European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 25, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes thursday August 25,1988 candidates sons deny they used fathers pull to enter National guard Washington a the sons of George Bush and Lloyd Bentsen say no strings were pulled to ensure their Entrance into the National guard during the Vietnam War. George w. Bush son of the gop presidential Candi Date and Lloyd m. Bentsen Iii the son of the demo cratic vice presidential candidate discussed their Mili tary service tuesday in response to the Flap Over whether family influence helped Republican vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle join the guard and avoid being drafted for combat in Vietnam. The younger Bush and Bentsen were guardsmen to Gether at Ellington fab in Houston. Both said they applied to enter the Texas air National guard in 1968, when it was inevitable they would be called to serve in the military. But the two who had known one another in hous ton before joining the same guard unit said they enlisted on their own without the use of their fathers influence. Their fathers have affirmed that position. Both men said in interviews that they signed up after contacting the commander of the fighter group they wanted to join at Ellington. Circumstances of joining the National guard have become an Issue in the Case of Quayle who is now a defense hard liner in the Senate. During the Vietnam Era Entrance into the National guard was viewed by some As a Way to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam. Quayle has denied any such motivation. Quayle s student deferment from the draft was about to expire in 1969, and he had been called for his pre induction physical an indication that he was about to be drafted. Most of those drafted during that period were sent to Vietnam. A retired Indiana guard official acknowledged tuesday that he told the guard personnel office to hold open a space for Quayle after receiving a Call from a Quayle family employee in 1969. Both Bush s son and Bentsen s son acknowledged it was inevitable that they would have to serve in the military after they graduated from College so they chose National guard service. The younger Bentsen 43, railed at a claim by new Hampshire gov. John Sununu that Bentsen s father had rushed to get his son a spot in the National guard when he Learned of an opening. He was absolutely categorically wrong the son said. Shortly after i graduated i went to a party with some of my friends and one of the people introduced me to Brig. Gen. Walter Staudt who was the Corn Mander of the 147th fighter group in the Texas air  Bentsen said Staudt told him at a later meet ing that because of his masters business degree he could use someone like me As an accounting and finance officer. Bentsen said he went Home and discussed the matter with his father a businessman at the time and decided to enlist. He became a finance officer As Luck would have it serving past my six year requirement and achieving the rank of Captain he said. In the younger Bush s Case the circumstances also involved talking to Staudt. It was obvious that somewhere i would have to serve and i was fully prepared to do so said Bush whose father was a decorated fighter Pilot in world War ii. The 42-year-old son said he too wanted to be a Pilot. I heard the National guard was looking for pilots he said. He called Staudt who confirmed that the unit needed new pilots. Bush said he could not remember How he Learned of the need for pilots or knew that he could Call Staudt but that ultimately he became the third of six new pilots who were selected for the Texas unit. He said he passed the Pilot training exam then served 18 months on Active duty six months in Houston and another 12 months of Pilot training in Georgia where he flew f-102 fighters then flew on a regular basis until 1973. Bush said he supported the Vietnam cause and he jumped at the Opportunity to be a Pilot joining the guard because he could not be assured of a Pilot Job in the other military branches. I was going into the service one Way or the other he said. Some senior pilots from his unit did Fly in Vietnam on a voluntary basis he said. Bentsen s son said he was motivated to join the guard partly because he had just finished graduate school. I Felt As i think All of us did in 1968, that it was inevitable that we would be drafted within six to nine months. I did t worry about going to Vietnam. In general i supported the War Effort. My concern was that the military had a history of mismatching a per son s experience with the Job that they got and i was afraid they were going to make me a clerk typist some  news updates Chrysler settlement Lansing Mich. Up let ters have been mailed to More than 2,000 Michigan owners of Chrysler vehicles which May have inaccurate odometer readings be cause the company disconnected the devices. Attorney general Frank Kelley announced tuesday that compensation will be paid the owners. Official resigns Pago Pago american Samoa a this . Territory s congressional Delegate is re