You Can Look It Up

Houston Chronicle, 7/14/99

FORT WORTH – In literature for his failed 1978 congressional campaign, George W. Bush said he served in the Air Force, a claim his presidential campaign says is legitimate based on time he spent training and on alert while a member of the Texas Air National Guard.

Asked Tuesday at an appearance in New Jersey whether he was justified in claiming Air Force service, Bush replied: “I think so, yes. I was in the Air Force for over 600 days.”

But the Air Force says once a guardsman always a guardsman, even if called to active duty for training or another temporary assignment.

The Republican presidential front-runner already has faced questions about whether he received preferential treatment when he joined the Guard during the Vietnam War. His father, former President Bush, was a congressman at the time.

A pullout ad from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on May 4, 1978, shows a huge picture of Bush with a “Bush for Congress” logo on the front. On the back, a synopsis of his career says he served “in the U.S. Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard where he piloted the F-102 aircraft.”

We know he didn’t ever get called to active duty, now don’t we? Anybody have a problem with him advertising himself as serving in the air force? I didn’t think so.

Thanks to Peanut’s amazing sleuthing skills.