Posted on 08/27/2004 3:46:59 AM PDT by kattracks
This is the only place that you will get the full and true story of President Bush’s Air National Guard service. There are no UNANSWERED questions. There are no missing records. He did not miss any meetings. The truth is known. You can find everything in this article, in other publications but none of the others are complete. You have to put them all together to get the full story. It is a shame that our national "objective" media refuse to do their job and put the whole story together.First, in answer to the charge that Bush was AWOL or missed meetings, George Bush was NEVER assigned to the Alabama Guard. This is a myth promoted by the "objective" media. Here is what really happened. Here is what the head of the Alabama Guard said.
Turnipseed states Bush was never ordered to report to the Alabama Air National Guard. He points out that Bush never transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama Air National Guard. He remained in the Texas Guard during his stay in Alabama. This was confirmed by the Texas Guard. And Turnipseed added that Bush was never under his command or any other officer in the Alabama Guard.
Turnipseed added that Bush was informed of the drill schedule of the Alabama Guard as a courtesy so he could get credit for drills while in Alabama for his service record in the Texas Guard. There was no compulsory attendance. This was also confirmed by the Texas Guard.
This was reported in the Chicago Sun-Times and has never been picked up by any other news organization. Turnipseed then also added.
For Bush to be "AWOL" or "away without leave," he would have had to have been assigned to a unit and under its command.
For the liberals reading this, go back and read it again. You see, Bush did NOT miss any meetings. The whole argument is nonsense. He got permission from his commanding officer to go to Alabama and attend meetings as a courtesy so he could attend when he could. Another part of this attack is that no one saw Bush at the meetings he did attend. It was reported that Turnipseed never saw Bush. Read what was reported about that.
Turnipseed reversed gear after retired Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun went public to say that not only did he remember Bush in Alabama, but that it was Turnipseed himself that introduced the two. Oops. And really...the media is completely asleep at the switch on this one. How many people that you saw a few times do you remember from 30 years ago?
Why didn’t fellow pilots see Bush in Alabama? The planes being flown by the Alabama Guard were not the same as the F102 that Bush was trained on. Why would pilots see him if he was not flying? That is why Lt. Col. Calhoun came forward to say that was Bush was in his office for study and drill time. Remember he was not assigned to the unit, he did NOT have to be there.
The following is from a letter by Col. William Campenni Ret. published in the Washington Times.
There was one big exception to this abusive use of the Guard to avoid the draft, and that was for those who wanted to fly, as pilots or crew members. Because of the training required, signing up for this duty meant up to 2½½ years of active duty for training alone, plus a high probability of mobilization. A fighter-pilot candidate selected by the Guard (such as Lt. Bush and me) would be spending the next two years on active duty going through basic training (six weeks), flight training (one year), survival training (two weeks) and combat crew training for his aircraft (six to nine months), followed by local checkout (up to three more months) before he was even deemed combat-ready. Because the draft was just two years, you sure weren't getting out of duty being an Air Guard pilot. If the unit to which you were going back was an F-100, you were mobilized for Vietnam. Avoiding service? Yeah, tell that to those guys. The Bush critics do not comprehend the dangers of fighter aviation at any time or place, in Vietnam or at home, when they say other such pilots were risking their lives or even dying while Lt. Bush was in Texas. Our Texas ANG unit lost several planes right there in Houston during Lt. Bush's tenure, with fatalities. Just strapping on one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one's life.
Here is some information that the "objective" media avoids telling you. John Kerry joined the Navy Reserve, he did not JOIN the Navy. The Reserve was just like the National Guard. Kerry did NOT know he would be sent to Vietnam.
George Bush joined the Guard for a SIX-year term. If you are drafted, you only have to serve TWO years. Bush probably did not need to pull strings to get into a jet fighter unit. Jets required a greater time commitment than normal Guard postings. Pilots from the unit that he joined were being sent to Vietnam. All the publications that have researched this have concluded that there is NO evidence that he used any influence to get into the Guard. The liberal publications will say that there is no evidence, but it is still suspicious. That is a good journalistic standard? So, do you get it, Bush joined a unit that at the time was serving in Vietnam.
The following is research from aerospaceweb.org ........
Nevertheless, we have established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for periods of three to six months for frontline duty. Fred Bradley, a friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG, reported that he and Bush inquired about participating in the Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a superior, MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified since they were still in training and did not have the 500 hours of flight experience required. Furthermore, ANG veteran COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS at the time, told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was winding down and not accepting new applicants.
