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Kerry and Bush Compaired (661 hits)

Category: Politics

Rating: 2 on 3 reviews (Rate this item) (V)

Submitted by Glam Daddy (View user info) at 2004-04-22 14:23:37 EDT

While at Yale

Kerry
Enlisted in the US Naval Reserves. Feb. 18, 1966

Bush
Bush received student deferments until June 1968; that year marked the height of the Vietnam draft. [Washington Post, 7/28/99]

Applied for spot in Texas Air National Guard in January of 1968, before graduation. Before he graduated, Bush personally visited Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt -- the commander of the Texas Air National Guard -- to talk about the Guard.

After Bush met with Staudt, he applied and was quickly accepted -- despite a waiting list of over 150 applicants.

Contrary to Bush's denials of special treatment, it was later disclosed that a personal friend of Bush's father had secured the spot in the Guard for Bush.

Bush later acknowledges he entered Guard to avoid going to Vietnam: "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes." [Houston Chronicle, 5/8/94]
After Graduation

Kerry
Enters and Completes Officer Training School

Bush
Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard after his student deferment ran out when he graduated from Yale in 1968.

"His score on the pilot aptitude section, one of five on the test, was in the 25th percentile, the lowest allowed for would-be fliers." [Dallas Morning News, 7/4/99]

Bush received a direct appointment, allowing him to become a second lieutenant right out of basic training without having to go though officer candidate school. The direct appointment also cleared the way for a position in pilot training school. [Houston Chronicle, 10/10/92; Los Angeles Times, 7/4/99]

On Bush's application to the 147th Fighter Group at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, Bush was asked what his "Area Assignment Preferences" were. Bush checked the box beside "Do Not Volunteer" for overseas duty. [Application for Extended Duty With The United States Air Force, 5/27/68]
First Assignment

Kerry
Deployed to Western Pacific to Support Operations in Vietnam

Bush
In the summer of 1970, Bush moved into the Chateaux Dijon apartment complex, "a popular spot for singles, it offered fancy street lamps and striped awnings and six pools filled with ambitious secretaries, students and young businessmen. Bush relished his bachelor life there. He played hard, plunging into all-day water volleyball games, but left frequently for 24-hour flight duty in the alert shack at Ellington Field." [Washington Post, 7/28/99]
Request for Second Post

Kerry
On Feb. 10, 1968, Kerry requests duty in Vietnam. He lists his first billet preference as an Officer in Charge of a swift boat and his second as a patrol officer in a River Patrol Boat (PBR) squadron.

Bush
In May 1972, Bush gets a job on an Alabama Senate Campaign. He leaves Houston and requests transfer to the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron in Alabama. Although Bush notes his aeronautical rating as "flying status," his request is turned down because the 9921 was a postal unit. His transfer is later approved to a different Alabama unit. [AF 1288--Bush signature, 24 May 72; Approved: 26 May 72]
Second Assignment

Kerry
Kerry leaves his post on the Gridley, and becomes a student at the Naval Amphibious Base, in Coronado, California in preparation for service on a swift boat in Vietnam. He is promoted from Ensign to Lt. JG and extends his active duty commitment by six months.

While in Vietnam Kerry is involved in more than a dozen missions receiving hostile fire.

He is wounded three times and decorated with three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. Kerry is ordered by Naval regulations to return home after being wounded three times.

Bush
During Bush's service in Alabama:
He is suspended from flight status for his failure to take required annual medical exam. [Washington Post, 2/15/02; Aeronautical Orders, Number 87, 29 Sept 72; AFM 35-13, Para 2-29m]

He attends the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida with his father. [Bill Minutaglio, First Son, p. 144].

Pay records released by the White House show that he was paid for 2 days service during the six-month period covering the Blount campaign. [White House Release: Bush Pay Records]

Bush's superior officers were unable to complete his annual evaluation for 1972 because, "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report." [AF-77, 2 May 73]

Info provided here taken from
http://www.dailykos.com/
and
http://www.jordansplace.net/politics/politics.html

------- and then theres this little gem ----------

bush_kerry_military_comparison. (105 kB) [application/x-macbinary]

User Reviews

Submitted by whataefag (user info) at 2004-04-22 14:28:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2

Very interesting post!

Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-04-22 14:28:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2

very informative
I still don't like that Kerry is for the banning of gay marriage.
In my opinion he is still the lesser of two evils though.

Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2004-04-22 14:27:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2

Speaks for itself...who in their right mind would vote Bush?

I can't wait until he's ousted, Uber will be filled with "i told you so" posts.