I have written to GWB re his son's photo/ribbons

As the daughter of a highly decorated career USAF officer, I have taken great personal umbrage at the photo on the GHWB Library website that shows * wearing a ribbon he did not earn. I have demanded an apology from GHWB for posting this on his website. We'll see how bland and meaningless the response, if any, is.

Subj: Re: George W. Bush photograph
Date: 9/18/2004
To: Media.Bush@nara.gov
CC: president@whitehouse.gov



Dear President Bush:
A photograph provided online by your presidential library has been brought to my attention. The photograph in question is of your son, George W. Bush, in military uniform and is marked "Bush, George W. 2 Lt." in the lower lefthand corner. Lt. Bush is shown wearing two military ribbons, one of which is the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, which his military records clearly indicate he earned and had the right to wear.
My issue is with the other ribbon he is wearing. This is obviously the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Lt. Bush's TANG records do not indicate ANYWHERE that he earned and had any right to wear this ribbon. He never served in a unit which, during the time he served in it, was awarded this honor. This fact is indisputible.
Military regulations specifically prohibit the wearing of unearned decorations. It is my understanding that the punishment for doing so is/was loss of all pay and benefits, six months in prison, and/or a bad conduct discharge. Clearly the United States Armed Forces take an extremely dim view of anyone who fraudulently wears decorations.
My father, D---- L. R-----, served twenty-two years in the USAF, retiring in 1976 as a Lt Col. During his illustrious career, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with one bronze service star, the Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze service stars, the Air Force Longevity Service Award with three bronze oak leaf clusters, and the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. I will repeat myself. He earned these awards. They don't just blithely hand them out like candy for shell-shocked Iraqi children or as color for junior TANG officer photo-ops.
I am incredibly proud of my father's loyal, heroic service to this nation, and because he is not alive to address this issue I have a daughter's duty to do so in his stead. He placed his life at risk voluntarily and went well out of his way while serving during the Vietnam War in order to perform his duties superlatively. He was completely incapable of mediocrity, as his military records so amply demonstrate.
Your son, George W. Bush, dishonored his uniform, the TANG, and this nation when he posed for that photograph many years ago. The fact that he got away with it at the time and that so many years have passed is completely irrelevant. His despicable act is comparable to spitting on my father's uniform and desecrating his grave. Indeed, it is akin to spitting on everyone who earned this award, and desecrating the graves of all of them who are gone.Time has not diminished the wrong your son perpetrated. You yourself multiply the harm many times over by your tacit approval of the deed demonstrated by the proud display of this photograph.
I am writing to you today to demand that you:
1) Apologize personally to me and my family in writing within fifteen days.
2) Hold a press conference to publicly apologize to this nation within fifteen days.
3) Remove this photographic evidence of fraud from your website. Your son should not receive any accolades for posing with a ribbon he did not earn when he should have gone to the brig for it.
I look forward to your prompt response.



Sincerely,
G----- A. R-----
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

***Format is screwy???? I have deleted personal ID info for security reasons.

You might want to check with Walt Starr.

original message should read "GHWB".......typo!

yesterday that Bush had the RIGHT to wear this medal at the time he was photographed with it?

and i did see a post that he got some info that the ribbon was ok..

can you search?

I don't think anyone has claimed Bush earned the ribbon. It was simply a matter of Walt uncovering a tecnicality by which Bush was allowed to wear a ribbon earned by others. For that reason, Kestrel's letter is still good. Personally, I think she should modify it and make it into a letter to the editor. Her father and John Kerry earned their ribbons and medals; Bush may have legally worn his, but he earned nothing.

Walt Starr is the one who did the bulk (or all) of the research into this matter. Here's the link where he concludes that Bush could legally wear the ribbon:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=818522

Bush was never "assigned to the training unit". He went into training, but it was his TRAINERS who deserved the award, not their students. Bush has never been assigned to that unit (he was assigned to a flying squadron). If he had, his record would indicate he was a TRAINER of some sort. I consider this matter anything but closed.

but I can read, and I can't find any way to read the regulation that allows a student to wear an award earned by his teachers.

trainies also.

I don't even know what to say.

Your father would be incredibly proud of you.

:loveya: :pals:

father went way past hero he must have been a great man. GWB doesn't even deserve to wear the same clothes as your father. I don't know how far this will go but I hope GHWB feels every bit of shame he should.

:loveya: :pals:

I knew about him receiving some medals including the DFC, but he passed away 24 yrs ago and I never saw his military records until 3 weeks ago. I feel like I just found out that my dad, Clark Kent, was that guy in the blue tights.

GWB supposedly had the right to wear the ribbon while he was with the 111th because they had previously earned it. I need to find the link to this fact to satisfy myself. Furthermore, this still is at HUGE odds with the WH explanation that he could wear it because of the 3724th, which is utter nonsense. Is that what GWB told his handlers???Also, I need to look into the AF regs regarding the wearing of unearned decs for official photos as discussed on the WS thread.

Who cares about technicalities? You have every right to complain about the way that the Republican Party has smeared the memory of your father's heroic service. A short list of the things the Party, led by the Bushes, has done recently to dishonor every American:

1. Handed out bandaids making fun of Purple Heart recipients at the RNC Convention.

2. Lied and dissembled to prevent any investigation of the 9/11 attacks.

3. Defended the son of a rich and powerful RNC operative who made a mockery of "serving" during Vietnam.

4. Distributed photos of that disreputable man - a wartime deserter - wearing medals he did nothing to deserve, being congratulated by his father, a powerful RNC insider who became president of the United States.

5. Funded and publicized the efforts of a small group of bitter, ill-informed men who lied about the record of a veteran who received five medals during two tours in Vietnam.

6. Defended the behavior of American troops and undercover CIA operatives who tortured children, women, and men illegally detained in Iraq.

7. Signed presidential orders written by White House counsel encouraging military troops to defy and ignore international laws restricting torture and abuse of prisoners.

8. Illegally detained and imprisoned tens of thousands of people for years - without benefit of legal counsel or international relief - under the pretense of making America safe.

9. Preemptively invaded a non-threatening country without UN support on the basis of trumped up evidence.

10. Committed treason by the revealing the identity of a CIA undercover operative who was investigating terrorism.

The Republican Party has been taken over by creeps. We have no reason to give them the benefit of any doubts.