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Retired general: Enough on Bush William R. Turnipseed, who has been at the center of the Bush military service case, did not donate to Edwards, and he says Alzheimer's remark was a joke 02/22/04 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter MONTGOMERY -- Four years ago, a reporter from the Boston Globe called retired Brig. Gen. William R. Turnipseed to ask whether he remembered George W. Bush reporting for duty with the Air National Guard unit in Montgomery then commanded by Turnipseed. He responded: "Had he reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not. I had been in...

<p>February 15, 2004 -- Serious doubts have been raised about the stories of two key Alabama National Guard figures who questioned whether President Bush showed up for weekend duty there in the early 1970s.</p> <p>Retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, the 187th's Tactical Reconnaissance Group's former commander, recanted his statement that he couldn't remember if Bush reported for duty, now saying his memory is faulty because he's in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.</p>

Bush records fail to disprove charges By Bob Dart and Bob Deans COX NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON - President Bush released a stack of his Air National Guard records Friday evening, but there appeared to be no new documentation to blunt Democratic charges that he shirked his duty while on temporary assignment in Alabama in 1972. Meanwhile, a retired Alabama Air National Guard officer said he remembers Bush showing up for duty in Alabama in 1972, reading safety magazines and flight manuals in an office as he performed his weekend obligations. However, the time John Calhoun says Bush was in the...

Alabama commander regrets Bush comments National Guard boss says he couldn't recall if president attended meetingsBy Jim Cummins Correspondent NBC News Updated: 5:34 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2004DALLAS - The flap over President Bush's military service in the Texas Air National Guard really comes down to what he says he did from May 1972 to May 1973 and evidence and recollection from that time. Now, the military officer at the center of the row regrets he ever got involved. advertisement Much of the controversy stems from an article in the "Boston Globe" during the 2000 election when the commander of...

National Guard boss says he couldn't recall if president attended The flap over President Bush's military service in the Texas Air National Guard really comes down to what he says he did from May 1972 to May 1973 and evidence and recollection from that time. Now, the military officer at the center of the row regrets he ever got involved.

Media failed to find facts behind Bush's service record February 11, 2004BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB President Bush has had a rough 10 days, beginning with the Tim Russert "Meet the Press" interview on Feb. 1 of Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who charged Bush was "AWOL" and "never served in the military." Only a week later, Bush asked to appear on Russert's show in a clear attempt to stem the damage from these charges. For over a week they were endlessly repeated and never analyzed by the news media. But the only basis for these charges was summarized by London's...

Walter V. Robinson is the Boston Globe reporter who originally reported the Bush AWOL story based largely on misrepresenting the casual remarks of Brig. Gen. Turnipseed. He has a history of such things, apparently. Here is a court decision upholding a libel suit against him, brought by a Republican Candidate he slandered in one of his stories: John R. Lakian v. Globe Newspaper Company & another n1 n1 Walter V. Robinson. No. N-4200 Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 399 Mass. 379; 504 N.E.2d 1046; 1987 Mass. LEXIS 1172; 13 Media L. Rep. 2368   November 6, 1986, Argued   March...

Julian Coman reports from Washington on how the campaign for the US presidency is already being hijacked by the spectre of the Vietnam War. If the Vietnam veteran John Kerry becomes the next president of the United States, there will one man to thank above all others: retired Brigadier General William Turnipseed. Turnipseed's testimony has helped us open up President Bush's flank on national security and patriotism," said a member of the Kerry team. "If Kerry does become our candidate after the primaries, everything's there to play for." Gen Turnipseed is the former commander of the 187th Air Squadron in...

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...

The ex-military man who first launched charges during the 2000 presidential campaign that President Bush had gone AWOL from the National Guard has recanted his story. The account from Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, who told the Boston Globe four years ago that Bush never showed for Guard drills with his Alabama unit, had become the centerpiece of Democratic attacks on the White House in recent days. "Had [Bush] reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not," Gen. Turnipseed told the Globe in May 2000. "I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we...

William Turnipseed is the man who is solely responsible for the claim that Bush was AWOL during his National Guard service. Here is a thread on the subject. Man Behind Bush AWOL Charge Is John Edwards Supporter Will Turnipseed is also a contributor to the John Edwards campaign. He did his Guard duty in Montgomery Alabama and has now retired there. It turns out that there is another prominent Turnipseed. He is the president of the South Carolina Trial lawyers association, Tom Turnipseed. (Edwards is largely bankrolled by trial lawyer groups.) Tom Turnipseed is 68 years old (Will is 71)....

The man who is almost single-handedly behind the story that Bush was AWOL is William Turnipseed of Alabama. Here is an excerpt from one story recently posted here at FR: "The media is now re-examining the story, though, and the Bush-haters are quite happy about it. As this story in today's Washington Post indicates, there is plenty of evidence Bush was not AWOL from his Guard duties. Indeed, one of the foundational pieces of the Bush-haters' lie is the failure of a colonel in Alabama to recall Bush ever being on post. Reached in Montgomery yesterday, Turnipseed stood by his...