There's more. CBS identified their "document and handwriting examiner" as Marcel Matley. Matley, however, says he only examined the signature, and could not verify the documents' authenticity. He also qualified his examination by noting that he looked at copies, not originals. Several outside handwriting experts think the signatures fraudulent. William Flynn, considered one of the nation's most respected document analysts, says the documents appear phony. Why? The print type and spacing are "proportional," extremely rare over 30 years ago. (Proportional means skinny letters like "I" and "t" take up less space, common with modern computers and word processors, not so during the early '70s.) Flynn notes that the line spacing would have been impossible on equipment available in 1973. Also, the documents showed a superscripted "th" -- as in "147th" -- when typewriters in those days did not automatically elevate the "th" but typed it on the same line as other letters.
Rather addressed the "th" superscript controversy by producing a 1968 document with a small "th" next to the numbers "111." But experts say that Rather's 1968 "proof" is not superscript, because the top of the "th" character is at the same level as the rest of the type, while superscripts rise above the rest of the type. None of over 100 records made available by the 147th Group and TexANG shows proportional spacing or the superscripted "th."
Previously released memos show Killian signed his rank "Lt Col" or "LT Colonel, TexANG," in a single line after his name with no periods. CBS's memos have "Lt Colonel" on the next line, sometimes with a period, and without the customary "TexANG." The documents show the acronym "F.I.S." (Fighter Intercept Squadron), but military acronyms don't include periods. They have the abbreviations "grp" (group) and "OETR" (officer evaluation review) but the correct military terminology is "gp" and "OER."
One May 4, 1972, memo shows G.H.W. Bush's mailing address, which G.W. Bush stopped using in 1970, and didn't use again until late 1973 or 1974 while attending Harvard Business School. Another dated Aug. 18, 1973, cites pressure brought to bear by "Staudt" -- yet Col. Staudt had retired a year and half earlier.
CBS said their "evidence" included " . . . interviews with former Texas National Guard officials and individuals who worked closely back in the early 1970s with Col. Jerry Killian and were well acquainted with his procedures, his character and his thinking." More "well acquainted" than Killian's son or wife?
CBS's Andy Rooney once called Dan Rather "transparently liberal" and advised him to "be more careful." It appears Rather should have listened.