Truth Page #4

---

SMITH:

Bush says he got in so quickly because

they were specifically looking for

pilots, which is bullshit with so

many pilots rotating back from

Vietnam. And that's another thing training

a National Guard pilot from

start to finish was a huge rarity.

LUCY:

Why?

COLONEL CHARLES:

Because it's not cost effective.

Lot of National Guard jocks are former

Air Force pilots who want to maintain

their flight rating.

SMITH:

Why spend a million bucks training a

new pilot when you can just admit a

(MORE)

21.

SMITH (CONT'D)

guy the Air Force already taught how

to fly? The only thing that makes

Bush an attractive candidate for the

Guard is who he's connected to.

COLONEL CHARLES:

Either way, he's in. Signed on for

a six year commitment. Does his

pilot training at Moody and is then

assigned to the 111th Fighter

Intercept Squadron in Houston.

Records show he does really well

here, high marks in every rating

period until the spring of 1972.

Then nothing. No flights, no

appearing for duty. Until August 1

when he is suspended in writing for

missing a routine physical.

MARY:

So how does someone go from being a

top-notch pilot to not even taking

your physical?

COLONEL CHARLES:

Not only that, but he requests and

is granted a reassignment to Alabama

to work on a friend's Senate campaign.

LUCY:

Wait - he disobeys an order and then

they let him transfer?

COLONEL CHARLES:

It gets better. From May 1972 to

May 1973, his record shows no points

registered. Points are like hours

on a time card in the Guard. It

basically means he didn't show up.

The Alabama commander has no

recollection of him. No eyewitness

has ever placed him on base and no

paperwork exists to prove he was

ever there.

Lucy looks from one of them to the other.

22.

LUCY:

You're telling me the President of

the United States may have gone AWOL

from the military for over a year?

A beat.

COLONEL CHARLES:

We have no proof of that.

LUCY:

What does the White House say?

SMITH:

That Bush served honorably and that

military records go missing all the

time.

COLONEL CHARLES:

By the way, military records do not

go missing all the time. They're

the military. They're good at sh*t.

(looking at file)

Bush is not heard from in the records

again until July 1973 when he shows

up for drills. And in September

1973 he requests and is granted an

early discharge to attend Harvard

Business School.

LUCY:

He asks to quit nine months early

and they let him?

SMITH:

And he resigned his commission in

'74 which is very weird. You're

commissioned for life, right? Why

resign it? It makes no sense.

Mary looks around the room.

MARY:

So what are the questions we're

looking to answer?

SMITH:

One - did Bush go into the Guard to

avoid going to Vietnam?

23.

LUCY:

Not to be cynical, but who didn't

try to get into the Guard to avoid

Nam back then?

COLONEL CHARLES:

Me.

The military man says it without blinking.

MARY:

Bush's trainer in the 147th said he

wanted to go to Vietnam.

COLONEL CHARLES:

(holds up a paper)

This is the only document in the

official record that deals with it.

On the question of desiring overseas

transfer, Bush checked "No".

MARY:

Bush's trainer says that must have

been a mistake.

SMITH:

Cause that's a question you get

wrong...

MARY:

Two - why did he skip the physical?

A beat.

SMITH:

He didn't have a drug problem, he

just liked the way it smelled.

Lucy laughs.

MARY:

And Three - if someone did pull

strings for him, who? And how the

hell do we get them to go on the

record?

INT. BEN BARNES GROUP OFFICES -- AUSTIN TEXAS -- NIGHT

Ben Barnes (60's), former Lieutenant Governor of Texas, clad

in a suit. Pours a scotch on the wet bar next to his desk.

24.

NEWCASTER:

...The latest Zogby poll which has

Senator Kerry leading the President

by seven points...

Barnes on speaker-phone, voice drawls as smooth as the liquor.

BEN BARNES:

Is it that time of year again already?

When I have to fend off the advances

of a beautiful woman such as yourself?

INTERCUT:

MARY:

You got the President into the

National Guard, Governor. I find

that very impressive.

BEN BARNES:

It is impressive, isn't it?

MARY:

Why don't you come on TV, tell us

all about it?

BEN BARNES:

We both know if I ever said that

about Texas's favorite son on camera

they'd run me outta Austin on a rail.

(looking at the TV)

Sorry, Mary. Johnny's gonna win

this thing, anyway.

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- NIGHT

Mary ducks her head in where Mike and Lucy sit.

MARY:

Barnes is still a no. Who's next?

Lucy walks up to a WHITE BOARD with a LIST OF NAMES on it.

Draws a line through Ben Barnes. Looking to the next one...

LUCY:

Colonel Jerry Killian, Bush's CO in

the 111th. If anyone is able to

really tell us what went on, he will.

25.

MARY:

Small problem there.

LUCY:

Which is?

MARY:

Killian's dead.

Lucy looks to Smith, who nods.

SMITH:

It's a pickle.

MARY:

Who's next?

Lucy lines out Jerry Killian and goes to the next...

LUCY:

General Buck Staudt, former CO of

Bush's 147th Interceptor Squadron...

INT. BUCK STAUDT'S HOME -- DAY

General BUCK STAUDT spitting mad as he yells into the phone:

GENERAL STAUDT:

George was one of the best f***ing

pilots I ever had! I resent all you

goddamn reporters implying that

something fishy was going on!

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY

Lucy lines out Buck Staudt and moves onto the next.

LUCY:

General Bobby Hodges, succeeded Staudt

as Commander of the 147th, Killian's

direct supervisor...

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- NIGHT

Mary, phone to her ear, hearing:

GENERAL HODGES (O.S.)

He was like all Second Lieutenants,

bright eyed and bushy tailed. But

no strings were pulled for him.

26.

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY

Bobby Hodges lined out. Onto the next:

LUCY:

Maurice Udell, Bush's flight

instructor...

INT. UDELL'S LIVING ROOM -- DAY

MAURICE UDELL:

(into phone)

No strings were pulled for him. I

thought he'd be a great American and

a fighter pilot.

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY

LUCY:

Tom Honeycutt...

INT. HONEYCUTT'S KITCHEN -- DAY

TOM HONEYCUTT:

(into phone)

No strings were pulled.

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON

LUCY:

Albert Lloyd...

EXT. LLOYD'S PORCH -- LATE AFTERNOON

ALBERT LLOYD:

(into phone)

No strings were pulled.

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- LATE AFTERNOON

LUCY:

Bill Hollowell.

INT. HOLLOWELL'S CAR -- EVENING

BILL HOLLOWELL:

(into phone)

No strings were pulled. And even if

they were, it's a non-issue.

(MORE)

27.

BILL HOLLOWELL (CONT'D)

(honks at another car)

Move, you son of a b*tch!

CUT TO:

INT. DALLAS BUREAU -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- NIGHT

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote