Obama '08?

It was a tragedy that Bush, Sr., bailed out of the plane leaving his crew to die in the crash. A pilot is supposed to be the last person out of the plane.

Saul Alinsky said and wrote:
->The radical is not a reformer of the system but its would-be destroyer;
->The revolutionary’s purpose is to undermine the system;
->The radical is building his own kingdom, a kingdom of heaven on earth;
->The radical underrmines the system by taking from the haves and giving it to the have nots;
->The most basic principle for radicals is lie to opponents;
->The issue is never the issue;
->The issue is always the revolution;
->The radical organizer does not have a fixed truth—truth to him is relative and changing;
->The stated cause is never the real cause, but only an occasion to advance the real cause;
->The real cause is the accumulation of power to make the revolution.

Advocate wrote:

It was a tragedy that Bush, Sr., bailed out of the plane leaving his crew to die in the crash. A pilot is supposed to be the last person out of the plane.

This is a damn lie!

I was in the Pacific at the same time as Bush and flew the same Avenger airplane. A small room in the rear of the Avenger was occupied by the radioman. The gunner went through the room to get up to his turret. Both wore a harness to which a chest type parachute could be attached - The gunner had to come down out of the turret to put on his chute.

Bush said he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the plane caught fire. Bush's squadron was primarily used for patrol and saw very little combat. Bush claimed he warned the crew, over the intercom, to get out - got no answer and he could not yell back because of the armor plate behind him.

He decided they were dead, so he bailed out. First, he failed to say he switched his mike from radio to intercom. Then being blocked by the armor is a bold faced lie! There was a sizable gap on either side of the armor. I used this space to call to my crew several times.

The tough old Avenger simply did not catch fire!! It had self sealing gas tanks. In six months of operations, I never saw an Avenger catch fire. If the oil or hydraulic systems were damaged, great clouds of white smoke would stream out of the planhe. I have no idea how many times i saw planes returning to their carriers trailing smoke but never a fire.

What really happened? It was the pilots job to hold the plane level and slow it down so the crew could get out. Most certainly, the radioman was helping the gunner with his chute when Bush panicked and left the plane. Then the plane rolled into a dive giving the crew no chance. This story went through the fleet and all the Avenger pilots i knew were shocked at what they heard. I heard speculation of a Courts-Martial.

Bush was very young. By his own admission, he reacted under stress. It is terrifying to have the cockpit fill with smoke. Possibly, he can be excused for reacting to fear and accepting it as another war time tragedy - but he has been glorified on the History channel, a book is being published, and worst of all, an aircraft carrier is to be named for him. This is unbelievable!! Bush performed badly and was certainly no hero.

John S. McDonald

:Lt Bush was piloting the third plane over the target. Bush's plane was hit in the engine shortly after final push at 8,000 feet. In spite of this hit which caused his engine to smoke and catch on fir, Lt Bush continued in his dive, releasing his bombs on the radio station at 85.6-50.6 to score damaging hits. Ens. Moore, in the 4th plane likewise dropped his bombs on latter installations.after releasing his bombs, Lt Bush turned sharply to the east to clear the island of Chichi Jima, smoke and flames enveloping his engine and spreading aft as he did so, and his plane losing altitude ... At a point approximately 9 miles bearing 045 degrees from Minami Jima, Bush and one other person were seen to bail out from about 3,000 ft. Bush's chute opened and he landed safely in water, inflated his raft, and paddled farther away from Chichi Jima. ... (Bush has not yet been returned to squadron by rescue sub, so this information is incomplete). The rescue sub promptly affected rescue of Lt Bush who was unhurt, plans of VG-20 remaining over Bush's raft to protect him. It should be noted that VT-51 has established a doctrine, whenever wind and other conditions permit, to make bombing runs on targets near water so as to retire over the water. This puts pilot and crew in position for water rescue in event of forced landing suc as that described herein.

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

You use outsized type when addressing me again and I will search you down and punch your lights out.