Get Mad, George!

In their book The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush, I've discovered Webster Griffin Tarpley and Anton Chaitkin give out "hints" about George Bush's possible illegal activities in World War II. It is interesting that they bring up the subject of altered records, in light of their subsequent statements on the subject. Because in the same book, they continue to make comments about the oddness of the whole Bush World War II record. For example, they point out how his carrier's log remained classified, unlike those of most ships in the U.S. Navy during World War II, until the 1980's. Even when one refers to one of Bush's "official" biographers, one encounters odd bits of information which raise the eyebrow once one has read Tarpley and Chaitkin's book:

"The official Marine Corps history states that, with the exception of carrier-based raids on July 4, l944, 'there were no carrier-based raids on ChiChi Jima between June l5, l944 and February l9, l945'. . .Nevertheless, the log of the San Jacinto--classified as 'secret' until recently- [my italics--mcs]--belies the official statement. . .the Japanese high command forbade the troops on Chichi Jima from keeping diaries or records [apparently because of atrocities that occurred on the island]. . .[F]light instructor Edward C. Fritz. . .once described Bush as 'eccentric'. . .

"I am grateful to the White House staff, who on several occasions cut through red tape and helped locate pertinent documents. Without their assistance, I would have been unable to find many of the 65 men who either flew with or knew George Bush during the years he was a Navy pilot. Legar Hole*, VT-5l's exec., lives in the British West Indies. . .Nat Adams is the 'oldest living architect in Idaho';. . .Capt. Robert 'Wild Goose' Strickland, USNMCR, who was the youngest pilot in Pappy Boyington's famed 'Black Sheep' squadron. . .was responsible for my making excellent contacts in Japan. Masahiro Yoshimatsu of the Military History Dept., National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo, was instrumental in locating a Japanese report about the raid on Chichi Jima. . .John Walton, a young lawyer from America [my italics--mcs] who is getting his Ph.D. at the University of Kyote, translated the Japanese document." (Hyams l57-7l).

When we refer back to Tarpley and Chaitkin, however, we see we must view this in the context of a bigger picture of events.

"Hyams' account [Flight of the Avenger] of l99l, was written after an August l988 interview with Chester Mierzejewksi, another member of Bush's squadron, had raised important questions about the haste with which Bush bailed out, rather than attempting a water landing. Mierzejewski's account. . .contradicted Bush's own version of these events, and hinted that Bush might have abandoned his two crew members to a horrible and needless death. . .

'"The Hyams account [in part]: ' He nosed into a 30-degree glide. . .his vision ahead was occasionally canceled by bursts of black smoke. . .Don Melvin, circling above the action while waiting for his pilots to drop their bombs and get out, thought the Japanese shell had hit an oil line on Bush's Avenger. 'You could have seen that smoke for a hundred miles.' . . .[I]t is difficult to understand why the smoke from Bush's plane was so distinctly visible in such a smoke-filled environment. . .Hyams' account goes on: ' Dick Gorman, Moore's radioman-gunner, remembers hearing someone on the intercom shout, 'Hit the silk! Hit the Silk!', and asking Moore, ' Is that you Red?' 'No,' Moore replied, 'It's Bush, he's hit!' Other squadron members [not named] hear Bush repeating the command to bail out over and over on the radio. . ..Hyams quotes a later entry by Melvin in the squadron log. . .But it is interesting to note that this report, contrary to usual standard Navy practice, has no date. This should alert us to that tampering with public records, such as Bush's filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission during the l960's, which appears to be a specialty of the Brown Brothers Harriman/Skull and Bones network. . ..[emphasis added]." (Tarpley and Chaitkin l01-7).

Tarpley and Chaitkin quote extensively from an interview done with Chester Mierzejewski, one of Bush's crewmen who disputes Bush's version of events. Bush was to become quite defensive and angry with "Ski" and eventually make Ski actually become suspicious of Bush's activities and motives in the war.

"Former executive officer Legare Hole summed up the question for the New York Post reporters as follows: 'If the plane is on fire, it hastens your decision to bail out. If it is not on fire, you make a water landing.' The point is that in the water landing held out more hope for all members of the crew. The Avenger had been designed to float for approximately two minutes, giving the tail gunner [my italics--mcs] enough time to inflate a raft, and everyone an extra margin of time to get free of the plane before it sank. Bush had carried out a water landing back in June, when his plane had lost oil pressure. The official--but undated--report of the incident among the squadron records was signed by Commander Melvin and an intelligence officer named Lt. Martin Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick is deceased and Melvin in l988 was hospitalized with Parkinson's disease and could not be interviewed. Mierzejewski, in early august 1988, had never seen the undated intelligence report in question. 'Kilpatrick was the first person I spoke to when we got back to the ship.' he said. 'I told him what i saw. I don't understand why it's not in the report.' Gunner Lawrence Mueller tended to corroborate Mierzejewski's account. . ." (Tarpley and Chaitkin l09-l3).

"As the rear-looking turret gunner on Commander Melvin's plane, Mierzejewski had the most advantageous position for observing the events in question here. Since Melvin's plane flew directly ahead of Bush's, he had a direct and unobstructed view of what was happening aft of his own plane. When the New York Post reporters asked former Lt. Legar Hole, the Executive Officer of Bush's squadron, about who might have best observed the last minutes of (Bush's plane), Hole replied, 'The turret gunner on Melvin's plane would have had a good view. If the plane was on fire, there is a very good chance he would be able to see that.

