Perspectives on President Bush's service in the National Guard [GAG ALERT]

The Miami Herald ^ | 17 February 2004 | Various Authors

[MegaSilver]

During the Vietnam draft, many young men tried to join the National Guard, which was extremely difficult. Although I will vote against President Bush, I will never hold his serving in the Guard against him. He was honorable in exercising another service option.

Golden Beach

During the president's National Guard service, his ''satisfactory'' annual points earned place him well below what most guardsmen accumulated in a year. Most reserve programs required a total of 38 days for each full year in the program. Reservists who failed to meet the participation levels were dropped and referred back to their local draft boards.

ALAN LIDSTONE, Venice

What offends Americans is not the quality of President Bush's service, but that he used family connections to secure a Reserve post that was extremely difficult to obtain -- with no ROTC or Officer Candidate experience to qualify him. He then was slack in fulfilling his relatively minor obligations and has lied about taking the easy way out.

STEVE HOROWITZ, Hollywood

If an impartial examination reveals that President Bush was absent without leave and still received an honorable discharge, then that discharge should be changed to reflect his true service.

It would be an affront to worthy military men to be commanded by a man without honor.

THOMAS L. GARCIA-MONES, Miami

Regardless of the alleged time gaps in President Bush's Guard service, the real issue is that his father used political connections to keep him out of harm's way.

Conversely, John McCain was also from a distinguished family and served in combat in Vietnam, suffering five years of imprisonment.

HERBERT SIEGEL, Hollywood

[MegaSilver]

This is the first time I've heard some of these. Do they even have any substantiation? Sounds like MoveOn.org conspiracy-monging.

[observer5]

Yeah, and for Kerry to call the Vietam soldiers war criminals, IS OK!!!

What a bunch of morons.

[Gordian Blade]

I guarantee that all or most of these people had no problem voting for Bill Clinton in 92 and/or 96 against his Republican opponents who served in WW2. Time to "move on" to another topic; there's no meat left on this bone.

[GrandEagle]

It would be an affront to worthy military men to be commanded by a man without honor.
LOL!! As compared to WHO? Clinton?
I not even a fanatical Bush fan, but above anything else he has restored honor to the office of Commander in Chief.

[LetsRok]

Theses idiots never mention that Kerry avoided being drafted into the infantry by quickly joining the Navy. He assumed that he would be miles offshore away from the fighting. When the mission of the Navy changed and he had to patrol rivers close to real fighting, he petitioned for a discharge as soon as he could find a loophole.

[Jaxter]

I came from a small town in Ohio. Every person that I knew that wanted in the Guard or Reserve was accepted. All of the affluent kids went to college. Those that did neither enlisted (like myself) or were drafted. Needless to say, the 2 sons of the lady that ran the local draft board were 4-F.

[onedoug]

Even if W's service hadn't been right, Jimma Carter pardoned everyone, rendering the draft dodger's "service" as good as the slain heroe's, in damnocrat eyes.

[tbpiper]

It would be an affront to worthy military men to be commanded by a man without honor.

That's why it's such a good thing that clinton/gore are gone and why kerry should never be given the chance.

[tbpiper]

It would be an affront to worthy military men to be commanded by a man without honor.

That's why it's such a good thing that clinton/gore are gone and why kerry should never be given the chance.

[Slipperduke]

Sorry, I don't usually post, but you just made me laugh so much. You know, I did toy with the idea of signing on this website with the intention of being, what I believe is called, a troll. But then I saw that a lot of Freepers actually had well-thought out arguements and, more than that, an obvious right of respect for their point of view. So I swiftly dropped an plans to mess about and merely lurked, reading entries.

But this one is just silly. Bush is not a man of honour. The simple fact is that he is asking brave men and women to give their lives when he brazenly pulled in family connections to avoid doing the same. He is a man who, it is swiftly becoming clear, misled the world on WMD to start his war. He is a man who ran for the hills on 9-11 and didn't show up in NYC for 3 days. I'm not a rabid liberal, I'm fairly cynical of both the left and the right wings.
But, Bush? A Man of Honour? GrandEagle, you have made my day.

[MegaSilver]

The simple fact is that he is asking brave men and women to give their lives when he brazenly pulled in family connections to avoid doing the same.

And yet no one can substantiate the claim of "brazenly pulling family connections."

[MegaSilver]

The simple fact is that he is asking brave men and women to give their lives when he brazenly pulled in family connections to avoid doing the same.

And yet no one can substantiate the claim of "brazenly pulling family connections."

[alloysteel]

"For the good of the service"

Many discharges were processed with that dictum in mind. The fact is, such a flood of recently separated servicemen were coming back to continental US in late 1972 and early 1973, there was simply not room to billet them, nor significant duty for them to perform. When an army is demobilizing, and the equipment is being mothballed or sold as surplus, the quickest way to reduce costs is reduce the payroll. Part of this could be shifted to the reserves, of which the Air National Guard is a part. But not all service specialties are equal. F-102 pilots were definitely an excess specialty, since the aircraft was being phased out and retired for good, as obsolete. For Bush, or any other flying officer with as little time remaining in the reserve, to retrain in another aircraft specialty, was poor allocation of resources, and the quick thing was to cut payroll. Failure to appear for training duty is an actionable offense under the UCMJ, but the service member may be excused from duty if no mission exists for that period of time. Otherwise you have first lieutenants pulling KP duty. And when is the last time you saw that happen.

[Slipperduke]

His Dad was a major political player.

He ended up in Alabama flying rickety old jet planes around just in case the VC made a raid on the Deep South.

No-one even remembers him turning up for that.

I believe you Americans have a saying: You do the Math?

[KellyAdmirer]

He is a man who ran for the hills on 9-11 and didn't show up in NYC for 3 days.

I won't bother responding to the other parts of this troll post, but will point out that a) President Bush didn't "run for the hills" on 9/11, but rather did what the Secret Service felt was necessary, and b) liberals I have known thought that he went to NYC too soon, supposedly disrupting rescue efforts (that's a laugh), not too late, but regardless, they get driven mad by the images of him being honored by the rescue workers there. Clearly, it is impossible for President Bush to do right by people like this troll, which speaks volumes about them and their petty partisan bickering and not at all about a fine President.

The liberals are starting to go over the top on this, best way to fire up our base.

[Slipperduke]

KellyAdmirer, as I made a point of saying, I have no intention of being seen as a troll. I'm not here to throw abuse about, it's not constructive. I already said that I have the utmost respect for your website and your views. You're right to mention petty partisan bickering, I doubt they'd ever be a leftwing version of your website, it would tear itself apart in the first week.

Besides, it appears that you've already 'fired up your base' with the fake Kerry/Fonda pictures you've been knocking out! Looks like Bush is running scared.

As I said, however, I'm neither left or right, just cynical. And British. Terrible combination.

[alloysteel]

No one can, in all honesty, say that George W. Bush is not a personally courageous person. Simply getting into the cockpit of that flying stovepipe with wings, the F-102, shows more gumption than most people can muster. As a combat aircraft, it was a gonad-buster, and a number of those who piloted these sleek and deadly cruisers did not see their 30th birthday. They were a hazardous vehicle to try to control in the best of circumstances, and totally unforgiving of pilot error. That Bush flew one, and flew it well, is a testament to something.

So when he came in as the co-pilot landing on the carrier deck, he came with serious bona fide skills. He may have been a little rusty, but that is why he was flying as co-pilot.

If you really can do it, it ain't bragging. And the GIs respected him for the show.

[GrandEagle]

The simple fact is that he is asking brave men and women to give their lives when he brazenly pulled in family connections to avoid doing the same. He is a man who, it is swiftly becoming clear, misled the world on WMD to start his war. He is a man who ran for the hills on 9-11 and didn't show up in NYC for 3 days.
I'm glad you I could entertain you. While I'll have to agree with you about the Iraq war, I would respectfully have to disagree with you about his guard service. During wartime, being a pilot in the guard and reserves is not the place to go to avoid battle.
As far as "running for the hills" as you call it, he followed the plan for the Commander in Chief if our nation was under attack. His JOB at the time of attack is to stay out of harms way so that the threat can be assessed and an appropriate response formulated. It would be foolish for the Commander in Chief to "rush into battle" as it appears you would have wanted him to.

Freeguards, Grandeagle