Former Dannelly worker: Bush not AWOL [another eyewitness steps forward]

THE DECATUR DAILY ^ | 2.16.04 | Eric Fleischauer

[ambrose]

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 Guard Base in Montgomery from Oct. 28, 1971, to Oct. 27, 1975. His office was less than 100 yards from the hangar where Bush performed drills.

Rumors say Bush went AWOL while assisting Winton "Red" Blount in an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate focus on 1972 and 1973.

Copeland, 65, remembers meeting Bush on two occasions. He does not remember the precise dates. On one occasion, Copeland said, Bush and Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun came to Copeland's office with a question about Bush's pay. Copeland is not sure, but he believes the question had to do with where to mail Bush's checks.

Bush was never a member of the Alabama National Guard, he just did his drills here. For that reason, Copeland thinks he referred the pay question to the paymaster for the Texas National Guard.

The other time Copeland remembers meeting Bush was at the base canteen. Bush was there drinking coffee or a soft drink, Copeland said.

Copeland stressed that Calhoun's account of Bush's service in Montgomery would be accurate because Calhoun was in a position to work with Bush during every drill. Calhoun told The Associated Press last week that he saw Bush every drill time, which was one weekend each month.

Not only was Calhoun in a position to know of Bush's service, Copeland said, but Calhoun "was an ethical and honest officer."

No easy treatment

The suggestion that he or anyone else gave Bush a break because of the family legacy bothers Copeland.

"You hear people saying that everybody (at Dannelly) knew the Bushes. Well, that's just a lie," Copeland said. "He was just another pilot. No one paid any more attention to him than to anyone else. There was no hoopla."

Copeland said Bush trained on an F-106 fighter plane in Texas, so he was not qualified to fly the planes at Dannelly. Dannelly had F-84 Thunderjets and, later, F-4 Phantoms.

The issue of whether Bush skipped his Air National Guard duties is not a new one.

Some Democrats have long questioned whether Bush continued his drills while absent from Texas for Blount's campaign.

Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Friday that the White House is making no effort to locate people who could document Bush's service.

Joe Holcombe, 71, of Joppa worked with Bush on the Blount campaign. He told THE DAILY last week that he remembers Bush missing at least one campaign meeting because of his National Guard drills.

While Copeland said he thinks claims that Bush was AWOL are baseless, he said one thing puzzles him.

"All Bush would have to do to get proof of his Alabama service is pick up the phone and contact military records," he said. "It seems a little odd that he hasn't done that."

Copeland also is puzzled by dental records that Bush produced as evidence of his duties at Dannelly.

"We had no dentist at Dannelly Field," Copeland said. "The only dentists were at Maxwell (Air Force Base)."

[Conservababe]

If a man had wanted to avoid combat duty in Nam, he would not have chosen to train as a fighter pilot, even in the Guard.

[river rat]

Eye witnesses.......
Now that's a novel concept....

I wonder if there are any eye witnesses coming forward to discuss the specifics of the events that led to Kerry's Bronze Star, Silver Star and 3 Purple Hearts....

I think Kerry's crew would be HAPPY to come forward and go on record.....
Perhaps the Corpsman that treated him, the field hospital?
After all - the gentleman he pulled from the river, came forward --- at a convenient time, ON CAMERA.. His gallant crew should not be denied their moment of fame and glory.

Inquiring minds would like to know...
Fair is fair....

Semper Fi

[Robert A Cook PE]

Keep upi this list:

But I'd recommend labelling each by title and relationship, else you will get confused!

Try to think 6 months ahead - When I'll need to get the "list" from you again.....

(Of course, Ragtime never forgets anything .... 8<)

[Free Trapper]

Agreed.I want "proof" that none of Kerry's minor wounds were self inflicted to get himself out of Vietnam.

I read that Kerry got "credit" for killing a mother,her baby,a 12 year old,others I don't recall and several South Vietnamese soldiers,OUR ALLIES.

He must have been for killing anything that moved.

I wonder if Kerry killed Americans,too?

[Robert A Cook PE]

There are no recorded witnesses.