"'The pilot can't see everything that the gunner can, and he'd miss an awful lot,' Hole told the New York Post.. Gunner Lawrence Mueller, another former member of Bush's squadron who flew on the Chi Chi Jima raid, when asked who would have had the best view, replied: 'The turret gunner of Melvin's plane.' Mierzejewski for his part said that his plane was flying about l00 feet ahead of Bush's plane during the incident--so close that he could see into Bush's cockpit. Mierzejewski. . .is also a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. . ." (Tarpley and Chaitkin l07-l6).

"Mueller had kept a log book of his own, in which he made notations as the squadron was debriefed in the ready room for each mission. For September 2, l944, Mueller's personal log had the following entry: 'White and Delaney presumed to have gone down with plane.[emphasis added]."(Tarpley and Chaitkin ll0-l2).

We must then put Bush's odd and debatable war record into the context of the larger picture of his father's treasonous activities--and especially those of his father's lawyer, Allen Dulles. We will start first with Charles Higham's account in Trading with the Enemy:

"In l941, Standard Oil of New Jersey was the largest petroleum corporation in the world. Its bank was Chase, its owners the Rockefellers. Its chairman, Walter C. Teagle, and its President, William S. Farrish, (had) extensive connections with the Nazi government. . ." (Higham, Trading 32-5).

"[Standard Oil]. . .remained in partnership with Farben in the matter of tetraethyl lead, an additive used in aviation gasoline. Goering's air force couldn't fly without it. Only Standard, DuPont, and GM had the rights to it. Teagle helped organize the sale of the precious substance to Schmitz, who in l938, traveled to London and 'borrowed' 500 tons from Ethyl, the British Standard subsidiary. Next year (l939), Schmitz and his partners returned to London and obtained $15 million worth. The result was that Hitler's air force was rendered capable of bombing London, the city that had provided the supplies. Also, by supplying Japan with tetraethyl, Teagle helped make it possible for the Japanese to wage World War 2 [emphasis added]." (Higham, Trading 30-5).

It is then intriguing--and spine-chilling--to refer back at this point to further details about Bush's war record among his fellow fliers in World War II, as recorded in Tarpley and Chaitkin.

"Mueller told the New York Post that 'no parachute was sighted' except Bush's when the plane went down.' The New York Post reporters were specific that, according to Mueller, no one in the San Jacinto ready room during the briefing had said anything about a fire on board Bush's plane. Mueller said, 'I would have put it in my log book if I had heard it.' According to the New York Post article, the report of Bush's debriefing aboard the submarine Finnback after his rescue makes no mention of any fire aboard the plane. When the New York Post reporters interviewed Thomas R. Keene, an airman who had been picked up by the Finnback a few days after Bush, they referred to the alleged fire on board Bush's plane, and Keene was 'surprised to hear it.' 'Did he say that?' he asked." (Tarpley and Chaitkin 109-12).

"Mierzejewski began to become concerned about Bush's presentation of his war record while watching Bush's December l987 interview with David Frost. . .In March l988, Mierzejewski wrote to Bush and told him that his recollections were very different from the vice-president's story. Mierzejewski's letter was not hostile in tone, but voiced concern that political opponents might come forward to dispute Bush. There was no reply to the letter, and Chester Mierzejewski elected to tell his own unique eyewitness version of the facts to the New York Post. . .It is typical of Joe Hyam's hack work for Bush in Flight of the Avenger that he never mentions Mierzejewski's critical account. . .Hyams totally ignores Mierzejewski as a source, and also studiously ignores the other witness who would have supported Mierzejewski, that is to say, Mueller. this must increase our suspicion that bush has some damning circumstance he wishes to hide. [C]oncerning the ability of Brown Brothers Harriman to fix a combat report in Naval aviation. . .Artemus Gates is someone who could have helped out. Other Brown Brothers Harriman assets in powerful posts included Secretary of War for Air Robert Lovett. . . [emphasis added]." (Tarpley and Chaitkin l10-12).

This major statement by Tarpley and Chaitkin demands some comments at this point. What is the "damning circumstance" which they feel Bush is trying to hide? This is one of several points where Tarpley and Chaitkin--and LaRouche--seem to "dance around" the allegation I heard on the radio. It is another reason why I tend to think LaRouche was involved some way in the original allegation, or, perhaps had borrowed the information from Russell Bowen, after Bowen was silenced.

"Bush's fraternity brothers at Yale's Skull and Bones included: Robert Lovett, Assistant Secretary of War for Air, l941-45; and Lovett's Bonesmate, Artemus Gates (chosen to be a member of Skull and Bones by Prescott Bush and his fellows in l918), Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, l941-45; having a man like Gates up there, who owed his position to Prescott and his fellows, must have been quite reassuring to young Bush, especially when the need developed to alter records of his World War 2 flights." (Tarpley and Chaitkin ll3-l20).

"Robert A. Lovett, Prescott Bush's Partner at Brown Brothers Harriman, had been Secretary of War for Air from l941-l945. . .Lovett appeared before the Secretaries of War, State, and Navy on November l4, l945. He spoke highly of the FBI's work. He said the FBI was expert at producing false documents, an art 'which we developed so successfully during the war, and at which we became outstandingly adept.'" (Tarpley and Chaitkin 68-71).

