George H W Bush
 

An amazing patriot and family man.

Coming from a very influential family, he easily could have landed a cushy assignment in WWII. He flew bombers in the Pacific instead.

Wrote famous love letters to his 'darling Bar' back home.

More should know what he did at Chi Chi Jima. His squadron was assigned to bomb a very vital Japanese radio tower. His plane was scheduled to bomb last in the formation. Each of the planes ahead of him in the pattern, were obliterated by anti aircraft fire as they approached the target. He saw his, must have assumed he was about to meet the same fate, and attacked it anyway. His plane was shot down, he piloted the aircraft long enough for the crew to jump out, then he jumped out.

As he was in the water, Japanese boats came for him, but American pilots strafed those boats, keeping them back until he was rescued. Other American pilots who were captured alive by the Japanese at Chi Chi Jim were tortured to death, and then eaten. It's in the book 'Flyboys', written by the same guy who wrote Flags Of Our Fathers.

He also lost a daughter at age 3 to cancer, he always said that he hoped that she would be the first person to welcome him to heaven. I pray that worked out as he hoped.

Would have been easy for him to spend his life at the beach and at the country club, enjoying the wealth he inherited. But he dedicated his life to service. And he never seemed attracted to service out of a desire for power or fame or women.

what a life lived for this patriot
#respect
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Also the youngest pilot in WW2
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Rip
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Great man, dedicated servant to our country, and arguably our last great Statesman President.

Kind of a cool story here, a kid we know has been working as part of the grounds keeping crew for HW at his Kennebunk house. Really good kid who has been working the past three summers there. Straight A student, one of the top football players in the state, just a solid kid top to bottom. There is absolutely nothing you can say bad about this kid.

Well last summer the Bush's head of staff asked him to go to lunch with him. While they were at lunch, the HoS tells him that the Bush's feel that the place for him is Annapolis. The president drafted a letter of recommendation for this kid, as well as one from W, to attend Annapolis. 17 years old and this kid is set for life.

Barbara loved him too, just such a good kid.
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that’s pretty cool. Lots of stories like this about the man, who always said humility was the most important trait in a man.
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Wow. That is Fantastic

A decent man who had a strong moral compass....

I have reflected on this since I heard it.


If only current officials could find some of this in their own constitution. (note I said officials, not leaders....for they are not)

hey, Newsweek called Bush a wimp on their cover, and donna brazile ( yes, that donna brazile) pushed a lie that he had a mistress.
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HW is the only former President I've ever seen live. He spoke here at the Naval War College in June (15th) 2001. I still have my invitation to the event. I wrote the following notes at the time:

"Former President George Bush was the guest speaker at the graduation. Over 3000 were in attendance. Weather was partly sunny with patchy fog. Security was very tight. Also in attendance were Senator Claiborne Pell, Governor Lincoln Almond, Senator Chafee. Subject of Bush address was Operation Desert Storm."

Just found out he has also been invited to the funeral.

He’s going to have to miss a day of school for that though :hee:
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that is very cool, and consistent with everything we know about the man.
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in the last moments of his life, an irish tenor who bush really liked. Bush asked him to sing Silent Night.

i thought i liked this guy before i learned everything i learned this weekend. Politics aside, what a decent person.
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Not a problem, the Navy takes care of their own.

He's still in High School, Senior year :hee:

Ahh, thought he was at Canoe U.

Rest in peace Mr. President.
I hope in his passing he is celebrated as he deserves to be and hopefully more people will realize what he has done for our country in his lifetime.

My brother has a thing about meeting sports celebrities. This drives the rest of the family crazy. A few years ago my uncle and brother were invited to an outing at the tennis hall of fame in Newport the day before the tennis tourney and HOF intro. there. They played on the courts and then were showering. They were almost dry when HW walks by naked to go to the shower. My brother drops his shorts and walks into the shower and talks him up as they lather up. Says he was a nice guy. I think he was trying to get invited to play tennis in Kennebunkport.

Years ago we stayed at an Inn across the street from the compound in Kennebunkport. What a beautiful property on the water,looked like a striper paradise. One morning we saw Barbs out walking Millie their beloved spaniel.
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I was fishing at Parsons Beach when Fidelity came in fishing, he was driving
He fished for a while with the Secret Service guarding him from a RIB
Then he took off, his guards were paying attention to some beachgoer and got left in the dust. They scrambled
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What kind of boat is Fidelity, an Intrepid?

HW and W liked fishing for stripers and blues.

Mike Pence's tribute to HW as worth watching. Not long ago, Pences son (a marine pilot) made a carrier landing on the USS George HW Bush. Pence contacted HW, who sent Pence's son a letter and a package.

Politics aside, the more you hear about HW, the more you think of him.

I also keep remembering that a few years ago, one of his secret service agents had a kid getting cancer treatment, and HW shaved his head in solidarity with the kid. How many people of this importance, would do that?

There is an expression - to whom much is given, much is expected. HW seemed to live by that phrase, he really did.

I always liked this photo of the Bush family, at mass shortly after 09/11. The warmth and love between them, always seemed so genuine to me, so sincere. I also can't help but compare that, to the poses of the family next to them.

He was one of a few presidents (primarily ones in our lifetimes) that could evoke such emotional outpouring decades after his terms in office.

It goes to show just what kind of president he was, and much more to the kind of man, husband and father he was as well!

Right on Bruce...I was touched to see the missing man formation flown as he was returned "home"
I am privileged to have met him and shook his hand...I have a summer home in Saco...we were at a family dinner about 10 years ago at Federal Jacks in Kennebunkport. ...President Bush drove his boat to the dock,secret service in tow...
He came in and took his table near us,being a military man myself, I stood up and saluted him (as did everyone at my table including my grandson).... he turned back smiled and shook hands with everyone at the table. ..it was one of those moments you never forget..
Godspeed mr.President you will be missed by many.
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that’s a great story.

i think all that niceness and warmth from him and Barb was totally sincere, not staged at all. just a really decent guy who felt he was spared form death for a reason, and did everything he could
to make the most of his second chance.

If you want to read a very disturbing tale of war crimes, read ‘Flyboys’, about the battle of Chi Chi Jima, where Bush was shot down. the book isn’t about him, it’s about other pilots there who were captured. but it does tell his story, and you will see how close he came to meeting a fate that’s impossible to believe happened to anyone, but it did. Bush came very very close to being tortured to death and eaten, that’s what happened to american
pilots captured at chi chi jima. i don’t know why that’s not better known.
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