Only one guardsman from that era has said he remembers Bush reporting in Alabama, where he had been allowed to transfer to help run the U.S. Senate campaign of family friend Winton "Red" Blount.
That officer, Lt. Col. John Calhoun, has said he saw Bush several times at Dannelly Field near Montgomery, Ala. But Calhoun said he made the sightings on dates the White House had already conceded that Bush did not serve.
"George W. Bush continues to be dishonest, dodging the truth about his military record," said Glenn Smith, the Democratic operative who heads "Texans for Truth."
Bush joined the Houston-based 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron shortly after graduating from Yale University in 1968 -- a unit that became home to the sons of many prominent politicians and businessmen of both parties.
Ever since he first ran for governor of Texas in 1994, Bush has been accused of leapfrogging hundreds of other men waiting for slots in the squadron, which would keep them stationed stateside.
But it was CBS' "60 Minutes II" program Wednesday that sparked the latest discussion. Its report featured a Democrat from Texas, Ben Barnes, who said he helped Bush secure his Guard assignment at the behest of a Bush family friend.
The network also put on display four memos that CBS said were written by Killian, Bush's commander in the Texas Guard.
In one, dated Aug. 18, 1973, Killian wrote that he was being pressured to "sugarcoat" a Bush performance review, after the young lieutenant failed to perform to standard and missed a required flight physical.
On Friday those critiques continued, with radio host Sean Hannity among those saying CBS had erred. Hannity featured Killian's son, Gary, who said CBS had ignored his warnings that the memos were not real.
Mainstream newspapers, wire services and cable programs soon took up the questions and quoted a series of document experts who said the typography in the memos appeared to be from a modern-day word processor and not a 1970s-vintage typewriter.
Killian died in 1984 but the controversy gained additional steam when his widow and son said they believed the documents were fakes and couldn't imagine the former squadron leader criticizing Bush.
On Friday night, retired Maj. Gen. Hodges, Killian's former supervisor, said in an interview that he also now believes the documents are not real -- in part because of the statements of Killian's relatives.
