the National Guard. And anyway, as already noted, Bush's training record was not his concern, but the Texas National Guard's.

He said that since the Texas National Guard gave him an honorable discharge it shows that he fulfilled his training requirements.

Turnipseed said that the media has constantly misrepresented what he said and edited him so as to make Bush look bad.

He also said that he had no idea who Bush was, and that he certainly didn't do him any special favors. Nor would he have.

He said that when he first spoke to the Boston Globe reporter about this four years ago he didn't realize he was talking to a "Bush hater."

Turnipseed is a strong Bush supporter. He said that he has been contacted many times especially recently, by "Bush haters" in the media, who try to get him to say that Bush was AWOL. Once they realize that he won't cooperate they lose interest in talking to him. When they do quote him, they say he is backpedaling--even though he is still saying the same exact thing he told them four years ago.

He has been recently asked to go on with Peter Jennings and NBC's Dateline, but he is concerned that they will edit him in such a way as to misrepresent his story again. I have been in touch with Fox news, in hopes that they will have somebody talk to him and try to present his story fairly.

Bottom line, this whole AWOL story was media spin from the git-go. The Boston Globe reporter simply cherry picked Turnipseed's comments and totally misrepresented him--to make Bush look bad.

And the media are still doing it four years later. They should be ashamed--but they have no shame. They have only their agenda.

[elcid1970]

Muy dumb question: Are the two Turnipseeds related? As a Columbia native I have been tortured with Tom T.'s smarmy drawl on local radio for decades. Fortunately, his show is cancelled with a metronome-like regularity, which he always blames on the local right-wing conspiracy. What must his brother (if it's so) think?

[Humidston]

From your link:

Eric Alterman on MSNBC.com, October 31, 2000 He was cleared to attend weekend drills in October and November. But two of the 187thâ??s officers said Bush never appeared. One of them, retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, says he is â??dead-certain he didnâ??t show up.â? Bush, who refuses all interviews on the subject, says he was there, but canâ??t remember anything he did. His campaign can find no records to corroborate this.

[gitmo]

Bookmark for later read.

[My2Cents]

Gee, thanks for the link...I now feel soiled. ;-)

[Freee-dame]

And the media are still doing it four years later. They should be ashamed--but they have no shame. They have only their agenda

The leftist media didn't have the internet to contend with four years ago like it is today. Let's hope the truth will finally come out to the masses.

[ThomasPaine2000]

No, That that information is not required on the NGB Form 22. That information would have been documented on AF Form 40, NGB Form 105, or a certified copy of Special Orders /Travel Orders during that period of time.

In my opinion, the one document that can solve this matter, one way or the other, is the AF Form 526, ANG/USAFR POINT CREDIT SUMMARY. All ANG and AF Reserve personnel receive a copy of print out once a year, every year. It is a summary of all types of training and dates performed. It is detailed for the last year. i.e each date of Annual Training Training, UTA,EQT,ECI points, etc.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Thank you for debunking this one here on GWB.

What do you make of the allegations that Prescott Bush traded with Nazi Germany that are also out there on the web?

[EGPWS]

The leftist media didn't have the internet to contend with four years ago like it is today.

Freedom can lead to frustration for some can't it?

Give the leftist media time to catch up and....they will STILL be scratching their heads in confusion.

[Bluntpoint]

One of them, retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, says he is â??dead-certain he didnâ??t show up.â? Bush, who refuses all interviews on the subject, says he was there, but canâ??t remember anything he did.

Call the EMTs, you just had a stroke!!!

[The Raven]

Now we just have to debunk the other 9,999,999 things the Dems said.

Maybe it's easier to find the truths?

[NYCVirago]

Bump.

[backhoe]

Hon, whether this will put the quietus to this slander, or just fade into the background noise of "all the other stories the Bush-Haters propagate" is anyone's guess, but I will cross-link it here:

-The Real Military Record of George W. Bush: Not Heroic, but Not AWOL, Either-The Original Story--

[not-an-ostrich]

Do we know the name of the Boston Globe reporter who misrepresented Mr. Turnipseed?

[SkyPilot]

I hope this story makes it onto Fox News.

[MeekOneGOP]

Hey, thanks !

[The G Man]

Bump!!!

[q_an_a]

thanks for your post.

[YaYa123]

Dpes your conversation coincide with the Washington Post column of yesterday? I provided link at # 185.

[Hon]

"Do we know the name of the Boston Globe reporter who misrepresented Mr. Turnipseed?"

Further up the thread is a link to some of the original reporting on this story, which includes a copy of the first Boston Globe story:

http://awol.gq.nu/AWOL_Globe%20series.htm

The reporter was Walter V. Robinson.

[Hon]

"What do you make of the allegations that Prescott Bush traded with Nazi Germany that are also out there on the web?"

I've actually posted about that several times here. For example on this thread:

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1064618/posts

LaRouche Sets Frightening Example in Campaign
The Yale Daily News ^ | January 15, 2004 | Boris Volodarsky

To: quidnunc
"LaRouche does a lot of his conspiracy-mongering in Europe, and is involved with right-wing Euro extremists who are contributing to the rise of anti-Semitism on the continent."

LaRouche is the person behind the story about W's grandfather, Prescott Bush "financing Hitler".

The first book to bring up this fantasy was written by two of his employees.

13 posted on 01/24/2004 3:59:29 PM PST by Hon
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To: jedi
"Why do you think Prescott Bush and his bank were sanctioned by the US gov't?"

Neither Bush nor Union bank were sanctioned. The Union bank stocks were seized. They were registered in the name of its seven directors. Bush had ONE share. (Democrat eminent gris) Averell Harriman had 3,991 shares.

The stocks were seized in 1942 by the Alien Property Custodian office because the Union Banking was owned by a Dutch bank which was "closely affiliated" with the German conglomerate United Steel Works--which was owned by Thyssen.

Harriman and Bush were partners in Brown, Harriman and Co., which handled the financial transactions of for Union Bank.

Fritz Thyssen had broken with the Nazis in 1938. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1941 and spent the next four years in Nazi concentration camp.

None of the seven directors were prosecuted. These kind of seizures were carried out against literally scores (even hundreds) of US companies.

The same thing would happen if we went to war with China or say Japan tomorrow.

44 posted on 01/24/2004 6:20:23 PM PST by Hon
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To: jedi
BTW, just a fun bit of trivia--the current Mrs. John Kerry Heinz met her first husband, H. John Heinz III while he was WORKING for UNION BANK in Switzerland.

http://www.library.cmu.edu/Research/Archives/Heinz/HJH_Bio.html

So Kerry is currently living off of NAZI MONEY if this Nazi connection to Union Bank claim is true.

49 posted on 01/24/2004 8:22:42 PM PST by Hon
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