by James Glaser
January 4, 2004

There is a lot of talk about President George Bush being a deserter during the Vietnam War. I first heard of it from a group of WWII veterans at a Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in Duluth, Minnesota, three years ago.

If you want to check the story out, click on this title line and you will go to the site with the most information about Bush being, Absent With Out Leave. I Scrolled down to the bottom of the page and found many new articles.

Here is one I thought said a lot. George Bush claims that he transferred to an Alabama National guard Unit to finish out his enlistment and that is why people think he was AWOL.

"REWARD! Did you witness G W Bush performing any National Guard Service between May 1972 and August 1973 in either Alabama or Texas? If so you could be eligible for thousands of dollars in unclaimed reward money."

Even though there were hundreds and hundreds of members of those two units, no one will come forward and say that George Bush served his country during the time people claim he was Absent With Out Leave. In the Military, after 30 days of being AWOL, you become a Deserter.

Colin Powell, our current Secretary of State, wrote in his autobiography, My American Journey, on page 148, "I was angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well placed....Managed to wangle slots in the Reserve and National Guard Units. Of the many tragedies of the Vietnam War this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to their country."

There is no doubt that when George Bush applied for the Texas National Guard, there were 500 men on the waiting list to get in. With his father's connections, George was admitted the next day. Now people wonder, did somebody go to Vietnam in George's place and was that person killed or wounded? For every Veteran, that is a very valid question.

Congressional Medal of Honor winner Bob Kerrey said about Bush's missing service time, "I can understand if he forgot a weekend, but 18 months."

On this awolbush web site, there is a long article written by the Boston Globe back in 2000 that tells the whole story. There are documents that are said to prove that Bush was AWOL. There is a report by his Commanding Officer that he never served during the months in Question. I can not tell you why this story did not explode during the last election, but I can tell you that it will in this one. Every Veteran that has served this Nation will find out about this story, mostly because there eight million Vietnam Veterans that will be telling it, along with all the World War II and Korean Vets that have been keeping it alive

Do I think that George Bush was AWOL? Yes. Do I think he was a Deserter? Yes. Do I think he should stand trial? Yes. Read this web site and others, there are links on this one, and see what you think.

POST SCRIPT

One of the major reasons this claim about George Bush and his service record resonates so well with veterans is that speech George made on the Aircraft carrier. George wore a combat pilot's uniform and he never earned it. John F Kennedy was an American War hero with PT 109 and he never wore a uniform as President. Neither did General Dwight Eisenhower or for that matter Jimmy Carter who was a Navel Academy graduate and had a fine peace time service record.

George Bush went to Iraq and hid in an underground bunker surrounded by every armed unit in the country, while the next day Hilary Clinton walked around Baghdad talking to the troops.

Veterans know what it takes and George does not have it. That "Bring em on" speech made many vets angry.