More Bush records pop up
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| Thu, 09-30-2004 - 7:51pm |
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

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?"