Bush 'proud' of his National Guard service

President George W Bush, his Vietnam-era military service the subject of dispute, today said he was proud of his stint in the Air National Guard and told members strained by today’s wars that he was trying to make their lives easier.

“Nineteen individuals have served in the National Guard and as president of the United States, and I am proud to be one of them,” President Bush said in prepared remarks of his speech at the National Guard Association of the United States conference in Las Vegas.