More Bush records pop up

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
More Bush records pop up
7
Thu, 09-30-2004 - 7:51pm
Sorry I don't have a link. I got this on another mailing list I'm in.

Article Published: Thursday, September 30, 2004

By Karen E. Crummy Denver Post Staff Writer


The White House and Air Force Reserve officials in Denver were

scrambling Wednesday to explain the sudden appearance of a record

written and signed by George W. Bush resigning from the Reserve in

1974 because he had "inadequate time" to fulfill his duty

obligations. The document surfaced Wednesday afternoon and was

released Wednesday night.

A White House spokesman said that the Department of Defense

apparently had had the record since it was filed in November 1974 but

that it had somehow failed to provide it in February when the

president ordered that all of his service records be released.

"We've continually asked DOD to make the president's records

available, and obviously it would've been preferable if this had been

released at the same time as the others," said White House spokesman

Jim Morrell.

Earlier in the day, Defense Department officials denied knowledge of

the document's existence. It was later confirmed by a spokesman at

Denver's Air Reserve Personnel Center, then by the White House.

The emergence of the new document raises questions about what else

might surface in the five weeks before the Nov. 2 election. In

February, Bush ordered copies of all his records released to the

public.

Morrell downplayed the significance of the document, pointing out

that it was signed on Nov. 8, 1974, a year after Bush notified the

Texas Air National Guard that he was relocating from Houston to

Cambridge, Mass., to attend Harvard Business School.

As reported previously by The Boston Globe, at that time in 1973,

Bush was warned to find a unit in Massachusetts to complete the eight

months remaining in his six-year commitment or face immediate call-up

to active duty. Instead, while he was discharged honorably from the

Texas Air National Guard in October 1973, he still had an obligation

to complete Reserve service and was officially transferred by May

1974 to an inactive assignment as an executive support officer at

Denver's Air Reserve Center, records show.

He then wrote the newly discovered "Tender of Resignation" in

November 1974 in which he says he wants out of the Reserve because he

has "inadequate time to fulfill possible future commitments." He was

formally and honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve two

weeks later, on Nov. 21, 1974.

Lt. Col. Tom Deall, public affairs chief for the Air Reserve

Personnel Center in Denver, said the resignation signed by Bush was

typically done by reservists for personal reasons such as education.

"The practice went on all the time. It was up to the commander. If it

didn't degrade the mission and was in the best interests of the

person, it was OK," Deall said, noting that the Reserve was still

eligible to be mobilized.

Bush's resignation from the Reserve came a year after he resigned

from the Texas Air National Guard.

The White House contacted the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver

after finding the document Wednesday. The Reserve center sent the

White House a certified copy of Bush's Guard records at the

administration's request two weeks ago. Deall said he obtained the

records a year ago from a Pentagon records warehouse in St. Louis,

but the new resignation document was not in that file.

"We can't explain it and don't know where it came from," he said,

noting his agency was on the phone with the White House trying

to "clarify" the situation most of Wednesday afternoon.

Bush's Guard service became a major campaign issue after his

detractors alleged that he received preferential treatment getting

into the National Guard. The administration has maintained that Bush

never asked for favorable treatment.

Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or

kcrummy@denverpost.com

Avatar for independentgrrrl
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 09-30-2004 - 11:13pm
Is the columnist sure these records aren't forged?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 12:42pm
That would explain why he was transfered to a non-active unit in Colorado (I think that is where the unit was) to finish out his time, which was common for those continuing their education, and receiving permission to do so.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 12:53pm
Ummmmm, are you trying to steal Dan Rather's job?
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-12-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 1:03pm
Dan is a fellow Texan Blondie, we wouldn't want him to loose his job to anyone would we ??.............
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 1:13pm
Most Texans don't really like Dan Rather. I couldn't care less if he gets to keep his job or not, he was irresponsible and wrong and it took him way too long to admit it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-12-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 1:22pm
My memory of Dan Rather goes way back and their are times when I haven't liked him either.

I noticed you said "I couldn't care less" , does it ever irk you when people get it wrong and say "I COULD CARE LESS!" I always want to ask "Oh, really, well how much less could you care?"

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2004
Fri, 10-01-2004 - 1:24pm
That's funny, I never thought about it that way :)