Seraphim
07-23-2004, 05:06 PM
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) on Friday released payroll records from President Bush (news - web sites)'s 1972 service in the Alabama National Guard, saying its earlier contention the records were destroyed was an "inadvertent oversight."
The two computerized payroll record sheets cover July through September of 1972, when Bush was working as a campaign volunteer in Alabama. The future president had been transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama unit so he could stay in Alabama.
The release came days before Democrats began their national convention in Boston to officially nominate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) as their presidential candidate. Military veterans are being tapped at the convention to help tell Kerry's story as he prepares to accept the party's nomination next week.
Democrats have sought to contrast Bush's National Guard service with Kerry's Vietnam War record. Kerry enlisted in the Navy, volunteered for combat in Vietnam and earned several medals including a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. After returning from Vietnam, Kerry became a prominent anti-war activist.
The Associated Press had asked a federal judge on July 16 to order the Pentagon to quickly turn over a copy of the pay records. The AP had sued under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records from a state library records center in Texas.
Records of Bush's National Guard service released previously did not conclusively show whether Bush fulfilled his service requirements in 1972 and 1973, during the Vietnam War.
Bush had transferred to an Alabama National Guard unit while he worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton Blount, a family friend.
The Pentagon had said that the payroll records for that time period had been inadvertently destroyed.
"Previous attempts to locate the missing records at the Federal Records Center had been unsuccessful due to the incorrect records accession numbers provided," the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information chief C.Y. Talbot said in a letter Friday to The Associated Press.
"The correct numbers were obtained ... and the records were found."
Talbot wrote that the Defense Department "regrets this inadvertent oversight during he initial search and the delay it caused in your receipt of these materials."
The Associated Press was evaluating the documents.
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) on Friday released payroll records from President Bush (news - web sites)'s 1972 service in the Alabama National Guard, saying its earlier contention the records were destroyed was an "inadvertent oversight."
The two computerized payroll record sheets cover July through September of 1972, when Bush was working as a campaign volunteer in Alabama. The future president had been transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama unit so he could stay in Alabama.
The release came days before Democrats began their national convention in Boston to officially nominate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) as their presidential candidate. Military veterans are being tapped at the convention to help tell Kerry's story as he prepares to accept the party's nomination next week.
Democrats have sought to contrast Bush's National Guard service with Kerry's Vietnam War record. Kerry enlisted in the Navy, volunteered for combat in Vietnam and earned several medals including a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. After returning from Vietnam, Kerry became a prominent anti-war activist.
The Associated Press had asked a federal judge on July 16 to order the Pentagon to quickly turn over a copy of the pay records. The AP had sued under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records from a state library records center in Texas.
Records of Bush's National Guard service released previously did not conclusively show whether Bush fulfilled his service requirements in 1972 and 1973, during the Vietnam War.
Bush had transferred to an Alabama National Guard unit while he worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton Blount, a family friend.
The Pentagon had said that the payroll records for that time period had been inadvertently destroyed.
"Previous attempts to locate the missing records at the Federal Records Center had been unsuccessful due to the incorrect records accession numbers provided," the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information chief C.Y. Talbot said in a letter Friday to The Associated Press.
"The correct numbers were obtained ... and the records were found."
Talbot wrote that the Defense Department "regrets this inadvertent oversight during he initial search and the delay it caused in your receipt of these materials."
The Associated Press was evaluating the documents.