Alone And Unknown
“He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.” -- Stephen Crane
By Dom Stasi
ResponDS1@aol.com
July, 26, 2004: "ICH" -- Once again we’re being regaled with pictures of our war president all dressed up in a military flight suit. But, rather than an old guy waddling across the deck of an aircraft carrier, today’s front pages show a handsome, youthful George W. Bush. The dashing young pilot is pictured beside a military aircraft. The corporate media’s excuse for all the renewed macho PR is that Bush’s missing military pay records have finally turned up. In their objective journalists’ view that elevates him to hero status, thus the pix.
Unfortunately, though, for those of us who still seek substance in such discoveries, the military records are as ambiguous in their revelations as is the president himself when speaking of his military service.
The nagging tale behind all this, and the tale that just wont go away, is that our war president has been repeatedly accused of having gone AWOL during the Vietnam War. The accusations range from his sketchy commitment to duty, to allegations of his not even showing up for said duty when transferred from his Texas Air National Guard unit, to an Alabama Air National Guard unit in 1972 – at the height of that war. Though the electronic news media and the White House constantly speak in terms of his having served honorably with the Texas Air National Guard, there is no question now, nor has there ever been, about the president’s service with the Texas Guard unit. The period in question involves his alleged unauthorized absence from an Alabama Air National Guard squadron to which he was assigned by his own request. But just as Saudi Arabia is not Iraq, Alabama is not Texas.
The flight suit pictures, the most popular example of which is shown at left add, plenty of propaganda value, but nothing of substance to the argument. The flight suit (or pooper as we called them back then) in the photos bears the insignia of the Texas Air National Guard. So, all things considered, little new has been learned from the discovery of Bush’s missing military pay records, and there’s certainly nothing new in the photos. Neither provide evidence of his reporting for duty in Alabama during extended periods, periods exceeding the 90 day statutory limit set by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL). In fact, there is nothing in the documents to belie accusations that his absences extended into those lengths of time considered when bringing charges of the more serious crime of desertion. Section 1, Article 85 of the UCMJ states that military personnel not reporting for duty or not otherwise assigned for a period exceeding 90 days, and (with proof of) no intention to return, can be liable for court martial as a deserter. In time of war, such as 1972, this is a capital crime punishable by execution. 1 Now, while many are quick or even eager to paint Bush into the category of deserter, as UCMJ, Section 1, Article 85 is written, the evidence does not support such claims. (We’ll look at the more interesting Section 2, in a future piece) The evidence – in Bush’s case, records that do not support his claims of having been present for duty, but contain no proof of his intention not to return or to avoid hazardous duty - rather more clearly supports the allegations of his having gone AWOL - very AWOL, but AWOL only. I trust it will be of great interest to historians and scholars of military law, to observe if the same standards of evidence are maintained in the trials of those (at least 1500) already gone missing from the Iraq War.
Now, if one adds to all this, that in the next few days the Dems will be parading around their own war hero, and if we also consider the pundit babble certain to focus on the 9/11 Commission’s report citing bad intelligence on both Bubba’s and Dubya’s watch, it’s shaping up as a dreary news week for the war president. Maybe he’ll produce Osama.
But despite that the Dems will be praising John Kerry’s combat record on national TV (3 Purple Hearts, 1 Bronze Star, 1 Silver Star), and despite that the 9/11 report compares Bush’s performance as president to that of the devil incarnate (Bill Clinton), and despite, further, that none of the military records yet found show that war prez Bush actually showed up for duty (not a dentist appointment, duty) at his Alabama reconnaissance squadron often enough to be so much as evaluated as a member of that unit by its administrative officer, despite all that, G.W. Bush flew fighters! Just ask him.
