35 years ago today: McCain released from POW captivity

by Michael Zak

On this day in 1973, Lt. Commander John McCain was released from a North Vietnamese prison.

The missile that shot down his fighter-bomber broke both arms and a leg, and he nearly drowned after parachuting into a lake. He was then bayoneted and beaten. McCain refused his captors' demands that he divulge military information in return for medical treatment. Despite being tortured, McCain also refused offers from the communists to free him ahead of other servicemen who had been imprisoned longer.

President Richard Nixon welcomed McCain home, after five and a half years of captivity, much of that time in solitary confinement.

QSon and grandson of admirals, John McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. In 1967, a massive fire broke out on the deck of his aircraft carrier. As bombs and jet fuel exploded nearby, McCain was injured trying to rescue a fellow pilot. One hundred and thirty-four men died in the inferno.

In 1982, McCain was elected to the first of two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1986, he won the first of four terms in the U.S. Senate.

President McCain -- what a terrific campaign slogan that would be! It sounds great and brings to mind the horrors of the Democrat alternative.

President McCain.

This article and hundreds more are available on the Grand Old Partisan blog -- http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com. Republicans today would benefit tremendously from appreciating the heritage of our Grand Old Party.

Comments

[Rick]

Too bad, they never should have released McCain back into the United States.
He was guilty of adhering the enemy, while collaborating with the enemy for better treatment.

Barrack Obama's minister is probably more patriotic than McCain... who incidently starterd the fire on the USS Forrestal as a prank.

Rick Biesada

[Rick]

Too bad, they never should have released McCain back into the United States.
He was guilty of adhering the enemy, while collaborating with the enemy for better treatment.

Barrack Obama's minister is probably more patriotic than McCain... who incidently starterd the fire on the USS Forrestal as a prank.

Rick Biesada

[RS]

What a crock. Rick, I'd like to see how you would hold up under the kind of torture McCain endured. Regardless of what one thinks of his political views, McCain's service to his country was heroic. The type of caustic and unthinking criticism bestowed by the Biesadas of the world say far more about them than it does McCain.

[Doc]

There's no point in responding to an idiot like Rick Biesada. First, "Rick" is most likely between 13 and 18 years old. If not, he has the mentality of someone from that demographic and thus does not warrant a response. If he's older, then he's obviously retarded and it would be wrong to make fun of retarded people. Second, the only reason anybody would make that type of comment is for inflammatory purposes. Senator(President) McCain suffered through his torturous days so that "Rick" could spew his hatred; so in that sense he's very much like Rev. Jeramiah Wright! :)