Pay Records for Bush’s Guard Duty Released

Re “President’s Military Records Released,” Feb. 11:

Anybody who thinks that George W. Bush collecting pay proves he reported to the Alabama National Guard doesn’t know anything about bureaucracy. The clerks in the payroll department don’t go to check whether someone’s on the job. I know of one guy who was hired at a major aircraft company who was on the payroll and collecting checks for six months before it was discovered that no one had ever seen him.

Brent Meeker

Camarillo

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Something does not add up about Bush’s account of his time in the Guard. Think about it: Today he is the president of the United States, the commander in chief. Hundreds of guys should be coming out of the woodwork to boast that they knew him back in the day when he was a nobody. Where are they? I think whomever he served with would remember.

Kenneth Joyce

San Francisco

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With the release of the Guard pay records for Bush in 1972 and ‘73, the matter of his service has been proved. Further bickering is unjustified. This matter is now laid to rest, in my opinion.

Myles Saunders

Los Angeles

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The reality of Bush’s record of service in the Texas Air National Guard is a matter of substantial concern. The president’s ability to produce records that apparently vouch for his service is unlikely, in and of itself, to quell the swirling debate. May I suggest a simple, straightforward means to put the matter to rest? The president is taken to a military airfield, an F-102 is placed at his disposal and he is asked to preflight the aircraft, take off, do a few simple maneuvers and land. If he succeeds, I, for one, would consider the matter closed.

Joshua Lazerson

Encinitas

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If, as it seems likely, Bush received pay for several months of Air National Guard service when he was a no-show, he should be required to pay it back to the government (with interest). It will be his small contribution to the burgeoning national debt that he has inflicted on the country.

E. Richard Stiehm

Santa Monica

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It’s hard to understand where Democrats find the gall to criticize Bush’s military record when our last president, Democrat Bill Clinton, dodged the draft. Bush flew a jet fighter in the Air National Guard, an outfit that was called to active duty as recently as the conflict in Afghanistan. He could easily have been sent to war.

Most ludicrous of all is a claim by Michael Moore accusing the president of desertion. I could be wrong, because I haven’t checked it out, but I find it hard to believe that flabby individual ever served his country in any military capacity, never mind flying jet aircraft.

Arthur Hansl

Santa Monica

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In response to the Democrats’ call for accountability of the time allegedly spent by the president in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam conflict, the White House spokesman provided pay stubs and patchy documents. Then, on Wednesday, Scott McClellan said: “I think what you’re seeing is gutter politics. The American people deserve better. There are some who are not interested in the facts. They are simply trolling for trash.”

Thus spake the party of the Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky stories. Bring it on.

Irv Loh

Thousand Oaks