“I flew fighters.” That’s what he said on national TV when asked specifically about the period in question. He said it to Tim Russert when asked about his alleged and ever-more-documented dereliction of duty. He said nothing about being permanently grounded during this entire period for refusing to take the Air Force’s first-ever mandatory drug test (1972). He said nothing about being reported absent from duty by his squadron orderly room officer between May of 1972 and May of 1973. He said nothing of being completely unknown to his squadron Commander, Col. Bill Turnipseed.2 What Bush did say when asked specifically about his service in Alabama was, “I flew fighters.” He also diverted the message away from the topic at hand, and began talking to Russert about denigration of the National Guard as second-class service. Now, while Bush’s approach to service in the Guard was not in its best tradition, and though no such implications were made by Russert or anyone refererenced other than the president himself, the National Guard is not at issue. In fact, most Guard pilots (not Bush), are people who’ve already served a full active duty hitch, but stay in the service to repay America for their training and help keep our nation secure. But as usual Bush’s diversion was enough to make 48 million Americans forget the question, and believe him absolutely. But there is one small group of Americans who seem far less credulous. Ironically, they do represent the best traditions of service. They are the men of his old Alabama unit, the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. No one who served in that unit during Bush’s ostensible tenure has come forward to say he remembered the future war president’s having been one among them at all. No one. (The one guy who claims to remember him, a safety officer named Bill Calhoun, said Bush studied manuals by himself. But Calhoun got the dates wrong, so I’m afraid I can’t count him).3 The squadron comprised some 30 pilots, and about 100 aircrew and ground personnel. Golly! Was our war president that unimpressive an airman? Or did he simply take the old Cold War motto of the reconnaissance service, “Alone & Unknown,” a bit too seriously? I can think of no other acceptable
explanation for his invisibility. Stealth technology has still not advanced that far, and this was 1972. So, if he did indeed fly fighters, why didn’t he come down long enough to take the drug test (pun intended). If he didn’t, why didn’t he say hello, or even howdy often enough to be remembered by those he passed on the squadron street, the mess hall, quarters, wherever? Because, let’s face it, reconnaissance crews live and die by their acuteness of memory. Literally. Recon crews are the people who fly out over hostile territory and either take pictures or report from memory exactly what they’ve seen there. It’s the primary tool our bomber crews rely upon to distinguish between things like schools and enemy targets. So, if such rampant forgetfulness among his contemporaries – the entire population of a tactical recon squadron – is true, that’s really quite disturbing in its own right. It’s also implausible.
But it’s not too late for Bush to make one of his startling comebacks. I have an idea that can completely restore his macho flyboy rep. If Bush were to take my advice, he’d still be able to turn the tide on all those smug, America-hating second-guessers out there. He’d be able to do that, and at the same time dispel the mystery of his military service once and for all – at least among his faithful. I offer here what should be an obvious opportunity for the war prez to get the last laugh. He can even use another guy – good old soldier Colin Powell – as his scapegoat again. The beauty of my plan is that it relies on Bush’s implied experience with a reconnaissance squadron. “I did my duty. I showed up for drills. I served honorably.” All Bush needs to do is simply admit that the reconnaissance photos Colin Powell used last February to persuade the American public, if not the UN Security Council, to take us to war, looked as phony and ambiguous to the war president’s ostensibly trained eye as they did to me and every other veteran I know who’s actually earned his bragging rights in the spooky art of military reconnaissance. If Bush did that, it would sure go a long way toward proving that he did his duty with the old absent-minded 187th. He’d prove he did his duty in the Seventies and he’d be doing his duty today. Failing that, I would ask the president to stop taking vicarious credit for being one of this very special breed of American airmen, and I would ask the press to please stop flaunting the flight suit pictures. America is not a military dictatorship yet.
Footnotes
1. http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/ucmj/blart-85.htm
2. Houston Chronical, 2/14/2004
3. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_02_08.php
About The Author
Dom Stasi is a science and technology writer. An air force veteran, engineer, and pilot, he served and worked extensively in engineering ground and flight test of advanced aerial reconnaissance system during the decades described. Opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author.
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