News Archive
Group offers $50,000 for proof of Bush service
Today would be a fine day for him to finally answer all the questions that have dogged him since he entered public life," the group's founder, Glenn Smith, said in a statement. (CNN, Sept. 14, 2004)
New records further demonstrated Bush's failure to fulfill National Guard duties; easily distracted media focused on bogus Bush defenses
In a desperate attempt to distract attention from the overwhelming documentary evidence suggesting President George W. Bush failed to fulfill his Vietnam-era duties as a member of the Texas Air National Guard, right-wing Bush-backers have flooded the media with a stream of misinformation about Bush's Guard service. (Media Matters, Sept. 10, 2004)
Texans for Truth mobilized quickly with ad about Bush's service
In the time it took most Americans to plan their Labor Day picnics, Texans for Truth grew from a notion inside one Democratic activist's head to a full-fledged political advocacy organization with $350,000 in the bank and an attack ad targeting President Bush scheduled on television. (Chicago Tribune, Sept. 9, 2004)
Texans fighting some of biggest battles of campaign
Texans just can't stay away from a good fight. While the Lone Star State is not a key battleground state, some of the attacks in the war for the Oval Office have been launched with Texas money and manpower. The architect and chief financial backer of the controversial Swift Boat Veterans of Truth and its television ad challenging John Kerry's military record are both from Texas. Not to be outdone, a group called Texans for Truth has come out swinging this week with its own ad critical of President Bush's service in the National Guard during Vietnam. (AP, Sept. 9, 2004)
Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard
President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard came under renewed scrutiny on Wednesday as newfound documents emerged from his squadron commander's file that suggested favorable treatment. (The New York Times, Sept. 9, 2004)
Records Say Bush Balked at Order
President Bush failed to carry out a direct order from his superior in the Texas Air National Guard in May 1972 to undertake a medical examination that was necessary for him to remain a qualified pilot, according to documents made public yesterday. (Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2004)
Ad challenges Bush's Guard service
In the escalating ad war involving independent groups, a Texas-based organization announced Wednesday that it will air a television spot challenging whether George W. Bush ever showed up for duty while on temporary assignment in Alabama. (The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2004)
Lawsuit uncovers Bush Guard records
Democrats pounced on the latest revelations about President Bush's Air National Guard service Wednesday, saying newly released records show Bush shirked his duty and lied about it. (AP, Sept. 8, 2004)
Service Under Scrutiny
Sen. John Kerry has faced a lot of questions for several weeks about the medals he won in the Vietnam War. For opponents of President Bush, it's payback time. A new ad puts Bush's service in the National Guard back under the microscope. (ABC, Sept. 8, 2004)
Bush fell short on duty at Guard
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. (Boston Globe, Sept. 8, 2004)
'Texans for Truth' ad challenges Bush on Guard service
A group called Texans for Truth will release a TV ad today in which a former lieutenant colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard says neither he nor his friends saw George W. Bush when the future president was supposed to be with their unit in 1972. (USA TODAY, Sept. 7, 2004)
George W. Bush's missing year
Before there was Karl Rove, Lee Atwater or even James Baker, the Bush family's political guru was a gregarious newspaper owner and campaign consultant from Midland, Texas, named Jimmy Allison. In the spring of 1972, George H.W. Bush phoned his friend and asked a favor: Could Allison find a place on the Senate campaign he was managing in Alabama for his troublesome eldest son, the 25-year-old George W. Bush"byline">(Salon, Sept. 2, 2004)
Questions about Bush's Guard service unanswered
At a time when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has come under fire from a group of retired naval officers who say he lied about his combat record in Vietnam, questions about President Bush's 1968-73 stint in the Texas Air National Guard remain unresolved. (USA Today, Aug. 23, 2004)
Seeking Memories of Bush At an Alabama Air Base
Inside the Alabama Air National Guard an informal search is on for someone, anyone, who recalls encountering First Lt. George W. Bush in 1972. (Feb. 23, 2004)
Bush's service records: The score card
Forty-five months after allegations first surfaced that President Bush failed to honor his obligation to the Texas Air National Guard, the story has returned with a vengeance. As aides release a trickle of selected documents in the White House's effort to persuade the public that Bush fulfilled his obligation, the story continues to fester and questions remain unanswered. (Feb. 13, 2004)
Bush's missing year
In 1972, George W. Bush simply walked away from his pilot duties in the Texas Air National Guard. He skipped required weekend drill sessions for many months, probably for more than a year, and did not take a mandatory annual physical exam, which resulted in his being grounded. Nonetheless, Bush, the son of a well-connected Texas congressman, received an honorable discharge. (Salon, Feb. 5, 2004)
1-year gap in Bush's guard duty
After George W. Bush became governor in 1995, the Houston Air National Guard unit he had served with during the Vietnam War years honored him for his work, noting that he flew an F-102 fighter-interceptor until his discharge in October 1973. And Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, "A Charge to Keep," recounts the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970. "I continued flying with my unit for the next several years," the governor wrote. But both accounts are contradicted by copies of Bush's military records, obtained by the Globe. (May 23, 2000)
