STOP THE PRESS! Bush was Grounded for 'Fear of Flying'

Wednesday September 29, 2004 8:22 PM 

Since the Boston Globe's Walter Robinson published his groundbreaking story "1-year gap in Bush's guard duty" on May 23, 2000, journalists and researchers have been trying to find out WHY Bush stopped flying in 1972 with 2.5 years of flying obligation remaining.

Many theories have arisen because George W. Bush has never given a simple, straight answer to this question - which is supposedly his great "strength" as a communicator. Instead he and his spokespeople have offered an endless stream of evasions, alibis, and lies - all of which have been discredited.

(Bush continued his lies Tuesday night in his interview with Bill O'Reilly, when he said "I fulfilled my duty... I did exactly what my commanders told me to do." His duty was to show up for monthly drills and to fly for 4 years after he completed training; he flew for only 22 months, was completely AWOL for 5 months, and may never have reported for another drill in defiance of direct orders. Is that "exactly" what his commanders told him to do? Why didn't O'Reilly ask Bush this obvious question? Finally, why doesn't anyone in the embedded White House press corps ask Bush this question?)

Now, FINALLY, we have a simple answer: Bush developed a "fear of flying," possibly influenced by his drinking.

Below are two articles based on interviews with Janet Linke, the widow of the F102A pilot (Jan Peter Linke) who had to replace Bush when he quit flying in 1972. (This simple fact discredits Bush's alibi that his F102A was being phased out so Bush's flying skills were no longer needed.)

Linke says Bush's commander Jerry Killian told her and her husband about Bush's flying problems. Linke's story is confirmed by several of her friends. It is also confirmed by the few records that remain, including Bush's grounding order and his flight logs.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040908/D84V54IG0.html

Finally, it is confirmed by Bush's fellow pilot (and roommate) Deane Roome, who let the truth slip out in an interview with USA Today in 2002: "You wonder if you know who George Bush is," Roome said. "I think he digressed after a while. In the first half, he was gung-ho. Where George failed was to fulfill his obligation as a pilot. It was an irrational time in his life."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-12-bush-documents_x.htm

Janet Linke raised her son - a Bush supporter - "on military widow's benefits and worked as an art teacher and arts coordinator in public and Episcopal schools before suffering a stroke." Her school principal said, "She was a wonderful, outstanding teacher, able to connect with children in a way you rarely see."

Despite - or precisely because of - Janet Linke's sterling character, I am 1000% certain that the White House, the Bush campaign, the Republican National Committee - and their allies at FOX, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, and the New York Times - will immediately launch a furious character assassination campaign against her. They will not demonstrate any "compassionate conservatism" for a woman who lost her husband who was serving in Bush's place; nor will "compassionate conservatism" stop them from viciously attacking a woman who suffered a stroke.

As an American who believes in truth and justice, I do not believe Janet Linke should be destroyed for telling the truth. For once in Bush's political career, I call upon the media to show some "compassionate conservatism" for a truthteller: instead of savaging Janet Linke, the media should FINALLY insist on a straight answer directly from George W. Bush.

In a few short hours, Mr. Bush will face reporters in debate. Here is one simple question the moderator should ask him:

"Mr. Bush, what is the REAL reason why you quit flying F102's in 1972 with 2.5 years left in your obligation to defend your country? When you returned to Texas with nearly two years left in your obligation, why didn't you get your physical and resume flying - since your F102A was then on 5-minute runway alert? Is it true you developed a "fear of flying"?"

Fear of Flying
by Russ Baker
The Nation
Posted September 29, 2004

A new source has emerged with what she says is personal knowledge about why George W. Bush prematurely left his Texas National Guard unit in 1972--because nerves, fear and a possible drinking problem were affecting his ability to pilot his F-102A plane. If true, this information further confirms a growing body of evidence that Bush has not been candid about his departure from his unit. At various times the President and his spokespersons have offered shifting rationales, from the planned eventual mothballing of the F-102As, to his doctor's unavailability to give him a flight physical, to a professional opportunity in another state.

However, Janet Linke of Jacksonville, Florida, says that it all came down to an inability to perform. Linke is the widow of Jan Peter Linke, who was brought into Bush's National Guard unit to replace him when Bush left the unit and the state for Alabama in May 1972.

Linke says that Bush's now-deceased commanding officer in the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Lieut. Col. Jerry Killian, confided in her and her husband during an encounter at a social gathering as to the reasons Mr. Linke had been brought in to replace Bush. "He said Bush was mucking up his flying very badly and he couldn't fly the plane," Linke said. "Killan told us that he was having trouble landing, and that possibly there was a drinking problem involved in that"--which Linke took to mean a particularly debilitating one, since carousing was almost the norm in such units.

More here:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041011&s=baker

Fear of Flying
A Duval County woman says nerves ended W's National Guard service in Texas
Susan Cooper Eastman
Folioweekly
Thursday, September 23, 2004

Janet Linke has been thinking about George W. Bush a lot lately. Thirty-two years ago, her late husband Jan Peter Linke served briefly in the Texas Air National Guard's 111 Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Bush's service in the same squadron has gotten plenty of attention in an election year when what you did during the Vietnam War is suddenly a litmus test of character. But Linke claims she knows a part of the story that nobody has mentioned.

According to Linke, a Jacksonville resident and artist, Bush's flying career was permanently disabled by a crippling fear of flying.

Linke's husband was admitted to the Texas Guard in the summer of 1972 to replace Bush. President Bush has said that he stopped flying fighter jets because the Alabama Guard unit didn't have jets, and he wanted the transfer to Alabama in order to work on a political campaign. But Linke says she heard a different story from her husband and Bush's squad commander, the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. Shortly after her husband joined the Texas unit, Linke says, the couple discussed Bush's service with Killian at a social event.

Contrary to some news reports that suggest Killian admired Bush, Linke says the officer didn't have much use for the young lieutenant. He mentioned that Bush appeared to have a drinking problem, she recalls, but he was most offended by another incapacity: his fear of flying. According to Linke, Killian said Bush was grounded in his fourth year of flying after he became incapable of flying or properly landing a plane.

"He was mucking up bad, Killian told us," Linke says. "He just became afraid to fly."

More here:
http://tinyurl.com/3vtja