I've been forced to note that, during l942, two significant events happened to the Bush family in America: (1) George Herbert Walker Bush, at l8 the youngest ever to become an aviator, enlisted in the U.S. Navy: he could never have done so, had his father not "pulled strings" to get him into the Navy; and, (2) Prescott Bush, sr., Bush's father--the same father who had just gotten his son into the U.S. navy--was arrested--or indicted (one can quibble over the words--the fact is, he was never found 'not guilty' of the charge, essentially, of treason) for trading with the enemy (in violation of the Trading With the Enemy Act). And, at this point, we find an interesting reference in Tarpley and Chaitkin to "altered records" about Bush's wartime exploits.

"Bush's campaign literature has always celebrated his alleged military exploits. . .as we become increasingly familiar with the power of the Brown Brothers Harriman/Skull and Bones Network working for Senator Prescott Bush, we will learn to become increasingly skeptical of such official accolades, and of the official accounts on which they are premised..Normally, the Navy required two years of college from volunteers wishing to become naval aviators. But..for reasons which have never been satisfactorily explained, young George was exempted from this requirement. On June l7, l944, a loss of oil pressure forced Bush to make an emergency landing at sea. . .During July, l944, Bush took part in l3 air strikes, many in connection with the U.S. Marine's landing on Guam. Bush has presented several different versions of his own story. . . .[my italics--mcs]" (Tarpley and Chaitkin 2-9).

"At last (Ickes) found an ally who had the courage to confront [Standard Oil] in Washington: Thurman Arnold. . .Standard underwent a process of law in the criminal courts of Newark, New Jersey. This was a technicality to satisfy public opinion (at first). The charges of criminal conspiracy with the enemy were dropped in return for Standard releasing its patents and paying the modest fines (of $l0,000-20,000). . .On March 26, l941, Arnold appeared before the Truman Committee (in Congress) . . .in order to lay in front of the committee his specific charges against the oil company. . .He showed how Farrish had flagrantly disregarded Lend-Lease and good neighbor policies in his connivance with Hitler. He zeroed in on the subject of synthetic rubber, pointing out that it had been denied to the U.S. Navy, and that Farrish. . .had deliberately sidetracked a Navy representative from seeing the process. He charged that cables showed Standard's arrangements with Japan that were to continue throughout any conflict or break in trade [emphasis added]. Leaving the Senate chamber on March 28, l941, surrounded by lots of reporters and photographers, Truman was asked, 'Is this treason?' He replied in the affirmative." (Higham, Trading 42-53).

Nowadays, George Bush is associated with patriotism and loyalty to country. But what was his family's reaction when Farish was indicted for treason in World War II? Well, Tarpley and Chaitkin tell us: "The Bushes had stuck with the Farrishes through their disastrous exposure during WW2 [emphasis added]." (Tarpley and Chaitkin 77).

Russell Bowen notes, in The Immaculate Deception :

"While Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis spent most of the l988 Presidential campaign trying to dodge the liberal label, George Bush and the RNC have carefully rejected any discussion of the 'Nazi word' through three consecutive Presidential campaigns. This is not at all surprising in light of the fact that Bush's closest friend and confidante is Texas mystery man William Stamps Farrish III, inheritor of the Auschwitz death camp fortune. . .Farrish's family fortune was made in the same Nazi enterprise with George Bush's father. . .The joint enterprise had opened the Auschwitz slave labor camp on June l4, l940, to produce artificial rubber and gasoline from coal. Jews and political opponents supplied by Hitler as slaves were worked to death or murdered. . .In fact, Standard Oil's dealing with Hitler continued right up to the end of World War II (emphasis added)." (Bowen 2-4).

When I read about George Bush's father's indictment for treason in November 1942, I was initially suspicious. But then I paused. Maybe Prescott only initially committed treason and after that was OK. Maybe Prescott fixed it, becoming a loyal American after George enlisted in June. However, it turns out that this is not the case, as Bowen tells us:

"Prescott Bush served later as director of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., (CBS), the Prudential Company of America, Dresser Industries, Inc., Hydrocarbon Research Trust Co., Inc., Union Banking Co., Vanadium Corp. of America, and the U.S. Guaranty Trust, among other companies until l952. . .The significance of these corporations is their role in the buildup of Nazi Germany. . .Most conspicuously absent from all the official Bush biographies. . . is the role of Prescott Bush and his fellow Skull and Bones members in the creation of the Nazi war machine itself through Union Banking Corporation and its Nazi affiliates. . .In the l930's, Union Banking Corporation had the following directors: E. Roland Harriman, VP of W.A. Harriman and Co., and fellow Club member, Skull and Bones with Prescott Bush. H.J. Kouwenhoven--Nazi banker and Managing Director of Bank Voor Handel. J.G. Groeningen--Nazi member of the steel cartel that also financed Hitler. C. Lievense--President, Union Banking Corp., NY. E.S. James--Partner of W.A. Harriman and fellow initiate in the Prescott Bush l917 cell of Skull and Bones. Prescott Bush--director of the Union Banking Corp. An example of the Brown Brothers and Harriman's assistance to Nazi Germany is their underwriting of Standard Oil agreements in cooperation with GM to supply tetraethyl lead to the Nazis. Ethyl fluid is an anti-knock compound that improves engine efficiency." (Bowen 4-ll).

