I am surprised this military issue still gets beat up. Both Kerry and Bush got special treatment.
--Kerry had deferrments and when they ran out he joined the Navy. The Navy is not like getting drafted, it is a multi-year commitment, for an officer probably six years. Kerry did not fulfill his Vietnam tour nor did he fulfill his full Navy tour, getting out with the actions of a D.C. based Admiral. That is special treatment. Kerry did not serve his remaining tour commitment in the Naval Reserve. He got a special deal.
--Bush undoubtably had help in getting into the Air National Guard. But he was not AWOL in some menial job. He was a qualified fighter pilot. He spent over two years on active duty going to school to learn how to fly the most current fighter/interceptors in the Air Force. His active Air Force duty service probably equals Kerry's time on active Naval duty. Then he spent at least two years in the active reserve flying training missions almost every week. That is putting in far more time than the active reserve requires. In his last two years of his six year reserve commitment he spent it in an inactive reserve status. Why? Because active duty Air Force fighter pilots with Vietnam combat experience who wanted to stay in the Air Force active reserve and continue to fly during their reserve duty needed a spot in a reserve unit like the Air National Guard so what the Guard does is ask their current reserve pilots "who is staying in for a career and who is getting out after six years" and those who are getting out are put into an inactive status within a unit, available to be called up at any time up until the end of the six years. In their place, an active Air Force pilot comes off active duty and takes their place. This is what happened to me as a reserve officer. Two years active duty including Vietnam, the two years active reserve in an Army Reserve unit in Secaucus N.J. (going to meetings, summer camp, etc.), then when I indicated I was not going to stay in the Reserves I was transferred to an inactive status subject to recall in an emergency. My 5th and 6th year I did not go to meetings or to summer camp and I was not AWOL. I was replaced by officers who indicated they wanted to stay in the Army Reserve for more than six years.
That is how it works. That is why there are no documents showing Bush was AWOL, because he wasn't. That is why Bush got an honorable discharge. That is why Rather and CBS made fools of themselves. They both have had special treatment and both have some level of warts but it is not an issue either should have made a campaign highlite because it is fraught with misinformation. Kerry has come out the worse in this issue. It was a huge miscalculation by the DNC and Kerry.