[Peace-discuss] Hoho- Bush military records 'inadvertently' destroyed

[Ricky Baldwin]

What's next, folks?  The dog ate my homework?  Just
how stupid do they think we are?
-Ricky

Pentagon: Bush Military Records Destroyed
AP, 6-10-04

WASHINGTON - Military payroll records that could more
fully document President Bush's whereabouts during his
service in the Texas Air National Guard were
inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon. 

In a letter responding to a freedom of information
request by The Associated Press, the Defense
Department said that microfilm containing the
pertinent National Guard payroll records was damaged
and could not be salvaged. The damaged material
included payroll records for the first quarter of 1969
and the third quarter of 1972. 

"President Bush's payroll records for those two
quarters were among the records destroyed," wrote C.Y.
Talbott, of the Pentagon's Freedom of Information and
Security Review section. "Searches for back-up paper
copies of the missing records were unsuccessful." 

Presidential spokeswoman Claire Buchan said Friday
there was nothing new in the letter. "When we put out
records in February, we indicated that third-quarter
of 1972 records were lost" when the microfilm was
destroyed, she said. 

Bush did not perform Guard duties during the third
quarter of 1972 but "fulfilled his obligation to the
National Guard in full," Buchan said. "The documents
we released months ago make that clear." 

In February, the White House released some payroll and
medical records from Bush's Vietnam-era service to
counter Democrats' suggestions that he shirked his
duty in the Texas Air National Guard. 

Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard from 1968 to
1973, much of the time as a pilot, but never went to
Vietnam or flew in combat. Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential candidate,
is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and some Democrats
have questioned whether Bush showed up for temporary
Guard duty in Alabama while working on a political
campaign during a one-year period from May 1972 to May
1973. 

Bush had asked to be able to transfer temporarily from
the Texas Guard to an Alabama base during that time so
he could work on the Senate campaign of a family
friend. Reports differ on how long he was actually in
Alabama, but it's generally believed that he returned
to his Texas unit after the November 1972 election.
The White House says Bush went back to Alabama again
after that. 

The Pentagon letter was sent in response to an April
lawsuit filed by the AP under the federal Freedom of
Information Act. That law requires government agencies
to make public information not specifically exempted
for disclosure. 

The letter said that in 1996 and 1997, the Pentagon
"engaged with limited success in a project to salvage
deteriorating microfilm." During the process, "the
microfilm payroll records of numerous service members
were damaged," the letter said. 

This process resulted in "the inadvertent destruction
of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll
records," including Bush's, the letter said. 

Trying to calm the political unrest, the White House
on Feb. 13 released Bush's Vietnam-era military
records to counter suggestions he shirked his duty.
But there was no new evidence given at that time to
show that he was in Alabama during the period when
Democrats questioned whether he performed his service
obligation. 

The records showed that Bush, a pilot, was suspended
from flying status beginning Aug. 1, 1972, because of
his failure to have an annual medical examination. His
last flight exam was on May 15, 1971. There were no
new documents, during that February release, to shed
any light on Bush's service in Alabama. 




		
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