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and then I wrote:
Bush secret military service revealed RNS* Washington, D.C. Oct. 3, 2003 Presidential political advisor Karl Rove today made public President George W. Bush's military record for the so-called "missing" 18 months of his service in the Texas Air National Guard.
During a little publicized press conference in the Rose Garden (the White House media contingent received only 4 days notice), Rove displayed U.S. Air Force and CIA documents which put to rest for all time rumors circulating since the 1999 campaign.
"The president is a very modest man", said Rove. "He has never been one to blow his own horn. It took me 3 weeks to convince him that it would be in this great country's best interests to release this information at this time, prior to the national elections."
The documents show that the President, then 1st Lt. George W. Bush, received a secret transfer from the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Texas Air National Guard to an unnamed (classified: "Top-Secret") F-102 squadron at Danang Air Base, Republic of South Viet Nam. Due to his family's notoriety, he served under the assumed name of "Norm DeGuerre". During the 18 months he served there he was credited with 10 "kills", shooting down 4 Mig-19s, and 6 Mig-21s, thus earning the title "Double Ace". He was also credited with destroying 12 heavily defended surface-to-air (SAM) sites in downtown Hanoi, Republic of North Viet Nam. For these heroic actions he was awarded the Air Medal (A.M.) and the Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.)
During the 12th mission, his F-102 Delta Dagger suffered major flak damage and Lt. "DeGuerre" was forced to eject. He spent 3 weeks as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war before overpowering his guards and escaping. The trek back to U.S. forces took 7 weeks, all through snake infested jungle, during which he lived off of berries, bamboo shoots, and reptiles. At his debriefing he remarked "Those snakes sure would have tasted better if I could have cooked them, but I just couldn't risk making a fire."
Back at Danang, and just two days prior to Lt. "DeGuerre's" release from the air force, North Vietnamese Regular Army units attempted to overrun and capture this key air base. Lt. "DeGuerre" scrambled to his aircraft, and, dodging incoming mortar rounds, was able to take off on the shell-pocked runway (the only aircraft to get airborne that night) and, using napalm and rockets, single-handedly beat back the advancing armies.
For his actions "above and beyond the call of duty", Lt. "DeGuerre" received the Congressional Medal of Honor in a secret White House ceremony. George H.W. Bush, then CIA Director, pinned the medal on his son. *Rove News Service
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