Charles Higham, in Trading With the Enemy, also comments (in this area) that:

"Military Intelligence reported to the War Dept. that Standard Oil was shipping oil from Aruba in the Dutch West Indies to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The report continued: 'Standard is diverting about 20% of this fuel to the present German government. About six ships operating in this route are reputed to be manned mainly by Nazi officers. Seamen have reported to the informant that they have seen submarines in the immediate vicinity of the Canary Island and have learned that the submarines are refueling there. The informant has also stated that the Standard Oil Company has not lost any ships to date by torpedoing as have other American companies whose ships operate to other ports. . ..Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, and Petroleum Administrator and Coordinator for national Defense and War, began to close in on Farrish because of his dealings with Nazi Germany." (Higham, Trading 38-42).

Higham goes on to describe a man whose grandson was to become George Bush's closest associate after the war:

"William Stamps Farrish, like Teagle, was mesmerized by Germany and spent much time with Hermann Schmitz. With Teagle's approval, he staffed the Standard Oil tankers with Nazi crews. When war broke out in Europe, he ran into trouble with British Intelligence, which boarded some of his vessels outside U.S territorial waters on the Atlantic and Pacific [my italics--mcs] seaboards and seized Nazi agents who were passengers. . .When the British began interrogating Nazi crews on the Hitler-Standard connection, Farish fired the Germans and changed the registry of the entire fleet to Panamanian to avoid British search and seizure. His vessels carried oil to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where they refueled and siphoned oil to German tankers for shipment to Hamburg. They also fueled U-boats even after the American government. . . was fighting an undeclared war in the Atlantic. . .Standard tankers supplied the (German) submarines which. . . sank American ships. . ." (Higham, Trading 35-6).

"By l939, Americans were dangerously short of rubber. The armed services were hard put to complete wheels for planes, tanks and armored cars. At this time Standard Oil had made a deal with Hitler whereby he would obtain certain kinds of Standard artificial rubber and America would get nothing. . ." (Higham, Trading 36).

Bringing us up to the present day, Russell Bowen tells us in his book about Bush's present-day Fascist links and how Bush continued to refuse to fire Nazis from his political campaign organizations:

"In l988, revelations concerning the pro-Nazi, fascist, and anti-Semitic backgrounds of members of the Bush Presidential campaign led to the resignation or firing of seven high-ranking officials in the ethnic-outreach program. The seven were part of the GOP's recruitment of the most extreme right-wing elements in the Eastern European ethnic communities of the U.S. The party encouraged participation by its ethnic heritage groups council, the fundraising clique by which the seven anti-Semites belonged since at least l949. In fact, a RNC internal memorandum shows that George Bush, while GOP national chairman in l973, had full knowledge of, and, in the words of the memo, provided "total support" for the party's ethnic outreach Heritage Groups.

"The charges against several of the fund-raisers were not new: On November 21, l971, the eve of the Watergate break-in, the Washington Post exposed Richard Nixon's Heritage Groups, two years before Bush became Chairman of the Republican National Committee. . .Bush has repeatedly expressed ignorance of the pro-Nazi backgrounds of these groups. Two of the individuals fired were also key figures in the Post revelations of 21 years before. The top level memorandum, was written by Heritage Groups Director Col. Jay Niemczyk, to the then RNC co-chairman Robert Carter as praising Bush's leadership of the ethnic recruitment effort as having added 'needed strength and impetus' to the Republicans' exploitation of transplanted Nazi collaborators and war criminals. Two of the campaign staffers fired in l988 were also key figures in revelations by the Post l7 years before. Philip Guarino. . .was charged with being a member of the Italian fascist group known as P-2. Laszlo Pastor, admitted having been a member of the Hungarian Fascist party the Arrow Cross, and having been an Arrow-Cross envoy to Nazi Germany during WW2 [emphasis added]." (Bowen 2-4).

Certainly sounds familiar, doesn't it? Hungary actually invaded Russia during WW2, partially forced to do so, of course, by Hitler's armies, who marched alongside. But there are reports by U.S. bomber crews of having been fired upon by Hungarian AA during WW2.

Interestingly, too, Bush doesn't seem to have a big problem with the idea of hanging out with guys who were couriers to the Axis during WW2! Another courier to the Axis who had been a U.S. soldier and had defected was Martin James Monti, according to Charles Higham in American Swastika. Higham also brings out that right-wing, pro-Fascist minister, Father Coughlin was popular among isolationists and some Republicans, among whom Prescott Bush, George's father, numbered himself). And he further notes that Axis couriers such as Pasztor and Monti were not only not punished for their treason and/or pro-Axis efforts during World War II: they were actually rewarded by the Allen Dulles CIA:

"One of Father Coughlin's chief proselytizers was a young St. Louis man named Martin James Monti. Like many Nazi sympathizers, he was inducted into the Army; he served in the Air Corps, hoping to find a way to obtain intelligence for the Axis. In 1944 he was in India and arranged a transfer to Italy. On October 13, he stole a P-38 photoreconnaisance aircraft from the U.S. Army base near Naples and flew it across the lines to the German air base in Milan. He gave himself up to the German command and offered to be of service to them. He told them that Father Coughlin had personally inspired the mission.

