Lieutenant Bush, Texas Pilot

Today's Washington Times prints a letter from a pilot who served with President Bush in the Texas Air National Guard between 1970 and 1971. The letter, from Colonel William Campenni (retired), doesn't address Bush's time in Alabama (though there's ample evidence there as well). Nonetheless, the story rebuts any critique of Bush's performance or patriotism:

Because of the training required, signing up for this duty meant up to 2 1/2 years of active duty for training alone, plus a high probability of mobilization. A fighter-pilot candidate selected by the Guard (such as Lt. Bush and me) would be spending the next two years on active duty going through basic training (six weeks), flight training (one year), survival training (two weeks) and combat crew training for his aircraft (six to nine months), followed by local checkout (up to three more months) before he was even deemed combat-ready. Because the draft was just two years, you sure weren't getting out of duty being an Air Guard pilot. If the unit to which you were going back was an F-100, you were mobilized for Vietnam. Avoiding service? Yeah, tell that to those guys.

The Bush critics do not comprehend the dangers of fighter aviation at any time or place, in Vietnam or at home, when they say other such pilots were risking their lives or even dying while Lt. Bush was in Texas. Our Texas ANG unit lost several planes right there in Houston during Lt. Bush's tenure, with fatalities. Just strapping on one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one's life.

Terry McAullife's assault on the President's service record was bogus from the beginning. But the charge was serious: the Democrats attacked both Bush's veracity and his patriotism. That's not just "negative campaigning," it borders on slander. Especially because Dems always whine when they believe Republicans question their patriotism, even though Republicans actually are disputing their commitment to America's defense and security. All of which makes refutation of Terry and the Dwarfs even sweeter.

We now return this station to the real issues facing America.

Update:

The Boston Globe reports that a principal advocate of the Bush-lied-about-his-military-service story was, uh--how do I say this?--lying.

More:

Another Guardsman remembers Lt. Bush--in the Alabama Guard! Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun says:

I saw him each drill period. . . He was very aggressive about doing his duty there. He never complained about it. ... He was very dedicated to what he was doing in the Guard.

Bush's Guard service officially is an ex story.