The Hero and the Deserter
Conventional Wisdom says that while Kerry enthusastically signed up to fight the war in Vietnam, indeed even volunteering for the dangerous tour aboard swift boats, George W Bush used family connections to enter the Texas Air National Guard as a fighter pilot (if he showed up at all), thus safely dodging the Vietnam War. Right?

Well, as usual, the Conventional Wisdom comes up a bit short...

Kerry

First of all, it seems John Kerry attempted to defer his service for at least a year, so that he could study in Paris.

Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is trading on his Vietnam war record to campaign against President George W Bush, tried to defer his military service for a year, according to a newly rediscovered article in a Harvard University newspaper.

He wrote to his local recruitment board seeking permission to spend a further 12 months studying in Paris, after completing his degree course at Yale University in the mid-1960s.

The revelation appears to undercut Sen Kerry's carefully-cultivated image as a man who willingly served his country in a dangerous war - in supposed contrast to President Bush, who served in the Texas National Guard and thus avoided being sent to Vietnam.

Also, at odds with what he depicts today as his enthusiasm to serve in Vietnam in defense of his country, in 1986, John Kerry said, "I didn't really want to get involved in the war. That explains why he chose service in swift boats, where "Kerry had little expectation of seeing action." The details, reported by the Washington Post:

When Kerry signed up to command a Swift boat in the summer of 1968, he was inspired by the example of his hero, John F. Kennedy, who had commanded the PT-109 patrol boat in the Pacific in World War II. But Kerry had little expectation of seeing serious action. At the time the swift boats -- or PCFs (patrol craft fast), in Navy jargon -- were largely restricted to coastal patrols. "I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry wrote in a 1986 book.

But things soon changed for Kerry:

The role of the swift boats changed dramatically toward the end of 1968, when Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, commander of U.S. naval forces in South Vietnam, decided to use them to block Vietcong supply routes through the Mekong Delta.

Taking a 50-foot aluminum boat up a river or canal was replete with danger, ranging from ambushes to booby traps to mines....

So yes, the facts show that John Kerry was involved in more than a few dangerous missions in Vietnam. But they also show the Kerry attempted to avoid depoloyment to Vietnam with a deferment to study in Paris, served (with distinction) for some time aboard the USS Gridley, and then volunteered for the swift boats, which were considered to be a relatively safe assignment. Only when circumstances outside of Kerry's control changed, did he find himself thrust into the role of a decorated war hero.


Bush

Did Bush use family connections to get his plum assignment? At a minimum, that is unclear. The Dallas Morning News reported that he got his assignment because no one else wanted it:

[T]he Dallas Morning News, which also looked into Bush's military record, reported that while Bush's unit in Texas had a waiting list for many spots, he was accepted because he was one of a handful of applicants willing and qualified to spend more than a year in active training flying F-102 jets....

Bush, a Yale University graduate, has said he joined the Air National Guard rather than volunteer for Army combat duty because he wanted to learn how to fly jet fighters like his father, who was a fighter pilot in World War II.

"He said he wanted to fly just like his daddy," Bush's commander, Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, told the Times. "Nobody did anything for him. There was no ... influence on his behalf."

The Times reported that many of Bush's former colleagues and superiors in the Guard remember him as a bright young leader who worked hard.

"He did the work. His daddy didn't do it for him," said retired Maj. Willie J. Hooper.

Well, that doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't anyone want to fly F-102's in the Texas Air National Guard if it was such a great assignment? Perhaps because

1. The F-102 was a difficult and dangerous airplane to fly. There were more than a few accidental deaths in Bush's unit.
   
2. There were better ways to avoid the war in Vietnam. In fact, at the time Bush enlisted in his National Guard unit, it had active deployments in Vietnam.
   

Here is a informative summary of the F-102 and Bush's unit during his service by the non-partison aerospaceweb.org. Excerpt:

[W]e have established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for periods of three to six months for frontline duty.

Fred Bradley, a friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG, reported that he and Bush inquired about participating in the Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a superior, MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified since they were still in training and did not have the 500 hours of flight experience required. Furthermore, ANG veteran COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS at the time, told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was winding down and not accepting new applicants....
...
The point of this discussion is that the military record of George W. Bush deserves a fair treatment. Bush has been criticized for avoiding service in Vietnam, though the evidence proves that the Texas Air National Guard and its F-102 pilots where serving in Vietnam while Bush was in training. Bush has been criticized for using his family influence to obtain his assignment, but the evidence shows that he successfully completed every aspect of the more than two years of training required of him. Bush has been criticized for pursuing a safe and plush position as a fighter pilot, but the evidence indicates the F-102 was a demanding aircraft whose pilots regularly risked their lives. Bush has also been criticized for deserting the Guard before his enlistment was complete, but the evidence shows he was honorably discharged eight months early because his position was being phased out.

Also, note this debunking of the Bush AWOL myth, and this follow-up.

- posted by The Dutchman @ 7:57:00 PM