# More Missing Nat. Guard Documents **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 6, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303 "2004-09-06T04:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/21 "2004-09-07T00:57:59Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > Those committed to Bush will find every means to ignore what the opposition says. > > So on the basis of these findings, I can only conclude that the Bush League will 1)spin away any unfavorable charges, 2) the Committed will deny deny deny, 3) the source of any allegation will be tarred and feathered and then rolled down a hill, 4) and the cognitive dissonance will continue as it has been. > > [/SIZE] You are exactly right. And what I don’t understand is…why? Since he just sucks rocks as a leader, functioning as a kind of reverse Midas, where everything he touches turns to shit, what the hell are they so fond of him for? is it as simple as the fact that he has an ® next to his name? Is it really the “I’d like to have a beer with him” factor? What is the REAL reason that those who love him, love him? Since they are forced to be in total denial in order to sustain this affection, what is it?? It is utterly bizarre and inexplicable. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/22 "2004-09-07T01:06:50Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Maybe Tommy Franks can do it. He called Feith"the fucking stupidest person on the planet" so far… He’s also criticized the Swiftvets’ ads and said that Kerry is absolutely fit to be Commander in Chief. But, unfortunately, he’s endorsed Bush so I don’t think we’ll get much direct help from him. Maybe some of the interviews of him saying those things could be used in ads. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/23 "2004-09-07T01:08:58Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I’m not exactly sure what the debate in this thread is, but here’s a thought: > > Hows about getting a 527 group to produce an ad with a bunch of Air National Guard folks who served with or near Bush. They talk about how they worked their butts off while Bush played hookie. They use clever langauge to imply that he was a disgrace to the Guard, that he didn’t complete his service, and is unfit for command. Maybe some somber music in the background. This ad was brought to you by Air National Guardsmen for Truth. Oh, god, please, no. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/24 "2004-09-07T02:49:13Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > 1. Instead of admitting that Bush was not exactly acting like a sharp shooter the morning of 9/11, we have apologists saying that Bush did exactly what he was supposed to be doing, reading **The Pet Goat** instead of putting himself closer to the pulse of the unraveling events. They can’t even admit that there was room for improvement in his response. According to them, he scored a perfect 10 that morning. Unbelievable. That is not correct. I never said that he was “doing what he was supposed to be doing”, I said that it was completely understandable and, as it happened, completely irrelevant. “Perfect 10”? Not hardly. But nobody scored a “Perfect 10” that day. Not the air traffic controllers, not the military, not the intelligence services, and not the President. If you would like me to concede that there was room for improvement, I’ll be glad to, with one condition. All you have to do is tell me what he could have done to stop it from happening during those seven minutes. I don’t consider this being an apologist, by the way. It’s more like reality versus fantasy. Reality: It didn’t matter. Fantasy: It would have mattered somehow, though I’m unable to figure out how. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/25 "2004-09-07T03:30:18Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > …and that includes a back injury so severe that I could barely walk that I sustained in the desert last year and a forearm injury that I’m dealing with right now that leaves me unable to pick up anything with my right hand without some truly dire pain. Two questions: 1. You are still an Airman and they are letting you fly their aircraft? Don’t you have to be like a second lieutenant before they let you fly their (my, speaking as a taxpayer) expensive airplanes? 2. Are modern planes really so fly-by-wire that you can do it while basically crippled? If not, who do you think you are, Chuck Yeager? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/26 "2004-09-07T05:06:40Z")
No, I’m not a pilot. I am enlisted aircrew, AFSC 1A351, which has the job title of Airborne Communications and Electronics Specialist, and with the specific training I received for my particular weapons platform my job title is now Electronic Communications Systems Specialist. In other words, I fly in the back end and operate radio and television equipment. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/27 "2004-09-07T05:52:21Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > …Hows about getting a 527 group to produce an ad with a bunch of Air National Guard folks who served with or near Bush… HUGE goddam airplane hanger, camera dollys in through the door, its like galactically empty… (Crickets chirping…) “I’m **elucidator** , and boy! do I _approve_ this ad!” ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/28 "2004-09-08T13:35:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No one is likely to be swayed by Bush’s (as yet unproven) hypocrisy as regards abortion, those opposed see him as their champion, they will simply wave it away. For those of us with the appropriate contempt for the man, this would merely be another example, toss it on the pile with the rest. > [@you with the face](#): > > Charges about abortion won’t have much impact, either. One can look no farther than the SDMB to figure out why. Those committed to Bush will find every means to ignore what the opposition says. I have to disagree. I keep hearing about the millions of evangelical Christians who supposedly stayed home on election day in 2000 - the ones Republicans are counting on to turn out in force this time and make it a relative landslide for Bush. A story like this might not turn them into instant Kerry supporters, but it sure would dampen their enthusiasm for the (possible) hypocrite, and turnout is _real_ important when it’s this close. This is what I’d call fighting fire with fire. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/29 "2004-09-08T14:23:38Z")
[_The Boston Globe_](http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2004/09/08/bush_fell_short_on_duty_at_guard/) has weighed in on this issue again. The “juciest” quote: > [@](#): > > The reexamination of Bush’s records by the Globe, along with interviews with military specialists who have reviewed regulations from that era, show that Bush’s attendance at required training drills was so irregular that his superiors could have disciplined him or ordered him to active duty in 1972, 1973, or 1974. But they did neither. In fact, Bush’s unit certified in late 1973 that his service had been ''satisfactory" – just four months after Bush’s commanding officer wrote that Bush had not been seen at his unit for the previous 12 months. The only new thing seems to be this: > [@](#): > > On July 30, 1973, shortly before he moved from Houston to Cambridge, Bush signed a document that declared, ''It is my responsibility to locate and be assigned to another Reserve forces unit or mobilization augmentation position. If I fail to do so, I am subject to involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months. . . " > Under Guard regulations, Bush had 60 days to locate a new unit. . . . Does anyone know the date of Bush’s discharge from ANG? If it happened before the aforementioned 60-day period ended, then the matter is moot. If not, the howls of “AWOL!” shall soon recommence. [thoroughly gratuitous slam] I was recently reminded by Molly Ivan’s _Who Let the Dogs In?_ that Fearless leader enrolled in Harvard Law only after the University of Texas _turned him down_. Add your own punch line. [/tgs] ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/30 "2004-09-08T21:51:16Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I’m not exactly sure what the debate in this thread is, but here’s a thought: > > Hows about getting a 527 group to produce an ad with a bunch of Air National Guard folks who served with or near Bush. They talk about how they worked their butts off while Bush played hookie. They use clever langauge to imply that he was a disgrace to the Guard, that he didn’t complete his service, and is unfit for command. Maybe some somber music in the background. This ad was brought to you by Air National Guardsmen for Truth. You got the name wrong, it’s [Texans for Truth.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=676&e=4&u=/usatoday/20040908/ts_usatoday/texansfortruthadchallengesbushonguardservice) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/31 "2004-09-08T21:58:39Z")
Nicholas Kristoff in the Times today (no link, i read news where the ink comes off on my fingers) has found someone who was in Alabama when Bush was supposed to be there, and who even looked for him. This guy was single, and figured that since Bush was single they could have some fun. Never found him. I wonder what would have happened to him if his daddy weren’t a big shot? Facing, it, Bushies, your hero is a lying coward. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/32 "2004-09-09T00:44:30Z")
I find it interesting that the Mainstream Media ignored the Swiftboat thing for months, ignoring the fact that 254 of Kerry’s fellow swiftees feel him unfit for command, including his entire living chain of command. Seventeen affidavits? Not good enough. You see, the mainstream media only deals in cold, hard fact. No tabloid journalism stuff for us. And of course, when they did investigate, what did they investigate? Whether the swiftees were pawns of the Bush administration. The fact that John O’Neill has given campaign donations to Republicans means he’s totally discredited, of course. And even then, the broadcast networks largely ignored the story. But now we have two new sources against Bush. One is a book by the ever-so-accurate Kitty Kelly, who claims that GW Bush did cocaine. Her sole source - an ex-wife of a Bush brother whos marriage ended in a nasty divorce. Good thing the mainstream media won’t go anywhere near her, huh? Oh, wait… The Today Show is doing a three-part series on the book next week… Then there’s Ben Barnes, who now alleges that he helped Bush get into the guard. Of course, the Mainstream Media will notice that, A) Barnes has already given sworn testimony that he had nothing to do with it, and B) Barnes is a [Co-Chair of the Kerry campaign](http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/topfundraisers.pdf) and one of the top contributers to the Kerry campaign. So of course he’s completely tainted and no reputable journalist in the Mainstream Media would give him network access, right? Oh, wait… He scored an interview with Dan Rather on _60 Minutes_, and above-the-fold articles in newspapers all over the place. Nothing to see here, folks. No media bias at all. Move along… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/33 "2004-09-09T00:50:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > You got the name wrong, it’s [Texans for Truth.