signing after he admitted conspiring to defraud the government of More than $130,000, the governor said monday. Gov. A. P. Lutali said he had accepted Delegate Fofo . Sunia s resignation which takes effect sept. 6. Sunia a Democrat pleaded guilty aug. 3 in Washington to charges of operating a payroll pad Ding scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on oct. 4. Hunt Brothers by the Washington Post Washington Federal regulators Are preparing to resume proceedings accusing the Hunt Brothers of Texas of manipulating the Silver futures Market. Federal officials decided to Pur sue the Case when the jury in a Federal court Case in new Yor ruled that the Brothers participated in a conspiracy to Corner the Silver Market in 1979 and 1980. The new York jury saturday or dered the Hunts and two other earties to pay More than $130 Mil on to min Peco s.a., the peruvian government s Silver mining com Pany which lost millions in the Silver Market squeeze nearly a dec Ade ago. Hundreds killed in Afghanistan As ammunition site is vaporized Washington up a huge blast vaporized an ammunition and fuel storage depot in Northern Afghani  killing hundreds of people and Wip ing out two years Worth of military sup plies . Intelligence sources confirmed tuesday. The . Intelligence reports gathered from satellite photography and accounts from afghan rebels said the explosion on aug. 10 or 11 wiped out the Large Supply depot at Salagay. The base is located near the Salang Highway the main soviet evacuation route to soviet territory. A . Source who asked not to be identified said the explosion appears to have wiped out two years Worth of am munition supplies for the afghan government forces and May have also destroyed Large amounts of gasoline and Petroleum products. Although afghan rebels claim responsibility for the huge explosion with a rocket attack the . Source said we Don t know what caused it. Maybe it was a rocket but it could have been sabotage or even somebody smok ing a cigarette where he should t. The explosion vaporized the place just wiped it  the source said the explosion killed about 100 soviet troops and hundreds of afghan government forces. He Dis counted afghan rebel claims that Over 700 people died in the explosion. A number of soviet aircraft and a Mored vehicles were also reported to have been destroyed. The explosion further reduces the sur Vival chances for the beleaguered afghan government of the soviet sponsored president Najibullah. Najibullah s brother Sediq Ullah Rahi who defected to the United states last week told reporters at a state depart ment news conference that the afghan government will quickly collapse once the soviet forces Are out. The soviet troop withdrawal is scheduled to be completed by feb. 15,1989. State department spokeswoman Phyl Lis Oakley said tuesday the collapse of the Najibullah government is also expected to put an end to the epidemic of terrorism in Pakistan. The state department in its Survey of International terrorism in 1987, listed 127 attacks in Pakistan last year mainly against afghan refugees and pakistani civilians. The toll was 234 persons killed and another 1,200 wounded the Survey said. The state department report said the Campaign of terrorism was waged by wad the afghan intelligence service that is organized and advised by the soviet  deaths of North seals stir fears about the state of All the oceans London a the death of thou Sands of seals in the North is unprecedented and could be the beginning of major problems for people living in coastal areas everywhere British scientists warned tuesday. Dutch scientists have found the seals Are dying from a mysterious virus Caus ing severe pneumonia which might reconnected with chemicals dumped at although the link remains to reproved the British scientists said. Pollution is higher in the North than in the Atlantic Ocean but the two  Are connected and the state of the North is an Early indicator of the state of All the oceans said British scientist or. Brian Mccartney director of the proudman oceanographic Laborati a which is monitoring the condition of e North sea. Seals Are prone to infection but behave seen nothing like this before. We feel powerless As there is almost nothing we can do to Stop the seals dying said or. John Harwood head of the govern ment funded mammal research unit at Cambridge England. Even if dutch scientists succeed i developing a vaccine to protect seals it would be virtually impossible to Inoc ulate any but a Small number he said. The news conference organized by the government s natural environment re search Council coincided with an offi Cial announcement of a research project to try to discover Why More than 7,000common seals have died on the coasts of Denmark West Germany the nether lands Norway Sweden and Britain. British Deputy environment minister Virginia Bottomley said that starting next month blood and tissue from seals will be Analysed and some seals fitted with radio transmitters for tracking to discover their feeding movements. A re port should be ready within six months she said