As he was completing training and being certified as a qualified F-102 pilot, Bush's squadron was a likely candidate to be rotated to Vietnam. However, the F-102 was built for a type of air combat that wasn't seen during that conflict, and the plane was withdrawn from southeast Asia in December 1969. The F-102 was instead returned to its primary role of providing air defense for the United States. In addition, the mission of Ellington AFB, where Bush was stationed, was also changing from air defense alert to training all F-102 pilots in the US for Air National Guard duty. Lt. Bush remained in the ANG as a certified F-102 pilot who participated in frequent drills and alerts through April of 1972. ... By this time, the 147th Fighter Wing was also beginning to transition from the F-102 to the F-101F, an updated version of the F-101B used primarily for air defense patrols. Furthermore, the war in Vietnam was nearing its end and the US was withdrawing its forces from the theater. Air Force personnel returning to the US created a glut of active-duty pilots, and there were not enough aircraft available to accommodate all of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. Since USAF personnel had priority for the billets available, many of the Air National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete requested early release. The ANG was eager to fulfill these requests because there was not enough time to retrain F-102 pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the transition, and he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in October 1973, eight months before his six-year enlistment was complete. Bush had approximately 600 flight hours by the time he completed his military service.
The folks at aerospaceweb concluded.........
While Bush did not see combat in Vietnam, it is also obvious he was not seeking a way to avoid the risk of being sent to Vietnam. At the time he was training to be an F102 pilot, ANG units and that aircraft type were based in Vietnam.
In conclusion, there is no evidence Bush got special treatment to join the Guard. He did NOT miss any meetings, he was not assigned to the Alabama Guard. The reason the so called "objective" media holds on to this myth is that it lets them keep asking, where was Bush? The issue of his being grounded is also answered because he would no longer be flying since his plane was obsolete and he did not have enough Guard time left to train in a new jet. You don’t need to report for a physical if you are not flying. Duh!
Kerry joined the Navy Reserve and did not expect to go to Vietnam. When Kerry did go to Vietnam the swift boats were not during river patrols. They were doing coastal patrols and were not in much danger. That is when he volunteered to join the Swiftee’s. The assignment of those boats was changed after he was accepted for the duty. Surprise, he got action and the rest is disputed history.
The information in this article was published in "George Magazine", "New York Times", "Washington Times", "Chicago Sun-Times", "Washington Post" and aerospaceweb.org.
About the Writer: Gordon Bloyer has been called a Renaissance man by Ronn Owens of KGO radio in San Francisco. Rush Limbaugh read from a letter by Gordon on his national radio show. President Ronald Reagan invited Gordon to the White House to thank him for his support. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows. The Gordon Bloyer Show can be seen at http://gordonbloyershow.com .
I give up .. my typing skills stink .. grr
was be = would be
28 - Excellent letter, generally.
However, there is one error, which should be corrected:
"Also, the formal drug testing program was not instituted by the Air Force until the 1980s "
I was 'the man'. I had the additional duty of squadron drug control officer, to assure everyone took their tests, and I was appointed to this on 1st implementation in the Air Force, in 1971 or 1972. (I don't remember the exact year, but I do remember my assignment, and the various contoversies and discussions we had upon implementation of the program.
70 - Good point - "But has anyone noticed that Cheney is OLDER then John Kerry??
The cut off age for the draft was 26 years of age .. they didn't draft you after that age and if you were married with children "
"Born in 1941 ... Mr. Cheney married his high school sweetheart, Lynne Ann Vincent, in 1964, and they have grown daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, and three granddaughters. "
77 - great Cheney summary - thanks howlin Put this together with your post #75, and it pretty much wraps it up.
Interesting - Kerry is saying Cheney got 5 deferments, and he had two tours in vietnam in 4 months.
How did Kerry get '2 tours' in 4 months?
Are you seeing this crap on FNC of what was said at Kerry's rally today???
How could Edwards be drafted before that date? This lottery was conducted for men who would have been called in 1973; however, no new draft orders were issued after 1972.
Am I missing something?
He was elgible for the draft in 1971, when he gradudated from high school.
He certainly COULD have volunteered to go.
Well, that's a question that you and I will NEVER understand, friend. We don't seem to do the math the way they do!
btt
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Edwards was not/not eligible for the draft in 1971.
Question .. was it known AT THAT TIME the draft would have ended in 73?
We're arguing semantics here.
As somebody said on another thread,
I think the point is that, although Vice President Cheney is apparently a bad guy for opting to stay home with his wife and daughter instead of volunteering, the unmarried Senator Edwards, with no family at home to support, is a great guy even though he didn't volunteer either
Thanks for the ping Howlin...bookmarked. :-)
In the summer of 1967 Dick Cheney was a married 26 year old man with a daughter. Twenty-six year old men cannot be drafted but he was married and had a daughter before he turned 26 and that means he had two deferments.
Dick Cheney had also - attended Community College - and then University. Since any slick lawyer-type can tell you transferring schools can legally be counted as two deferments, that brings the total to four. (Never mind that he acquired both of these years before Vietnam was a war, or had a draft).
So what is number 5? Well in 1965 the US sent its first contingent of 3,500 Marines to Vietnam. (The draft would begin in earnest in 1966-67), Only a few years earlier in 1964-65, that damn Dick Cheney began applying for graduate schools and grad school acceptance counts as another.