Best we can tell from other enlisted in the boat squadron, Kerry wrote up his own Purple Heart and Silver Star recommendations.

For grabbing an RPG from the hands of a wounded VC Kerry had shot from behind while running away on shore.

(Kerry has never explained why he grounded his boat in combat and ran on shore to get the weapon.)

[Conservababe]

It is all so funny really. The more I think of it, the more I think that the Clintons are behind this military shoot out of Kerry and Bush by letting the pit bull McAwful loose so early.

[CommandoFrank]

Ha, this will shut up the Dumbocrats...

Ya, right!

[AmericanVictory]

Exactly. Four and there will be more.

[montag813]

So you totally disagree with Common Tator? Or have you read his analysis?

I would love to. Which post #?

[WOSG]

"We have seen Bush on the total defensive,"

You are 100% correct. But before you go on offense, you have to stop the other from making 1st downs.

this is a start to turning this around.

"The White House failed miserably by accepting this as a legitimate story to begin with, instead of ridiculing it out of hand, chastizing the press for mentioning it, .."

I disagree on this. If Bush can whip the tar out of this dog. It wont rise up later in the heat of the campaign. Lets hash it out now in February when it doesnt matter.

"deflecting the press onto Kerry's own outrageous behavior as an anti-war leader."

Good point. But we can go on offense on that now... See my other post "Who Really went AWOL?"


"So I fail to rejoice in articles such as this. It is a depressing reminder that the campaign so far has been entirely on Kerry's terms. Bush's team can learn from this, or continue running a defensive campaign like those of Jimmy Carter, Mike Dukakis and George H.W. Bush--with similar results."

Yes. But the good news is the election is 9 months away.

[My Dog Likes Me]

Excerpt from the Montgomery Advertiser, 13 Feb 04

start of excerpt-

On Wesnesday, a military dental exam was released, dated Jan. 6, 1973, and signed by Montgomery dentist James Andrew Harris, who was a captain with the 187th at the time.

The exam was routine and done for forensic purposes, in the event that an airman needed to be identified through dental records, said Harris, who did not recall examining Bush.

"We would do 40 or 50 exams per weekend. It was open your mouth and let's go. I would recognize them more from their open mouths," said Harris, who said there was nothing unusual about the president's dental record.

end of excerpt-

The 187th had around 800 members in 1972, FYI.

[patriciaruth]

As to the dentist. Bush just had his teeth cleaned. You only need a dental hygienist to do that. Was there a traveling dental hygienist who made stops at Donnelly?

[RobRoy]

Let me go on record:

My asking the question about the last two questions in the article was not about doubting the veracity of Bush's claims. Rather, I was lazy and hoping someone would tell me something like, "Yeah, that has already been covered," and then point me to the info.

I was really not questioning Bush, but rather trying, in a backhanded way, to see if the issue had been addressed.

That'll teach me to be lazy.

[backhoe]

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

[RottiBiz]

So we're up to six eye witnesses to GWB serving in Alabama:

Calhoun
the girlfriend
LaFever
the doctor
Holcombe
Copeland

What about Col. William J. Campenni?

Bush wanted to fly in Vietnam, Colonel says

[txrangerette]

"Which post#?"

Sorry, can't locate the post now.

Common Tator links to his Blog,
though. Go here to get his view:

http://www.raymalone.com/Feb152004

[alnick]

Camenni was with President Bush in Texas.

[RottiBiz]

LOL! No wonder no one was mentioning his name.

[FreeAtlanta]

At the risk of being redundant--the media didn't give a rat's rear end about Bill Clinton's lack of service. He wasn't in the Guard or the Reserves.

The left still doesn't care about AWOL, desertion or draft dodging, they just hope to supress conservative turnout.

[FreeAtlanta]

I think the AWOL attack played into President Bush's hands. It came early enough that he could afford to allow it to drag out - making the press look petty and bias. It came late enough that Kerry is basically locked in.

Now, with President Bush being "forced" to fully disclose or release his military records, Kerry is set up to have to fully release his records, or have serious doubt cast on his "hero" status.

Check-mate.