Bush was resented by his fellow flyboys in the Texas Air National Guard

NY Daily News
From:
Sec'y: Bush flew in face of rules

BY CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

President Bush was resented by his fellow flyboys in the Texas Air National Guard because "he didn't really have to go by the rules," a former Guard staffer claimed yesterday.

That charge was leveled last night by 86-year-old Marian Carr Knox, who was the secretary of Bush's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian.

"Killian was very friendly with Bush and they had fun together," Knox said on "60 Minutes." "I think it upset him very much that he was being defied."

Controversial new documents claim Killian grounded Bush for being a substandard pilot and for ignoring an order to get a physical.

Asked how Bush was able to get away with it, Knox said, "I think it's plain and simple, Bush didn't think he had to go by the rules the others did."

Knox confirmed that Killian was under pressure to "sugarcoat" Bush's reviews despite his reservations. She said she typed up memos critical of Bush that her boss kept in a secret file.

But when asked by CBS newsman Dan Rather about the authenticity of the memos he used last week to buttress his report that Bush was grounded for disobeying orders, Knox said "I know that I didn't type 'em. However, the information in those is correct."