Subject: Bush Flew Fighter Jets During Vietnam
From: (ArtKramr)
Date: 7/9/2004 10:13 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Subject: Bush Flew Fighter Jets During Vietnam
From: Cub Driver
Date: 7/9/2004 2:40 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:


I believe that is the first time I have heard of the F-102 as a "safe
aircraft"! Were they really?

As Ed Rasimus has said: "Every time you kick the tires and light the
fire in a single-engine, single-seat Century Series jet, it can kill
you--all by itself without help from an enemy."

Ya know I really don't know what all the fuss was about here. I graduated from
college in 1968 in Arizona. I had always wanted to fly jets so from time to
time I applied for the AF Reserves and ANG prior to graduation and once they
found I was physically and mentally qualified to go to flight school, as well
as an engineer, I was informed they all had immediate vacancies. Ultimately I
went through AFROTC and went on to learn how to fly. Probably 5% or so of my
graduating class were ANG or AFR - I ended up taking an F-4. Slots coming down
to graduates included ADC F101s among other non SEA assignments. I had and
have no political pull whatever and I could have just as easily taken an
ANG/AFR slot prior to my college graduation so I don't feel Bush hard to try
very hard to get an F-102.

Even after I finished F-4 in 69 school several of us in my class ended up in
northern Japan instead of SEA including one guy who later became a backseat ace
after getting a SEA tour in 1972..

So please stop reading more into this than there probably was. Don't just
assume that because the guy got an ANG fighter slot and ddn't go to SEA, he
only did so because of his connections. Others were in the same boat through
no choice of their own.