Texas Air National Guard

A Texas Air National Guard fighter jet crashed Friday in a remote area in the southwest part of the state, but the two crew members ejected and were reported to be safe, military authorities said. The crash involved a McDonnell Douglas F-16B.

On a recent rainy summer afternoon, a familiar figure sat in the second row of a musty Manhattan courtroom, his head tilted expectantly as he listened to the judge. It was the latest hearing in the matter of Dan Rather vs. CBS Corp. and the plaintiff, as usual, was monitoring it in person. "Their strategy is to string it out, wear me out, suck the will from me, and make it so painful on the pocketbook that I want to give up," Rather said of the network where he worked for nearly half a century.

IT IS very difficult to express how much a comment irks me as did the statement in Patrick Goldstein's column ["The 'W.' Script Pits 41 vs. 43," June 28] that George W. Bush "ducked out of military service." Excuse me, but he joined and trained and qualified as a jet pilot in the Texas Air National Guard and was subject to being called up to active duty at any time. In fact, during this period, more that 10,000 Air National Guard members across the country, including pilots, were called to duty in Vietnam.

IT IS very difficult to express how much a comment irks me as did the statement in Patrick Goldstein's column ["The 'W.' Script Pits 41 vs. 43," June 28] that George W. Bush "ducked out of military service." Excuse me, but he joined and trained and qualified as a jet pilot in the Texas Air National Guard and was subject to being called up to active duty at any time. In fact, during this period, more that 10,000 Air National Guard members across the country, including pilots, were called to duty in Vietnam.

CBS News is expected to tell viewers as early as today that it was misled about the memos that were used in a "60 Minutes" report about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.CBS anchor Dan Rather traveled to Texas over the weekend to interview Bill Burkett, a former lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard who is said to have had a key role in the network obtaining the documents, which many have argued are fake.

In his Jan. 13 commentary, "Talk of a Draft Is Nothing but Hot Air," former secretary of the Army Louis Caldera argues that the all-volunteer Army is more militarily effective than a conscription Army and that the 1960s draft produced just the kind of Army that Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) doesn't want, one disproportionately manned by the poor and lower middle class. No one would argue with these points. However, Rangel's proposal is about the justification for war, not military efficiency or economic equity.

George W. Bush's squadron commander in the Texas Air National Guard grounded the young lieutenant from flying when he missed a medical examination and failed to meet performance standards, according to documents made public Wednesday that revived an issue that had shadowed Bush for much of his political career. Four memos from the late Col.

President Bush on Saturday described Sen. John F. Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam as more heroic than his own service in the Texas Air National Guard, saying his Democratic rival had been "in harm's way." But the president told NBC's "Today" show that both sides should drop the debate over their wartime service. "I think that we ought to move beyond the past.... The real question is who best to lead us forward."

That was an amazing expose on George W. Bush ("Bush Received Quick Air Guard Commission," July 4). Your story proclaims: "There is no evidence of illegality or regulations broken" to get Bush into the Texas Air National Guard three decades ago. But that doesn't keep The Times from two days of innuendo that surely something improper must have occurred. Then there's the nail in the coffin: "The Times attempted to obtain copies of the written regulations that governed how enlistees became officers" but [military officials]

Re "Daschle Accuses Bush of Playing Politics on Iraq," Sept. 26: Finally! I didn't think the Democrats would ever find their voice. They have been like sheep, refusing to utter a word against either rushing to war with Iraq or postponing the huge tax cut that was passed last year. One can question these things without being unpatriotic, despite what Vice President Dick Cheney suggested after 9/11. This is a democracy, not a monarchy. Peggy Schulz Sherman Oaks Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.

Dan Rather had already been cranking out reports from the Republican National Convention when he jumped to coverage of a hurricane in Florida. Then news came that former President Clinton would undergo heart bypass surgery. The veteran CBS anchor didn't have a lot of time to focus on the scoop he would soon air: that documents seemed to show how President Bush had shirked his duty as a young pilot in the Texas Air National Guard.

CBS News is expected to tell viewers as early as today that it was misled about the memos that were used in a "60 Minutes" report about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.CBS anchor Dan Rather traveled to Texas over the weekend to interview Bill Burkett, a former lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard who is said to have had a key role in the network obtaining the documents, which many have argued are fake.

George W. Bush's squadron commander in the Texas Air National Guard grounded the young lieutenant from flying when he missed a medical examination and failed to meet performance standards, according to documents made public Wednesday that revived an issue that had shadowed Bush for much of his political career. Four memos from the late Col.

Escalating the campaign warfare over the Vietnam era, a new group founded by a veteran Texas Democratic operative will announce today a television ad campaign reprising charges that President Bush failed to perform his service in the Texas Air National Guard while on temporary assignment in Alabama. The ad, funded by Texans for Truth, features Robert Mintz, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard, who said he never saw Bush while serving in the same unit in 1972.

President Bush on Saturday described Sen. John F. Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam as more heroic than his own service in the Texas Air National Guard, saying his Democratic rival had been "in harm's way." But the president told NBC's "Today" show that both sides should drop the debate over their wartime service. "I think that we ought to move beyond the past.... The real question is who best to lead us forward."

In his Jan. 13 commentary, "Talk of a Draft Is Nothing but Hot Air," former secretary of the Army Louis Caldera argues that the all-volunteer Army is more militarily effective than a conscription Army and that the 1960s draft produced just the kind of Army that Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) doesn't want, one disproportionately manned by the poor and lower middle class. No one would argue with these points. However, Rangel's proposal is about the justification for war, not military efficiency or economic equity.

Escalating the campaign warfare over the Vietnam era, a new group founded by a veteran Texas Democratic operative will announce today a television ad campaign reprising charges that President Bush failed to perform his service in the Texas Air National Guard while on temporary assignment in Alabama. The ad, funded by Texans for Truth, features Robert Mintz, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard, who said he never saw Bush while serving in the same unit in 1972.

On a recent rainy summer afternoon, a familiar figure sat in the second row of a musty Manhattan courtroom, his head tilted expectantly as he listened to the judge. It was the latest hearing in the matter of Dan Rather vs. CBS Corp. and the plaintiff, as usual, was monitoring it in person. "Their strategy is to string it out, wear me out, suck the will from me, and make it so painful on the pocketbook that I want to give up," Rather said of the network where he worked for nearly half a century.

Re "Daschle Accuses Bush of Playing Politics on Iraq," Sept. 26: Finally! I didn't think the Democrats would ever find their voice. They have been like sheep, refusing to utter a word against either rushing to war with Iraq or postponing the huge tax cut that was passed last year. One can question these things without being unpatriotic, despite what Vice President Dick Cheney suggested after 9/11. This is a democracy, not a monarchy. Peggy Schulz Sherman Oaks Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.

That was an amazing expose on George W. Bush ("Bush Received Quick Air Guard Commission," July 4). Your story proclaims: "There is no evidence of illegality or regulations broken" to get Bush into the Texas Air National Guard three decades ago. But that doesn't keep The Times from two days of innuendo that surely something improper must have occurred. Then there's the nail in the coffin: "The Times attempted to obtain copies of the written regulations that governed how enlistees became officers" but [military officials]