Washingtonpost.com: Bush Friend Pushed for Guard Slot, Ex-Speaker Testifies

Former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Ben Barnes said under oath today that he recommended George W. Bush for a pilot’s slot in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War at the behest of a Houston businessman close to the Bush family. …

He said he was contacted by Sid Adger, a wealthy Houston businessman and a good friend of the senior Bush. Barnes said Adger asked him to “recommend George W. Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard” and Barnes did so in a call to Brig. Gen. James M. Rose, the top official in the Air Guard. Both Rose and Adger are dead.

George W. joined the Air Guard in May 1968, less than two weeks before his graduation from Yale. He has said he did not need help in getting into the Guard and did not ask for any. The issue has cropped up repeatedly in his political campaigns ….

Note this Washington Post article is from 1999. The claim here is that Daddy Bush didn’t pull any strings, it was a close friend of his who did it. Oh, that’s different! mjh