MIAMI, Sept. 29 -- President Bush, accused by Democrats of shirking his duty in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, wrote that he had "inadequate time" to meet future reserve commitments in his November 1974 letter of resignation, which was released Wednesday.
The letter was released by the White House on the eve of the first presidential debate, in Miami on Thursday, between Bush and his Democratic challenger, John F. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.
 
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In the one-page "Tender of Resignation," Bush hand-wrote the following reason for resigning: "Inadequate time to fullfill possible future commitments."
The document does not address the controversy over gaps in his service in the Air National Guard in the 1970s.
Democrats have accused Bush of using family connections to get into the Guard while many of his peers were drafted to fight in Vietnam.
The Boston Globe reported this month that he failed to join an Air Force Reserve unit when he moved to Massachusetts from Texas in mid-1973. But the White House said documents show that Bush was assigned to an Obligated Ready Reserve unit in Denver and was not required to report to duty in Massachusetts.
