Just because he was in the National Guard doesn't mean that his service was any less valorous. Do you even know what Bush did in the National Guard? Don't give me that crap about him not showing up either. He patroled the airspace around Cuba. Which, let's see, would have been at a very crucial time when the USSR was still trying to use Cuba to be able to attack us.
Please, give me a break. Bush himself doesn't even claim his service was "valorous" like veterans who were in an actual war.
Him not showing up is a valid point. The point is debatable, but it has not been completely proven or completely disproven.
Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, and was done training in 1970. He then flew training missions for 2 years, where two pilots would fly over the Gulf of Mexico, and practice being Predator and Prey. Bush asked to be reassigned to the Alabama National Guard in 1972 to work on the Senate campaign of Winton Blount, which in itself was fairly common and not an issue. In Alabama he did little or no flying, but did drills with the regular guardsmen, because they didn't have enough planes to accomodate him. In 1973 he left the Guard to attend Harvard Business School.
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200402180840.asp
The time in question is his time in Alabama. Not that he was transfered, not that he left early, not that he didn't fly in Alabama, all of which are legit. Did he show up for the drills with the regular guardsmen or not. I don't know the answer and most people here don't either. The article I cited defends Bush's record. But I won't make an issue of it right now.
What Bush did in the Guard does not come close to what people go through in a real life war. He was never shot at, he never had to shoot anyone. His life was never in danger, he never saw his friends die, and he never had to deal with the consequences of taking another man's life, even if they are the enemy. I don't fault Bush for it, but don't tell me that what he did was just as "valorous" as someone that served in a war. I consider people like Bob Dole, John McCain, Bush Sr., JFK, Max Cleland, John Kerry, politics aside, to be heroes for what they did for their country. Flying over the Gulf of Mexico once every week or two for a while, and drilling the required 50 days a year in Alabama, is not the same.
Oh, and about Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended in 1962. The Soviets after that time delivered military equipment to Castro, most of it in the 80s, but did not have a real military presence in Cuba. And Bush never patroled Cuban airspace, or anywhere else. Bush's flying experience was limited to training missions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Again, what Bush did, the awol issue aside, was not bad and not a negative against him. But its not the same as being in a war.
