White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, today:
[Pay records] show that [Bush] was paid for his service, and you get paid for the days on which you serve…. It showed that he fulfilled his duties.
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, also today:
I was…lucky enough to get into a National Guard unit in the nick of time, about a day before I was drafted. I did my basic and advanced training (combat engineer) and returned to my unit. I was supposed to attend weekly drills and summer camp, but I found them inconvenient. I “moved” to California and then “moved” back to New York, establishing a confusing paper trail that led, really, nowhere. For two years or so, I played a perfectly legal form of hooky. To show you what a mess the Guard was at the time, I even got paid for all the meetings I missed. [emphasis added]