On Friday evening, the 13th of February, 2004, after all the press corps had left the White House Press Room, there appeared as if by magic, a two inch pile of paper having to do with Boy George and his lack of service in the Texas Air National Guard. The Friday in question was the start of a three day holiday to celebrate President’s Day on Monday, February 16th.
Dropping a large wad of paper on a Friday evening before a three day holiday is a characteristic of an administration which means to have any story in the papers largely ignored. And that is clearly the case in this instance.
This latest exercise is an attempt by Boy George to say that he did too take care of his duties in the intrepid and fearless Texas National Guard. At issue is a period of about a year in 1972 and 1973, when there is no record of his participation in the activities of his military unit. The reams of paper dumped on the latest Friday night follies, is an attempt to demonstrate that he spent the time in question at a base near Montgomery, Alabama. His only citation is a visit to a military dentist at the base in Alabama.
The military installation is the Dannelly Air National Guard base near Montgomery. The records turned over by Bush say he had a dental exam on January 6, 1973. Two resident philosophy students here say that his teeth may have been in Alabama, but there is no record that Boy George joined them. So after the two inch data dump, the American public is no closer to finding out where George Herbert Walker Bush’s boy was in 1972 and 1973. The mystery continues.
Other essayists are content to leave you with the dilemma of where George W. Bush was when he was supposed to be serving his country in the fearless and intrepid Texas Air National Guard. If Bush is able to produce one little card issued to every American flyer, then the mystery will be solved for all time. On the other hand, if he declines to produce his “Pilot and Crew Member Physical Record Card,” then objective observers will be forced to conclude that George W. Bush is a liar and simply failed to carry out his duties to the Texas Air National Guard.
Attached hereto is my personal Physical Record Card from my enlistment embracing the years 1942 to November, 1945 when the Army gave me an honorable discharge. This small card was to be carried at all times by pilots and crew members. In effect, it is a drivers license. Instruction #1 on the card states that “This card will be carried… by all officers on flying status and all combat crew members of tactical units.” Instruction #3 says the “Card will be submitted to Flight Surgeon or Operation Officer for inspection upon request.”
So it is clear that everyone on flying status had to have an authorization as represented by this card. If there was an accident of any kind or should some question arise, this card would immediately be examined to see if the pilots and crew members were physically qualified to fly. In the final analysis, this card was always in my possession just as a driver’s license is today.
If Bush wished to straighten out his record of missed training sessions, he could show everyone this sort of card. When the Army sent me from Italy to the Air Transport Command in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana), this 22 year old Aerial Engineer willingly underwent another physical examination. This is the record of those examinations in 1944 and 1945.
You will note that all my shots were updated and this old sergeant was qualified for combat flying. The examiner was W. B. Updegraff, Flight Surgeon, a Captain in the U. S. Army Medical Corps.
This card, or one like it, has been in my possession since 1942, a span of 61 or 62 years. This particular card was given as a replacement for cards covering previous years including the one taken by German prison authorities in December, 1943.
Bush did not submit to a physical exam in 1972 when he wanted to go from Texas to Alabama. As a result, he lost his qualification for flying. In short, he was grounded. On some occasions, Bush has said he did not take the physical exam because he did not want to fly anymore. The question that follows is why did he continue to be associated with the Texas Air National Guard?
Several commentators now say that Bush feared a physical exam would disclose his interest in illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. For a flyer to lose his ability to fly leaves us to ponder some thoughts. If what we now suspect about his addiction to illegal drugs is true, he willingly skipped the exam for which he paid a very stiff price by being grounded. For a flyer, this is the ultimate penalty. The excuse offered some 30 years later that he no longer wished to fly, is clearly a patent lie.
He sure wanted to fly on May 1, 2003, when he landed on the flight deck of the Carrier Abraham Lincoln. But he wanted nothing to do with an exam in 1972 when he was in the middle of his tour with the Texas Air National Guard.
If Bush is as innocent as he now claims to be, it would be a simple matter to show his physical record card as has been done here. That would settle everything.
If an Army Sergeant can hang on to a card such as this one from 61 years ago, surely Bush can hang onto his for less than half that time. If after 61 years, Sergeant Carr can show his flying credentials, surely Bush can show some evidence to deal with the charges against him.
This is Bush’s chance to set the record straight. It is his last chance and there is the suspicion that he will fail it completely.
As of February 16, 2004, Bush has sent 542 American military people to die in Iraq. There have also been deaths among the allies such as Britain, Spain, Italy and Poland. The numbers of Iraqi dead is in the thousands, but Bush doesn’t count those. The number of American wounded could reach more than 11,000.
In recent announcement, Bush has proclaimed that he is the Commander in Chief of all military operations in Iraq. He has come a long way from doing everything in his power and in the power of his influential relatives and friends, to avoid service during his war in Vietnam. That is why he had those influential relatives and friends get him into the Texas National Guard over some 500 people ahead of him in line.
And now we are left to wonder if he covered himself with glory during his National Guard days and if he now wants the world to know that he is the Allied Commander in Chief, then why must he release his military records on a Friday night before a long holiday weekend, when only a few people could read of his magnificent exploits? Don’t expect an answer very soon.
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The “Donkey Roast” card came from American flyers at a base in Shillong in the province of Assam in Eastern India. It dates to early 1945. Shillong is the base used as an entrance to China on the famous “The Hump” run. The turbulence on this run from Shillong into China over the Himalayan mountain chain claimed many aircraft and flyers.
As you might imagine, Americans assigned to this base at the end of the line in Assam, made a few jokes about the name of the province. Among the more printable ones was, “My ass am draggin’ ”!
Your old essayist was in Shillong on two occasions and was never able to attend a genuine “Donkey Roast.” The Shillong guys said they had one last week or that there would be one in a week or two. As a result, my life’s experience has been shortchanged.
It is my suggestion that Bush should show the “Donkey Roast” card to all observers in lieu of showing his physical record pilot’s card with the physical he never took in 1972. And to those who might swallow the excuse that Bush did not wish to fly anymore, may we recommend Alice in Wonderland as a required reading assignment.
E. E. CARR
February 16, 2004
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Man, I just can’t help but think of how mild Bush’s scandals seem in comparison to the crap we’re seeing out of Trump (and, to a lesser extent, Clinton) right now. Draft dodging just seems so passé. The headline on the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post right now is about how Trump claimed a $916 million loss in 1995, so consequently has avoided paying any federal income tax for the last few decades. This is of course from the man who has averaged about a scandal per week for the past year or so. I mean, draft dodging is probably worse than using a private email server, but it’s so so much better than almost everything Trump does.