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=676&e=4&u=/usatoday/20040908/ts_usatoday/texansfortruthadchallengesbushonguardservice) I almost shit my pants when I heard about these guys today! ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/34 "2004-09-09T01:06:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I almost shit my pants when I heard about these guys today! Karl Rove… is that you? (Just kidding, **JM**.) ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/35 "2004-09-09T02:44:49Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Nothing to see here, folks. No media bias at all. Move along… I guess bias is really in the eyes of the beholder. To me, it is media bias that the following two stories are treated even roughly the same as if they are equivalent: (1) The fact that the current President obviously went into the National Guard to avoid serving in Vietnam (and even said as much) and has produced zero evidence and no credible witnesses saying that he fulfilled all of that commitment. His Vice President and Defense Secretary both avoided the war. Yet, all three are hawks who seem to have no qualms about ordering others into harm’s way for a combination of half-baked ideological reasons sold with deception and cherry-picking of evidence, and which has undoubtably at least so far led to a diminishment rather than enhancement of our security. (2) The fact that his challenger served with distinction in Vietnam and was awarded 3 medals and was lauded by those who served under his command, including a Republican who credits Kerry with saving his life. But, a few veterans with obvious axes to grind now claim that Kerry may not have been truthful about the facts that led to his receiving those medals even though most of them did not have much contact with him and at least one who did sang a different tune at the time in their reports on him. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/36 "2004-09-09T02:50:04Z")
Well, I don’t see any cite here from [Factcheck.org](http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=254) so I’ll post what they have to say about this: > [@](#): > > The Six-month Gap > > Mintz actually adds little to what had previously been known about a six-month gap in Bush’s service. The New York Times reported last February that it had interviewed 16 retired officers, pilots and senior enlisted men who served at the unit and found none who recalled Bush attending drills. > > Pay records released in February show Bush wasn’t paid for any drills between April 16, 1972 – the last time he flew with his old unit in Houston – and October 28 and 29 of that year, just before the conclusion of the Alabama senatorial campaign in which Bush was working. He was also paid for Nov. 11, 12, 13 & 14, shortly after election day. The pay records don’t indicate where Bush was on those dates, but Bush has also produced a dental examination record showing he was at the Alabama base on January 6, 1973. > > Mintz conceded during the telephone conference that he wasn’t sure if he himself had been at the base on the specific dates Bush was paid in October and November, and said it was possible that Bush performed office work at the base without his knowing it. By October Bush could only have been paid for non -flying service because he had been officially grounded for failing to take a required flight physical. There is a bunch of stuff in there both for Bush and against him, and I’ve found this site pretty fair and non-partisan for the most part. The bottom line is, there is nothing new here that contradicts what we already knew about this. I think this is a mistake for the Democrats to have this ad out (yes, I know its not directly associated with the Democrats but with [Moveon.org](http://Moveon.org)…just like the Swift Boat guys aren’t directly associated with the Republicans)…it looks like a defensive move to counter the Swift Boat ads being run. Lame. Kerry (and friends) should be running ads defining his record as a Senator and why he is fit to be the next president, not dredging up this bullshit thats already been hashed out and examined several times before…including in the LAST presidential election. -XT -XT ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/37 "2004-09-09T04:39:58Z")
The ad really isn’t squat, its the other stuff - the documents from Bush’s immediate superior officer paint a pretty clear picture. You can see it over at _Talking Points Memo_ [http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/) Tantalizing extracts > [@](#): > > …Staudt has obviously pressured Hodges more about Bush. I’m having trouble running interference and doing my job…Bush wasn’t here during rating period … I will not rate. Austin is not happy today either…imagine my surprise when she proceeded to… OK, the last one is the bunk. Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/38 "2004-09-09T06:04:04Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Nothing to see here, folks. No media bias at all. Move along… Why **Mr Stone**! I must say, that for an inveterate Seeker of The Truth[sup]®[/sup] such as yourself, you disappoint me, Sir. For surely you agree that we _must_ get to the very bottom of this issue before we let it go? I mean, come on! Enough with the modesty already. As you may or may not know, I’ve watched with awe your scrupulous work on behalf of the search for The Truth[sup]®[/sup] on the matter of the Swift Boat etc. etc. Vs Kerry, and let me tell you, I was, and am, _impressed_! So I say, here and now, that such talent cannot, I repeat, _cannot_, be set aside in The Fight Against Ignorace[sup]®[/sup]. In fact, should that other, newly recovered paragon of virtue and sincerity, **Mr Scylla** , wish to join forces with you in this effort, well…magnificent! Why with the two of you by his side, Sherlock Holmes would have never left home. Not so good for Sir Doyle, but that’s another matter entirely. It is in that vein, and with all due candor and respect, that I offer the following extracts from this article for perusal at your earliest convenience: [**Memos Show Bush Suspended From Flying**](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20040909/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_national_guard) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON - The White House released memos Wednesday night saying that George W. Bush was suspended from flying fighter jets for failing to meet standards of the Texas Air National Guard. > > The Vietnam-era memos add new dimensions to the bare-bones explanation of Bush’s aides over the years that he was suspended simply because he decided to skip his annual physical exam. The exam was scheduled during a year in which Bush left Texas, where he had been flying fighter jets, to work on a U.S. Senate campaign in Alabama. > > \ > > **The newly released records also showed that while Bush says he was in Alabama training with another Guard unit in 1972, his home unit in Texas was participating in the air defense of the southern United States by keeping two jet fighters constantly ready for launch within five minutes’ notice (bolding mine)** Now see, I need that bolded part explained to me a bit better. 'cause what I gather at first glance puts quite a damper on Mr Bush’s otherwise impeccable reputation. Namely that while Mr Bush was in Alabana – no doubt tending to very important matters – his absence may have imperiled the whole Gulf Coast of the US of A, for as I am sure you’re well aware no one knew at the time, exactly when the Viet Cong might decide to launch a critical air offensive on America. A fact proven by the very fact that Mr Bush’s unit kept two fighter jets ready for take off at all times. Yes, I realize that this might be too wide a charge to place on his already overburdened shoulders, but the fact of the matter is the the US was _at war_ during this perilous period! At war, Sir. Ponder that if you will, and then ponder this: while Senator Kerry was sunning himself on a dingy in some slinky river in 'nam, Mr Bush, depended upon to operate one of the most expensive, deadly and accurate weapons on the US arsenal, was, apparently, MIA. A depressing thought I am sure we’d all agree, for even the slightest chink in Mr Bush’s armour would tarnish his almost superhuman status amongst us mere mortals. And that simply can’t be. I mean, this story is flat-out **wrong**. Just has to be, right **Sam**? I am almost willing to put forth that is simply more lies from the filthy liberal media. But that wouldn’t be prudent. Nope, nope, it wouldn’t be. Not before **you** can assure me that such is the case. See, I trust you, **Mr Stone**. And this is no time to quit. This can’t be. No it can’t. Say it ain’t so, **Sam** …please. Thanks in advance for taking this matter into consideration. Await for your reply with heart aflutter. PS-I like these “®” thingamagingies. Hope they don’t detract from the overall ungency of my message. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/39 "2004-09-09T07:21:02Z")
Whoa, slow down there, Dostoyevsky. If the Dems turn up a poor fitness report on Bush, I’d love to read it. We have a second-hand memo that mentions a bad evaluation, but that could be for a lot of things. It would depend on the nature of the evaluation. Bush has partly inoculated himself from these types of attacks though, by admitting that he was a screw-up when he was young, enjoyed a few too many cocktails, and eventually had to straighten up and fly right. If the evaluation turns up something egregious, that’ll make me think less of him. Sure. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303/40 "2004-09-09T08:00:34Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Then there’s Ben Barnes, who now alleges that he helped Bush get into the guard. Of course, the Mainstream Media will notice that, A) Barnes has already given sworn testimony that he had nothing to do with it, If they did happen to notice that, they’d be wrong, wouldn’t they? > [@](#): > > [Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard > By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and RALPH BLUMENTHAL > Published: September 9, 2004](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/09/politics/09guard.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1094702479-3cb3nD4YGhuRS4LxzDtOKg) > > Mr. Barnes maintained, **as he has since 1999** , that he had contacted his friend who headed the Texas Air National Guard, Brig. Gen. James Rose, not at the behest of anyone in the Bush family, but rather a Houston businessman, Sidney A. Adger, a friend of the Bushes who has died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-missing-nat-guard-documents/263303.md?page=3)