So, if you believe John Kerry’s version of events, Dick Cheney began dodging the Vietnam draft five (or six) years before troops were being drafted and sent there.
The fact is that Dick Cheney: - was accepted to community college - was accepted to the U of Wyoming - was accepted to graduate school - was married - was an expectant father all MORE THAN A YEAR before the draft began.
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:1m3IK-4k1dIJ:www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1206498/posts+dick+cheney,+deferments&hl=en
HARKIN: DENOUNCED CHENEY'S 'DODGE,' BUT NOT EDWARDS'.
NY Post ^ | August 19, 2004 | ERIC FETTMANN
Dick Cheney a "coward" because he didn't serve in Vietnam.
Referring to Cheney's criticism of Kerry's record on the war on terrorism, Harkin — who was a Naval fighter pilot — declared: "When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil."
There was no criticism of Harkin's name-calling from the Kerry camp, which frankly is a little surprising. The name-calling aside, Dick Cheney wasn't the only American who sat out the war by using legitimate student deferments, after all.
John Edwards, in fact, did the exact same thing, albeit in a later stage of the war. But you're not likely to hear Harkin denouncing Kerry's runningmate as a coward.
Kerry, to be sure, labeled as "inappropriate" Tuesday a new commercial by his shadow campaign, the far-left folks at MoveOn.org, which accuses President Bush of having "used his father to get into the National Guard and when the chips were down went missing."
The Democratic candidate, acting at the instigation of GOP Sen. John McCain, also insisted that "this should be a campaign of issues, not insults."
Which is all well and good — except that just hours after that statement, the Kerry campaign organized a conference in which two high-profile ex-military supporters simply parroted the MoveOn commercial's line.
Bush "scrambled and used his family's influence to get out of hearing a shot fired in anger," said failed presidential candidate Wesley Clark, a former commander of NATO — who never had a problem with Bush's military record or even his policies until the ex-general decided he was destined to live in the White House.
Added Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, Jimmy Carter's CIA director (somewhat akin to being lookout on the Titanic): "[Bush] used his family...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:xwZI3QB7nagJ:www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1194876/posts+dick+cheney,+deferment&hl=en
Vietnam Lies (more piles of Harkin)
Wall Street Journal ^ | August 19, 2004 | Editorial
Posted on 08/19/2004 5:43:02 AM PDT by OESY
We wish this Presidential election had nothing at all to do with Vietnam. There were good people who served and good people who didn't, good people who supported the war and good people who protested it. What happened really shouldn't be an issue more than 30 years later unless you lie about it. So why do the Democrats keep bringing Vietnam up, and to their own detriment?
John Kerry, for starters, has made his four-month service in that country the centerpiece of his campaign. But just last week his staff was forced to admit the Senator had been inaccurate, to put it charitably, when he claimed on multiple occasions to have spent Christmas Eve of 1968 in Cambodia while (he also said) the U.S. government was lying about his presence there.
Now comes Tom Harkin. On Monday the Iowa Senator lashed out at Dick Cheney, claiming the Vice President had no right to criticize Mr. Kerry's policies for the war on terror because Mr. Cheney had a deferment back then: "When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil."
"Coward"? Such a comment would take chutzpah coming from anyone. But Senator Harkin is a proven fabricator when it comes to his own Vietnam-era record, as shown during his own failed 1992 Presidential bid....
It turned out Mr. Harkin had not seen combat and was stationed in Japan....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1194549/posts
I was in the Air Guard around that time and you are absolutely correct.
As political strategists in both parties mulled over the Cheney choice yesterday, they saw little risk in Bush's move: After all, in 1992, Bill Clinton, who actively avoided service during the Vietnam War, took the White House away from President Bush, who was the Navy's youngest pilot during World War II.
William D. McInturff, a Republican poll taker who worked earlier this year for Senator John McCain, said a Vietnam War credential retains potential for drawing voters. But, McInturff said, "Bill Clinton changed the equation. If he could dodge the draft and be elected president, it will be hard for the Democrats to say that Governor Bush's National Guard service or Dick Cheney's deferments are disqualifying."
I still don't get how they are coming up with the number five
Unless Kerry is counting every year Cheney went to college and if that's the case, then Kerry and Edwards falls in the same category
Other freepers have mentioned that you didn't apply for a deferment until you rec'd a draft notice .. remember Kerry enlisted instead of being drafted, because his deferment was turned down.
So that would also lead me to believe that either Cheney didn't receive a draft notice (since he was a class 1A) or he rec'd one for college. and possible one other one when he was 26 married with a child.. because the rules of draft didn't apply to 26 and over and married with a child.
As for Edwards ..I don't know if he got a deferment .. but I do remember my parents AT THE TIME being worried about my 2 older brothers being drafted .. They are around the same age as Edwards. They weren't drafted but both did eventually join the marines .. 1 brother stayed in till 1996
MEGA THX
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