Kevin Drum takes note of the WaPo/AP report “Bush Orders White House Release of Military Records.”
Hopefully this will include even the DD-214 separation report that everyone keeps saying should be able to settle everything.
I also hope that they will issue an authorization to all of the relevant archives to release Bush’s files directly to reporters. If he does that, it should put this issue to bed for good.
One would hope.
Still, I’m not sure what the DD-214 would solve that the Honorable Discharge doesn’t. The form, officially “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” contains basic personnel information, awards, discharge status, and so forth. There isn’t anything on there that will tell you what the soldier did on any particular day.
The only potentially useful information is block 12. Record of Service, which has Net Active Service This Period, which is just an aggregate total. Presumably, though, given that Bush was honorably discharged, he had sufficient days to have met whatever his legal obligation was.
*Note: I’m looking at my own. That version of the form went into effect NOV 88 and rendered previous editions obsolete. My guess is that the changes are minor.