"He was transferred to Berlin, where he broadcast to American troops and civilians by shortwave on an English-speaking program entitled, "The Round Table Conference." Frequently mentioning Coughlin as his guide and inspiration, he regurgitated the pages of Social Justice by stating that Russia, not Germany, was America's real enemy and must be crushed; that the Jews had instigated World War II; that GI's were being recruited by the Soviets to join them as agents. In the Spring of 1945, Monti was rewarded for his pains by being made a lieutenant of the Elite Guard of the SS.

"After the fall of Germany, Monti was apprehended, court-martialed for desertion, and charged with the theft of a P-38. Since his action was clearly treasonable, the normal punishment would presumably have been death. However, it is not surprising [why are we not surprised?--mcs] to learn that his activities were rewarded with a fifteen-year suspended sentence and reenlistment as a private at Mitchell Field, Long Island, where he rose to the rank of sergeant in 1946. The Cold War was imminent, and Nazi sympathizers were being arrested, excused and encouraged."(Higham, Swastika 78).

Christopher Simpson reveals a photograph in Blowback which shows Pasztor standing beside Ann Armstrong, then the Chair of the GOP (in 1984). Simpson also notes:

". . .[T]he director of the [Heritage Groups] council during the early 1970's was Laszlo Pasztor, a naturalized American of Hungarian descent who served during the war as a junior envoy in Berlin for the genocidal Hungarian Arrow Cross regime of Ferenc Szalasi. Pasztor, in an interview with reporter Les Whitten, insisted that he did not participate in anti-Semitic activities during the war. Furthermore, he says, he has attempted to weed out extreme-right-wing groups from among the GOP's ethnics.

"But the record of Pasztor's 'housecleaning' leaves much to be desired. The GOP nationalities council has provided an entry into the White House for several self-styled immigrant leaders with records as pro-Nazi extremists. . ." (Simpson 273).

The reason why Pasztor was there was that he was even then a big influence in the party. Now, by 1984, Bush was the Vice-President and definitely a future candidate. These Nazis and Nazi activists and couriers were people who had given "aid and comfort" to the enemy during World War II. They were allies of people who were ostensibly shooting at George Bush during World War II. With his influence in 1984, Bush could have insured they were driven from the party. One would think that a World War II veteran who had seen active combat would have been anxious to humiliate these guys. Yet, Bush, instead, seems anxious to bend over backwards to be nice to them, as Russell Bowen notes:

"Yaroslav Stesko [who died in l985] was Bush's ally with perhaps the closest ties to Hitler's Germany. An extreme Ukrainian nationalist, he collaborated with the Nazis in WW2 as the very short-term 'Prime Minister' of the 'independent' Ukrainian puppet government set up in Galicia on the Western land of the Ukraine. Captured Nazi documents revealed that more than l00,000 Jews were exterminated in the Galician capital of Lvov within two years of the establishment of Stesko's regime. . .According to official U.S. and Allied policies on the treatment of suspected war criminals, and collaborators, each of the four organizations of which [Stesko] was an activist leader were proscribed, and their members barred from entering the U.S., and subject to arrest on sight as suspected war criminals. . .[Stesko] participated in a l983 White House meeting with Reagan and Bush. . .A photograph he retained of the meeting was signed, 'To the Honorable Yaroslav Stesko, with Best Wishes, George Bush.'" (Bowen 2-ll).

And, as Bellant brings out in discussing "Doctor" Alexander Ronnett, many of these individuals were privy to rather sensitive or potentially-sensitive National Security Council meetings.

"[Dr. Alexander] Ronnett's association with the Iron Guard goes back to at least WW2, when he lived with Iron Guard members in a German-controlled compound." (Bellant 75).

And in a footnote to page 299, Bellant refers to the following:

{"'About the Contributors,' Journal of Historical Review, Summer l986, pg. 254: see a picture album commemorating the 50th anniversary reunion of the Iron Guard. Leginnea In Imagini (Madrid: Iron Guard, l976) pg. ll6, photo number ll; see also pg. 341 [op cit] for a photo of Ronnett honoring the Bulgarian National Front in l975 for the l941 assistance of the BNF (then the Bulgarian Legion) during the Iron Guard's escape from Rumania following their failed coup attempt in l941."}(Bellant 599 footnote to appendix).

[Bellant then notes in his Appendix I, pages 115-16: {"'The Chicago Controversy': WMAQ-TV (NBC) Chicago Evening News for May l0, l987: 'Alexander Ronnett: "I consider myself a freedom fighter." 'Peter Karl: "Dr. Alexander Ronnett is a Chicagoan. He is actively enrolled in a number of anti-Communist groups that work for the Contras." 'Karl: "Have you ever been invited to the White House?" 'Ronnett: "Many times, yes." 'Karl: "For briefing?" 'Ronnett: "Yes. Almost every month, twice." 'Karl: "On National Security and all that sort of stuff?" 'Ronnett: "Yes." 'Karl: "You have been invited?" 'Ronnett: "Yes." 'Karl: "For what purpose?" 'Ronnett: "To be briefed on certain situations." 'Karl: "But this Dr. Alexander Ronnett. . .belongs to the Legion of the Archangel Michael, also known as the Iron Guard. . .began in Rumania in the l930's. . .took blood oaths. . .to purify the Rumanian race. . .and helped the Nazis. . .worked to rid Rumania of Communists and Jews. . ."} (Bellant 299 footnote).

