Bush Orders All Of His Vietnam-Era Records Released

WASHINGTON -- Countering attacks on his service in the Air National Guard, President George W. Bush on Friday ordered the release of all of his Vietnam-era military records.

Hundreds of pages of documents detailed Bush's service in the Guard in Texas and his temporary duty in Alabama while working on a political campaign there in the early 1970s.

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Democrats have questioned whether Bush ever showed up for duty in Alabama. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has said Bush was "AWOL" -- absent without leave -- and called him "a deserter." McAuliffe said commanders in Alabama have no recollection of the president serving there.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the president wanted everything made public.

"There were some who sought to leave a wrong impression that there was something to hide when there is not," McClellan said. McClellan repeated earlier assertions that Bush was honorably discharged, which he said only happens when a serviceman meets service obligations.

Earlier this week, the White House released pay records and a dental exam from Bush's time in the Air National Guard. But McAuliffe responded that the records "raise more questions than they answer," pointing out that the records only show when Bush got paid.

Similar information also was released during the 2000 presidential campaign.

Democrats hope to capitalize on the issue and undermine Bush's election strength on national security issues by contrasting his service in the Guard, where he did not see combat, with that of Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who now is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

Ala. Guardsman Says He Remembers Bush

Meanwhile, a man who served in the Air National Guard in Alabama in the early 1970s is vouching for Bush.

Bill Calhoun said he was stationed at a base in Montgomery and said Bush served his "drill weekends" there, while he was in Alabama working on a Senate campaign.

Calhoun said Bush "made every drill" while he was in Alabama.

He said Bush signed in with him and shared his office -- sometimes reading training manuals or talking about planes.

Calhoun told The Associated Press Radio that he knew Bush was working on a Senate campaign and asked him if he was someday going to be a politician himself.

Calhoun said the future president responded that he probably would be.

The man said he doesn't know anything about whether Bush fulfilled his Guard obligations back in Houston, where he was based when he wasn't in Alabama.