2 Different Views of CBS Source

HOUSTON — Until recently, Bill Burkett led an anonymous -- some say reclusive -- life on a small ranch outside the tiny town of Baird in the flatlands of West Texas. Now that he has emerged as a possible source for disputed documents about President Bush's service in the National Guard, Burkett has arguably become the most well-known person in rural Callahan County.

Besieged by reporters, he has retreated behind the iron gates of his ranch, east of Abilene, and has been refusing interviews. His only comment to an e-mail by The Times requesting an interview Monday was to decline, adding, "If the President would simply answer the questions about his service, no one would have to speculate at all."

His lawyer, David Van Os of San Antonio, a Democratic candidate for the Texas Supreme Court, didn't return phone calls to his office.

But Burkett did keep a prominent place in the news Monday with the airing of an interview with CBS anchor Dan Rather in which Burkett admitted deceiving the network to protect the source of those documents, which some experts believe are bogus.

In interviews with those who have come in contact with Burkett, two contrasting pictures emerge. One is that he is a devout crusader for the truth. The other is that he is an angry veteran on a mission to discredit both the Texas National Guard and George W. Bush.

Royce Kerr, president of the Taylor County Democratic Club in Abilene, falls in the truth camp. He describes Burkett as a man of integrity who would not stoop to deception to advance a cause. Kerr said Burkett, the son of a Church of Christ preacher, had a "respect for the truth. I don't think he has a dishonest bone in his body."

Kerr said he spoke to Burkett on Sunday night. "He told me he was concerned about protecting his source. The way he went about protecting his source is not how I would do it, but his intentions were good.... I trust him implicitly," Kerr said.

Dave Haigler, chairman of the Taylor County Democratic Party, had a similar assessment. "I just don't think Bill Burkett would be part of fabricating memos out of whole cloth," said Haigler, who has known Burkett since March. Burkett sent Haigler an e-mail Monday in which he insisted that there was no connection between the papers he provided CBS and either Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry or the Democratic National Committee.