"The Simon Wiesenthal Center says Ronnett's name is on the list of Iron Guard members who were active during WW2. The list was presented to the U.S. Justice Dept. It had no comment . . .Ronnett worked for Reagan/Bush in l984."} (Bellant 599 appendix footnote).

Interestingly, here, too, we hear from Bowen. Referring to Bellant's report revealing the GOP's "Nazi connection" in the 1970's and '80's, Bowen is the one who ties Bush's family ties directly into the Bellant Report:

"Bush's strategy in l988 and again in l992 of stonewalling revelations about the Nazi war criminal apologists . . .His employment in both [my emphases--mcs] campaigns of Fred Malek, a well-known Nazi collaborator, graphically underscores his lack of concern about the victims of Hitler's war machine. . .Bush springs from an old-line Connecticut family lineage with long-time connections to Wall Street, international bankers, oil interests, and the fascist cartels behind the German Third Reich." (Bowen 4-11).

Closer to the time of the actual events, we refer to I.F. Stone, who describes Allen's brother's behavior regarding mercy to the Nazis at the end of World War 2:

"[J.F.and Allen Dulles' firm] Sullivan and Cromwell numbered among their clients some of the leading German cartels Hitler used in his attempt at world conquest. I find no record of any speeches in those days by John Foster Dulles denouncing totalitarianism. He did not attack Nazi paganism nor reject retainers in protest against concentration camps. Certain aspects of the Dulles conversion seem odd, if coincidental. It was at the moment when the fortunes of war had turned definitely against the Axis that Dulles raised the slogan of 'a Christian peace.' He who had never risen to plead for the victims, asked mercy in defeat for the oppressors." (Stone l24-5).

In Barbara Honnegar's allegations, as reflected in her book October Surprise, one of the people she discovered a Bush link to, was a top associate of the Ayotollah Khomeini, Ahmed Jibril:

"Though the Iranian government officially disavowed any connection with the sabotage of pan Am flight l03, it wasn't long before investigators were focusing on a former aide to Ayatollah Khomeini as the leader of the group most likely responsible--Ahmed Jibril. Jibril had reportedly served as Khomeini's personal bodyguard, and was the disciple of Adolf Hitler's closest Nazi associate in the Middle East, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini." (Honnegar ll7).

Finally we remember what went on in the Middle East during 1944:

"Rodgers and Collier [the two top Standard Oil executives in Saudi Arabia in 1944] held America to ransom. . .Meanwhile, Nazi involvement in Saudi Arabia became more and more extreme. . .from recently declassified documents prepared by British Intelligence. . .[T]he Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was, until Italy's collapse, living in Rome, working with (the Nazis) to send out agents to all the Arab countries. . .In Saudi, fanatical Arabs were trained as Nazis at German universities and schools. From a headquarters in a carpet shop in Baghdad, Dr. Fritz Grobba, German minister to Iraq, ran espionage rings, subsidized Arab newspapers and clubs in the Saudi capital of Jidda. . .Nazi spy Oppenheim. . .was headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Many Nazis flocked into Saudi disguised as tourists. . .constructed roads. . .built factories. . .formed German-Arab societies and learned Arab languages so as to address crowds and whip them into a fanatical support of Hitler. Wilhelm Keppler. . .under-Secretary of the German Foreign Office. . .made Saudi Arabia his special provenance. he laced the country with agents that spread out as far as Iran and Iraq. By l944, the U.S. was seriously short of oil. . .Suddenly Rodgers and Collier informed the U.S. government that the price of oil to America would be $l.05 a barrel, take it or leave it. . ." (Higham, Trading 76-92).

Yet, we are supposed to believe that Prescott Bush, a business partner of Rodgers and Colliers' until 1952, would have actively enlisted his son in the U.S. military to work against the interests of his fascist-allied partners. We must also recall that Prescott Bush was a Republican in 1941, and remained one for the rest of his life. He was wealthy, corporate, and he detested FDR. He had sponsored a visit to the U.S. by a shipload of Nazis in 1934, and he was a member of a eugenics (racial purification via extermination) group going into World War II.

Not only this, but Bowen notes what Prescott Bush had taught to his children about how to look on the people the Nazis and Japanese fascists were persecuting as part of their policies:

"As the world economic crisis hardened, and other Americans were experiencing unprecedented hardship and fear, the Bush children were taught that those who suffered had no on to blame but themselves. . .The Depression was nowhere in evidence as [George and his brother, Pres., jr.] glided in the family's black Oldsmobile past the stone fences, stables, and swimming pools of one of America's wealthiest communities. . .Prescott Bush. . .was heaping the family fortunes through sophisticated bond deals with John Foster Dulles for the Nazis. . ."(Bowen l-4).

As I react to all of this, I realize I must feel even more strongly than Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal about Bush's World War 2 recollections. In an article entitled "War Stories," which appeared in the October 12, 1992 issue of New Republic, Blumenthal ellaborated on data I've also seen about Bush's actions over Chi Chi Jima. I've noted, however, that the real secret Bush may be hiding is not his negative attitude toward the war in general, as revealed by his premature jump over Chi Chi Jima, but something much more sinister. This secret involves, not Chi Chi Jima so much as Guam. There, in June, 1944, George Bush may have landed his aircraft and delivered a message to the Japanese in behalf of Standard Oil.

