Serious doubts have been raised about the stories of two key Alabama National Guard figures who questioned whether President Bush showed up for weekend duty there in the early 1970s.
Retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, the 187th’s Tactical Reconnaissance Group’s former commander, recanted his statement that he couldn’t remember if Bush reported for duty, now saying his memory is faulty because he’s in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
And The Boston Globe, which took the lead in challenging Bush’s Guard service, reported serious doubts about the account given by one of Bush’s prime accusers.
Turnipseed reversed gear after retired Lt. Col. John “Bill” Calhoun went public to say he remembered Bush well, and that in fact it was Turnipseed, then a colonel, who introduced Bush to him.
“Col. Turnipseed brought [Bush] in when he first came to me. I just know that he saw him there,” Calhoun told The Post. Turnipseed said he regards Calhoun as trustworthy and believes he’d remember it correctly.
Calhoun’s ex-wife, Patsy Burks, said she remembers her husband talking about Bush back in the 1970s when he switched from the Texas Air National Guard to Alabama, where he was working on a political campaign for family friend, Winton “Red” Blount.
Another Alabama Guardsman, Joe LeFevers, told The Birmingham News earlier this week that he remembers seeing Bush on the Alabama base.
Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett had claimed he heard Bush aides talking about having his Guard records scrubbed and saw it happen.
But the Globe reported Thursday that Burkett’s corroborating witness, former Chief Warrant Officer George O. Conn, disputes virtually every point in Burkett’s account.