Bush Fell Short on Duty at Guard: Records Show Pledges Unmet
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/08/bush_fell_short_on_duty_at_guard/
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From the Boston Globe:
George Bush is one of the few presidents who's worn a military uniform while in office, in spite of the fact that men far more qualified than he chose not to. This is the man who's had his Vice President, his campaign strategist, and his father all support the dishonest, widely disproved Swift Veteran attack ads on actual Vietnam veteran John Kerry, while Bush himself has refused to specifically denounce those ads.
In February, when the White House made public hundreds of pages of President Bush's military records, White House officials repeatedly insisted that the records prove that Bush fulfilled his military commitment in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
But Bush fell well short of meeting his military obligation, a Globe reexamination of the records shows: Twice during his Guard service -- first when he joined in May 1968, and again before he transferred out of his unit in mid-1973 to attend Harvard Business School -- Bush signed documents pledging to meet training commitments or face a punitive call-up to active duty.
He didn't meet the commitments, or face the punishment, the records show. The 1973 document has been overlooked in news media accounts. The 1968 document has received scant notice.
George Bush is one of the few presidents who's worn a military uniform while in office, in spite of the fact that men far more qualified than he chose not to. This is the man who's had his Vice President, his campaign strategist, and his father all support the dishonest, widely disproved Swift Veteran attack ads on actual Vietnam veteran John Kerry, while Bush himself has refused to specifically denounce those ads.