Initially, I was appalled at the idea. And it seemed impossible. But it is clear from reading the data, that the batttlefield scenario itself even allowed a time frame for young Bush to have done this: from 10:20 a.m. to dusk on June 19, 1944, no aircraft could fly into Guam and land except damaged Japanese aircraft. The airfields were relatively intact on Guam at that point, having only been strafed--not yet bombed in any serious way--by U.S. aircraft. Earlier that day, from 8:30 a.m until about 10, a group of U.S. fighters had attacked Guam's airfields and aircrafts. But, they were called off when the U.S. carriers picked up enemy aircraft approaching. This was done to insure air cover over the carriers. (Hoyt 271).

The Japanese performed an odd maneuver at this point, as well. Instead of bearing straight in for the U.S. carrier force, the Japanese planes first wheeled around, circling overhead for a few minutes. This gave Admiral Spruance time to launch his torpedo bombers from the carrier decks, protecting them from being hit on deck by the Japanese aircraft. It was at this time, about 10:20 a.m., that Bush's torpedo plane took off. (Hoyt 269-72).

According to Bush's official version of events, shortly after this, his plane developed "hydraulic problems" and he had to ditch in the sea. For a period of from 24 to 48 hours, thereafter, Bush and possibly his crewmen were "out of pocket" off Japanese-held Guam. (Hyams 80-150).

Intriguingly, from about 10:00 a.m. until dusk, as we've noted, the U.S. aircraft were tied up fighting off the Japanese air attacks against the U.S. fleet. Not until about 4:00 p.m. were U.S. planes again freed up to strike at Japanese airfields and aircraft on Guam. These latter U.S. planes didn't arrive over Guam until nearly dusk. This means, that for several hours while Bush was out of pocket off Guam, the Japanese airfields there were open for incoming, non-hostile traffic and were useable. This is precisely the time frame when Bush was out of pocket.

In researching this time period of George Bush's life, I was able to build a detailed scenario of what actually happened to Bush, Delaney and White. ( I say "White" here, instead of Nadeau, because Nadeau was not actually aboard--though he normally would have been).I can see several possible scenarios, some based on the "absolute truth" of the mysterious book ad I heard in Houston, some built on some in-between level of truth, and some built on a "politically true" nature of the data, based on the book ad's timing (final few weeks of the 1980 Presidential election). I try to show, in one scenario, how Delaney would unconscious and put on a different raft, while Bush and White (whose father was a business partner with Bush's father), had conversed with the Japanese on Guam. They had then left Guam on another raft, being picked up by a different ship than the unconscious Delaney. (Two different ships seemed to have picked up somewhat "mysterious" crewmen during this time.)

Afterwards, Prescott Bush's many business and military associates would have been able to doctor the records to cover and distort what actually happened that day on Guam. The Japanese commanders on Guam were both killed in battle. And, as Fred Goerner notes in his book The Search for Amelia Earhart, all Japanese military and administrative records in the Mariannas Islands of Guam and Saipan were removed from Saipan by occupying U.S. forces. These forces were led in part by General William Draper, who was a business partner of Prescott Bush as well--he had, in fact, helped found Auschwitz, and made millions of dollars off the poison gases used there. The Allen Dulles-headed CIA had sent all such Japanese records to Washington, where they were held and gone over with a fine toothed comb by U.S. intelligence for some reason, before being returned to the Japanese in 1958, minus some interesting pages. (Interesting for their absence.)

Even in the relatively less interesting case of Chi Chi Jima, however, there are some intriguing gaps in the records. For example, Joe Hyams, the "official" Bush biographer, notes that the official Marine corps record states that "no U.S. raids on Chi Chi Jima by carrier based aircraft occurred between July 4, 1944 and February, 1945." Yet, Bush was filmed being picked up off Chi Chi Jima on September 2, 1944.

There are thus several levels of truth possible for these scenarios, with Bush having something to have covered up in each of them. Whether he landed and delivered a message, merely landed and then escaped (due to not knowing how to water land) or was somehow incorrect in flying with unauthorized crew members, he had something to cover up, something that lent itself to a more serious accusation that couldn't be readily or quickly answered with the data he had on hand in the Fall of 1980, for all of Allen Dulles's, Forrestal's and his father and his assoicates' possible efforts to alter or destroy the records.

Sidney Blumenthal's article notes that he interviewed Chester Mierzejewski in 1992, four years after his original interview with the New York Post, which is referred to by Tarpley and Chaitkin. It appeared a year after Robert Stinnett's "official" Bush biography had attempted to discredit "Ski" by producing Bush squadron member Joe Foshee as being actually the closest to Bush's plane at the time. But Foshee's own testimony , "I never saw any fire, just smoke," only seemed to reinforce "Ski's" claim that Bush's plane wasn't on fire (Stinnett 160). At the time of Blumenthal's article, after those years of ridicule and being ignored, "Ski" said that he felt the two crewmen with Bush over Chi Chi Jima would have been better off if Bush had dodged the draft (Blumenthal 20).

