Informant38

Lt. George W. Bush's October 1, 1973 discharge papers from the Texas Air National Guard reveal that, although under the Guard rules he had originally signed up for six years of service obligation, this fighter jet pilot had only "completed 5 years, 4 months, and 5 days toward this obligation.�" Signed by his commanding officer Major Rufus Martin, Bush's discharge papers also note that at the time of his discharge he was "not available for [his ] signature."

Twenty-seven years later, in a Boston Globe interview with Medal of Honor winner, Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska), he expressed disgust at the newspaper's findings that George W. Bush had sidestepped National Guard duty for several months between 1972 and 1973. Bush was safely tucked away in Texas, and Kerrey had been fighting in Vietnam. A riled up Kerrey said this lapse amounts to Bush being AWOL -- absent without leave.

''It upsets me,'' Kerrey said in the interview, ''when someone says, `Vote for me, I was in the military,' when in fact he got into the military in order to avoid serving in the military, to avoid service that might have taken him into the war. And then he didn't even show up for duty.''