Kerry's
Record and Bush's...
A comparison and contrast.
(Originally on Daily
Kos.)
While at Yale
Kerry
Enlisted in the US Naval Reserves. Feb. 18, 1966
Bush
Bush received student deferments until June 1968; that year marked
the height of the Vietnam draft. [Washington Post, 7/28/99]
Applied
for spot in Texas Air National Guard in January of 1968, before
graduation. Before he graduated, Bush personally visited Col.
Walter "Buck" Staudt -- the commander of the Texas Air
National Guard -- to talk about the Guard.
After
Bush met with Staudt, he applied and was quickly accepted -- despite
a waiting list of over 150 applicants.
Contrary
to Bush's denials of special treatment, it was later disclosed
that a personal friend of Bush's father had secured the spot in
the Guard for Bush.
Bush
later acknowledges he entered Guard to avoid going to Vietnam:
"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun
in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada.
So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
[Houston Chronicle, 5/8/94]
After
Graduation
Kerry
Enters and Completes Officer Training School
Bush
Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard after his student deferment
ran out when he graduated from Yale in 1968.
"His
score on the pilot aptitude section, one of five on the test,
was in the 25th percentile, the lowest allowed for would-be fliers."
[Dallas Morning News, 7/4/99]
Bush
received a direct appointment, allowing him to become a second
lieutenant right out of basic training without having to go though
officer candidate school. The direct appointment also cleared
the way for a position in pilot training school. [Houston Chronicle,
10/10/92; Los Angeles Times, 7/4/99]
On
Bush's application to the 147th Fighter Group at Ellington Air
Force Base in Texas, Bush was asked what his "Area Assignment
Preferences" were. Bush checked the box beside "Do Not
Volunteer" for overseas duty. [Application for Extended Duty
With The United States Air Force, 5/27/68]
First
Assignment
Kerry
Deployed to Western Pacific to Support Operations in Vietnam
Bush
In the summer of 1970, Bush moved into the Chateaux Dijon apartment
complex, "a popular spot for singles, it offered fancy street
lamps and striped awnings and six pools filled with ambitious
secretaries, students and young businessmen. Bush relished his
bachelor life there. He played hard, plunging into all-day water
volleyball games, but left frequently for 24-hour flight duty
in the alert shack at Ellington Field." [Washington Post,
7/28/99]
Request
for Second Post
Kerry
On Feb. 10, 1968, Kerry requests duty in Vietnam. He lists his
first billet preference as an Officer in Charge of a swift boat
and his second as a patrol officer in a River Patrol Boat (PBR)
squadron.
Bush
In May 1972, Bush gets a job on an Alabama Senate Campaign. He
leaves Houston and requests transfer to the 9921st Air Reserve
Squadron in Alabama. Although Bush notes his aeronautical rating
as "flying status," his request is turned down because
the 9921 was a postal unit. His transfer is later approved to
a different Alabama unit. [AF 1288--Bush signature, 24 May 72;
Approved: 26 May 72]
Second
Assignment
Kerry
Kerry leaves his post on the Gridley, and becomes a student at
the Naval Amphibious Base, in Coronado, California in preparation
for service on a swift boat in Vietnam. He is promoted from Ensign
to Lt. JG and extends his active duty commitment by six months.
While in Vietnam Kerry is involved in more than a dozen missions
receiving hostile fire.
He
is wounded three times and decorated with three Purple Hearts,
a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. Kerry is ordered by Naval regulations
to return home after being wounded three times.
Bush
During Bush's service in Alabama:
He is suspended from flight status for his failure to take required
annual medical exam. [Washington Post, 2/15/02; Aeronautical Orders,
Number 87, 29 Sept 72; AFM 35-13, Para 2-29m]
He
attends the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida with
his father. [Bill Minutaglio, First Son, p. 144].
Pay
records released by the White House show that he was paid for
2 days service during the six-month period covering the Blount
campaign. [White House Release: Bush Pay Records]
Bush's
superior officers were unable to complete his annual evaluation
for 1972 because, "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this
unit during the period of report." [AF-77, 2 May 73]
Additional
Service
Kerry
Completes Full Active Duty Commitment
Bush
According to records released by the White House itself, Bush
may fallen short on minimum requirements expected for Guard members.
Bush served 25 days of combined active and weekend Guard duty
between May 27, 1972 and May 26, 1973, even though minimum requirements
were one weekend a month--24 days a year--plus another 15 days
of active duty. Moreover, in 1973 Bush received 15 extra (called
"gratuitous") points toward the 50 points needed each
year toward his retirement. Guard members commonly received such
extras if they had already met the minimum 50 points each year
without the additional points. Bush only earned 41 points during
the 1972-3 year. According to Wayne Rambo, who was chief administrative
officer of the Alabama unit to which Bush was assigned, "that
would have been a decided violation of the norm" because
extra points were meant "only as a reward to reservists for
meeting their bottom line." [Boston Globe, 2/11/04; Memphis
Flyer, 2/16/04]