The message "Ski" was sending as Blumenthal's article concluded was that Bush and his staff's behavior toward him was insulting, even though Ski is a Medal of Honor holder himself. His description of the events over Chi Chi Jima had contradicted Bush's own and he had felt increasing hostility from Bush. He had tried to be diplomatic and respectful toward Bush. But Bush had gotten testy and defensive--and insulting-- toward Ski. After initially hoping Bush might have had a good reason to bail out rather than water land--as he allegedly had off Guam--Ski came to feel that Bush had in fact actually done the wrong thing.

Where does one go with information such as this? George Bush repeatedly told people even during his runs for Congress that he "Didn't like politics." Why, then, did he insist on participating? Could it be he had a secret he had to ensure remained guarded?

Works cited:

Anderson, Scott, and Jon Lee Anderson. Inside the League: The Shocking Exposé of How Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin American Death Squads have Infiltrated the World Anti-Communist League. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1986. 32-45 (esp. 36-7); 111. On page 228 of my manuscript, there is a two-paragraph quote in mid-page from Russ Bellant's book Old Nazis, the New Right and the Republican Party, which includes a reference to Bush's ties to Stanislaw Stankievich, mayor of Borrisow in 1941 who exterminated Jews and others and freed up Nazi troops from such "administrative" duties on the Eastern Front to fight US and British forces in Europe, resulting in greater US casualties and a longer war.

Bellant's text simply noted that "The 1985 Republican Heritage Groups Council convention delegation. . .included Raisa Stankievich, wife of Stanislaw. . .(Bellant 11-12)." Bellant merely noted that Stankievich's wife was there, and didn't go into details as to why. I about halfway got the impression Stankievich was dead at the time.

He wasn't. He was very much alive--and very much had been invited to attend the GOP function, into which George Bush had a great deal of input and over which George Bush had a great deal of control. This is brought out clearly in Inside the League, an exposé about the World Anti-Communist League and the constant dealing with these Nazi "sympathizer" types that is most surprising, in many ways, about the post-War behavior of George Bush, a WW2 veteran. This business of Laslo Pasztor is also intriguing and so is this new stuff about the Bulgarian Legion people. Rumania was where Standard was really interested, though. I've just been recalling some information I read some years ago, and am re-evaluating it in light some of the newer information I've found. Footnotes in David Bergamini's Japan's Imperial Conspiracy about how the Japanese had found "connections" in Bulgaria by 1943 got me intrigued. Then, I suddenly flashed back, after reading Inside the League, to Russ Bellant's Old Nazis, the New Right and the Republican Party. There, in Bellant's text, is a reference to one Alexander Ronnett, a Chicagoan and a regular at Reagan NSC meetings. A Chicago TV station interviewed this former Rumanian Nazi about his frequent participation at those meetings, given his former "bad security" rating at the end of WW2.

On top of that, Inside the League refers to Ronnett as a "connecting point" between the Bulgarian Fascists, known as the Bulgarian Legion, and his own Rumanian Fascists, and describes how he and "George Paprikoff, who had belonged to the pro-Nazi Bulgarian Legionary movement", and fellow Chicago fascists, traveled to a joint session of the Illinois state congress and met with Governor Jim Thompson in private. In July, about a year later, Reagan himself met with these folks, or their companero Yaroslav Stesko "whose followers assisted in the slaughter of Jews in the Ukraine", and Bush signed a photograph: "To the Honorable Yaroslav Stesko, with Best Wishes, George Bush." Stesko, as mayor of Ukrainian townships in 1941, had rounded up the Jews into a ghetto and blackmailed them with the threat of murder. After extorting thousands to millions from them, he had his forces move in and murder those thousands of Jews.

He had also participated in the murder of Polish officials who had committed the dastardly offense of spying for the Allies--an act which at least theoretically made the world a little safer for the likes of WW2 military personnel in the field like George Bush. For those murders, he had gone to prison. And did George resent him for his murder of his wartime helpers, those Polish officials? No--now he was honored by the President and VP.

Click on "Back" (above) to return to the Tim, George Bush and Me Table of Contents on the George Bush-Undercurrents Website.

Works cited:

Bellant, Russ. Old Nazis, the New Right and the Republican Party (original title: Old

Nazis, the New Right and the Reagan Administration). Boston: South End,

1991

Blumenthal, Sidney. "War Story." New Republic, October 12, 1992. 17-20

Ellenberg, Al and Allan Wolper. "The Day Bush Bailed Out," New York Post, August 12, 1988. 1

Goerner, Fred. The Search for Amelia Earhart. New York: Doubleday, 1966

Higham, Charles. Trading with the Enemy: An Expos of the Nazi-American Money Plot,

1933-1947. New York: Delacorte, 1983

--------.American Swastika. New York: Doubleday, 1985.

Honnegar, Barbara. October Surprise. New York: Tudor, 1989

Hoyt, Edwin P. To the Marianas: War in the Central Pacific, 1944. New York: Avon,

1980

Hyams, Joe. Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jaconovich, 1991

Simpson, Christopher. Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the

Cold War. New York: Delacorte, 1988

Stinnett, Robert. George Bush: His World War II Years. Washington, DC: Brassey's, 1991.

Stone, I.F. The Truman Era. New York: Vintage, 1973

Tarpley, Webster Griffin, and Anton Chaitkin. The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush. New York: Executive Intelligence Review/Ben Franklin, 1991