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grumpyBB
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 27 Oct 2004
Posts: 117
Location: Portland, Oregon
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 Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:28 pm Post subject: ‘Bush pulled his weight’ |
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http://www.sungazette.com/articles.asp?articleID=11488
| Quote: | Military check revealed by brothers from Montoursville
Dave Thompson Sun-Gazette Staff
Montoursville brothers Adam and Bryan Makos, historians and publishers of military aircraft magazine Ghost Wings, say they are about to set the record straight concerning the Vietnam-era service of President George W. Bush.
An article will be published in the November issue of the magazine that debunks allegations that Bush was a shirker who used the influence of his powerful family to get special treatment during the war.
They didn’t set out to debunk those and other charges, Adam Makos, 23, said. Research for the article was begun three years ago as a historical perspective of Bush’s military service, he said.
“We worked on the story with the intention of just doing a magazine article about a sitting president — to tell the story of a fighter pilot-president,” Makos said.
“For us it is important to get the story right and get it from the people who were there,” he said. “The truth is paramount.”
The brothers’ research began in 2002 when they attended a reunion of Vietnam-era pilots and prisoners of war in Fort Worth, Texas. Bryan Makos, 21, actually skipped his senior prom to attend the event. Compared to the event in Texas, the prom didn’t stand a chance, he said.
“It’s like, the high school prom or the opportunity to hang out with some real American heroes,” he said. “I knew the caliber of people we were going to be around.”
While attending the reunion, they said, they met Bush’s military flight instructor, retired Air Force Col. Thomas Lockhart. Bush, they said, was the only Air National Guard member among a group of Air Force flight candidates.
Adam Makos said he interviewed Lockhart eight to 10 times for several hours at a time over the ensuing months. Lockhart directed them to other men who had been Bush’s commanders, instructors and fellow students during his 53-week undergraduate pilot training.
“I discovered from Tom that the president had been quite a pilot back in his day,” Makos said. “Of course, he was in a position to judge.”
Fast forward to the current presidential campaign. Bush has been called a deserter by filmmaker Michael Moore. Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe accused him of being absent without leave during a stint with the Alabama Air National Guard. Democratic candidate John Kerry has questioned the president’s military record.
As recently as Monday, Kerry spoke on the Today Show and said that “unlike Dick Cheney and George Bush, I put my life on the line for my country when it counted.”
Some of the allegations were retreads from 2003 when there was a big deal made over the president landing in a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier, Adam Makos said. The issue then was whether the president was wasting taxpayer money on jet fuel and “posing” as a pilot, Adam Makos said.
The most recent questions carry more weight because they are being made during a hotly contested election, he said.
“The (allegations) made in 2004, in our estimation, were much more serious,” Makos said. “They basically accused (Bush) of being a draft dodger.”
“They were serious charges and were made by critics who simply didn’t do their homework,” he said.
The brothers compiled data from personal interviews, newspaper accounts and military records for their story. They also made three trips to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga., where from November 1968 to November 1969, 2nd Lt. George W. Bush trained as a fighter jet pilot.
They developed a report that contains what they call “10 truths” about the president’s military service. Among them:
• Bush enlisted in the Air National Guard knowing that he and his unit could be sent to Vietnam. The Makos brothers point to the fact that while Bush was taking entrance tests to enlist units from Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa and New York were being deployed in Southeast Asia.
• Bush didn’t need or receive family intervention to gain admission to his unit. Bush was an athlete with a degree from Yale and needed no help being admitted to the unit, according to the brothers’ report. Allegations that Bush leap-frogged 150 other applicants is false, they said, because many of those he passed were maintenance or administrative personnel. Pilot slots were few because of stringent physical and educational requirements.
• Bush fulfilled his drill requirements while attached to an Alabama guard unit. In the fall of 1972 Bush was attached to an Alabama guard unit while campaigning for his friend Winton “Red” Blount, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate. Adam Makos said that Bush not only met his drill requirements, which where recorded on a point system — he exceeded them. Bush earned 56 points while only 50 were required, Makos said. In addition to military records, the report cites eye- witness accounts from base personnel that Bush was indeed present for duty.
• Bush risked his life flying dangerous Cold War air defense alert missions. A member of the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group in Texas, Bush flew an F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor, an aircraft with one of the highest Air Force accident rates, according to the report.
• Bush volunteered to serve in Vietnam following his flight training. According to the report Bush and fellow aviator Fred Bradley asked their squadron commanders to see if they could get into a special program to go overseas. Bush was turned down because he lacked the minimum flying hours required for the program, according to the report.
Other points made by the report include:
• Bush served almost two years on active duty.
• Bush received an honorable discharge.
While at Moody AFB, Adam Makos was given an opportunity to fly aboard a T-38 trainer jet and was actually able to fly the jet briefly.
It is the same type of aircraft Bush trained in. Makos said that moment elevated his already substantial respect for the president.
“At 20,000 feet, pulling four Gs in this aircraft, I thought ’anyone who can do this is a man,’” he said. “Bush was all of that.”
During the same visit, Bryan Makos flew in an AT-6 Texan II turbo-prop trainer.
The last time the brothers were at the base they were united with about 10 of Bush’s former commanders, fellow students and instructors. The brothers have developed a Web site www.wingmenforbush.com dedicated to the “10 truths” and to give the president’s fellow airman a forum to express themselves.
The centerpiece of the site is “Training Command,” a painting by aviation artist John D. Shaw that depicts a young Lt. George W. Bush with student pilots, instructors and commanders at the base.
Adam Makos said the bottom line in the controversy surrounding Bush’s military service is that it is a “nonstory.” Because the president did what was required during his military service, there was no need to report on it except that “this guy showed up and did his duty,” he said.
To criticize Bush’s service puts a black mark not only on the president, but all reservists who served during that time, he said. |
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srmorton
PO2
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 383
Location: Jacksonville, NC
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| Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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With all of the polls bouncing around everyday, I must admit I have
had some days when doubt that W will win by a landslide has crept
into my mind. Since I know where negative thoughts like that come
from, I do not dwell on them.
This post reminds me of why I have always felt that John Kerry will
never be CinC. All over America, in every one of the 50 states, there
are thousands of veterans of Vietnam and other wars and retired and
active duty military and their dependents who are not making much
of a splash in the news but are quietly and patiently waiting to vote for
George W. Bush. We have not heard from many of those who served
with W, but, as this article shows, they exist and they support him. The
military will make a HUGE difference in this election. Thanks, Swifties,
for your part in motivating and getting the word out to them.
The Dems thought they had found the magic weapon - a "war hero"
who would be able to siphon the military vote from the Republicans.
That is a mistake that they have lived to regret, and they made it
because they have NO understanding of or appreciation for the US
military. They did not know that the majority of those who served
with John Kerry not only would not support him, but would actively
seek to defeat him. His betryal transcends party lines for these
true American heroes. It will be poetic justice indeed for Kerry to
finally pay for his actions by having to give up forever his dream
of being POTUS. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
_________________
Susan R. Morton |
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