DALLAS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- New documents show President George Bush failed to carry out a direct order from his superior in the Texas Air National Guard in May 1972.
A memo from Bush's squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, ordered Bush "suspended from flight status for failure to perform" to U.S. Air Force and National Guard standards and failure to take his annual physical "as ordered," the document obtained by CBS said.
In addition, former Texas House Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes told CBS he was the man who showed "preferential treatment" by arranging for Bush to enroll for a six-year hitch in the guard in May 1968 to avoid the Vietnam draft.
Barnes was then, and remains, a Democrat.
A few months before Bush became eligible for the draft, Barnes says he had a meeting with the late oilman Sid Adger, a Bush family friend.
"It's been a long time ... but he said basically would I help young George Bush get in the Air National Guard," Barnes said, adding he then contacted his friend Gen. James Rose, the head of Texas' Air National Guard to make the arrangement.
