McCain “The Sentinel of Truth” * Karma Comes Home Edition *

(8 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

John McCain is pushing the meme Obama isn’t being open or honest about his association with Bill Ayres. Well John, openness and honesty, truthfulness should start with YOU. Every time you get in front of a camera with that self serving smirk and exhort Barack Obama to tell the truth, to be straight with Americans, remember you are the fraud here, you are the liar.

John McCain exists simply for John McCain, for him there is no higher purpose than nurturing and protecting his myth. McCain is a survivor, like a cockroach. Follow me below the fold for the truth about the little man who would be president, the truth too many have forgotten. A look at the real John McCain stripped of the patriotic myth and maverick hype.  

We have already been reminded of McCain’s lack of attention to academics at Annapolis and his ranking near the bottom of his class. We know he lost five planes while being a naval aviator and we know he was captured by the North Vietnamese in October of 1967. What has happened since October of 1967 has largely been obscured by the self perpetuated myth of John McCain.

Of his POW experience, he was pulled from Truc Bach Lake, actually saved from drowning by a Vietnamese peasant. Mai Van On ran from the safety of a bomb shelter and swam to the wreck. McCain was tangled in his parachute lines, On untangled him enough to get him to the surface and with the help of another man pulled him to the shore. McCain was beaten by the towns people. On also tried to protect McCain driving the villagers off, finally a policeman arrived and McCain was taken to the main prison in Hanoi. He was refused medical treatment, this was common for seriously injured captives, there was little use in expending the energy and resources to treat individuals the North Vietnamese believed would die anyway.  In his own words from Faith of My Fathers, they slapped him around a little, he drifted in and out of consciousness. His injuries (typical of ejections in those circumstances) were severe enough the pain from those alone would have been unbearable.  After three days he traded the name of his ship, the number of aircraft in his flight, information about rescue ships, the order of which his attack was supposed to take place and the targets for treatment. He was afraid he would get blood poisoning and die. Ironically at the same time the Vietnamese were learning his father was an Admiral. It was this discovery and his importance as a political tool that prompted the North Vietnamese to give him the best medical treatment they had available. They transferred him Gai Lam Military Hospital to be treated by Soviet doctors. The hospital was reserved for military officers and was unavailable to other POWs. It was in that hospital he got his nickname, the Crowned Prince.

While in the hospital McCain was interviewed extensively by the North Vietnamese including Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap and foreign press. These are also violations of the Military Code of Conduct. While in captivity McCain gave more than 20 such interviews that we know about, his first just 4 days after his capture. The first interview was filmed, McCain shows no outward signs of torture. Among those declassified, to the Cuban News Broadcast Nov. 9, 1967.

“There is not any doubt for me; things are taking place in a favorable way for North Vietnam. In particular, before world opinion at present, the United States is (? virtually ?) standing alone.”

“My assignment to the Oriskany, I told myself, was due to serious losses in pilots which were sustained by this aircraft carrier due to its raids over North Vietnam territory -VNA) and which necessitated replacements. From 10 to 12 pilots were transferred like me from the Forrestal to the Oriskany. Before I was shot down we had made several sorties. Altogether I made about 23 flights over North Vietnam.”

[About the mission he was captured on:] “The briefing was held in the morning. That’s right. I remember that it was in the morning that they told me the situation and the plan of the raid, which should take place about noon. A reconnaissance officer explained this plan to me. They showed me photographs of my target and marked out the paths to be followed by the Oriskany at this point. They pointed out to me a number of antiaircraft positions near Hanoi and a number of possible rocket positions, the position of our rescue ships, the radio frequency, the composition of the flight, and so forth. Upon arrival near the target, our formation order: I would be number three, and the chief of the formation, number one. Each pilot would have to approach the target from a different direction. The choice of which would be left to [unclear].

“While moving toward the target, we stumbled over a very dense network of fire, a very powerful riposte. A few rockets were seen. Our chief turned to approach the target and I followed him at a distance. At the time when I was preparing to drop my bombs – I did not know whether I could drop them because things were happening too fast – I heard a terrible explosion which shook my plane and sent it toward the group. It was hit so violently that I was thrown on my back and went straight toward the ground in this posture. I tried to pull the direction-stick ??? …

??? … Naturally I felt buffetting because my bailing out was made at the time when the plane was falling too fast. When the parachute opened I looked down and found out that I was going to fall into a lake. I was really lucky to be able to fall into a lake. All around me bombs were exploding while rockets and antiaircraft shells were streaking through the sky. I hit the lake and went to the bottom. While trying to return to the surface, I was seized by Vietnamese and pushed to the bank of the lake. They disarmed me and brought me to prison.”

(What do you think of Hanoi’s Fire Barrage?)

“Very intense, very accurate. When a fire barrage is so accurate, one has to reckon with it. You are excellent artillerymen. Naturally, I have never seen such a fire network because it was the first time that I flew over Hanoi.”

(Were all the pilots who had flown over Hanoi afraid of the Firepower from the ground?)

“Yes, Certainly! How lucky are those who do not have to come often to the Hanoi sector. Very dangerous! Because they could very well be shot down, hit, something that no one wants! When I arrived near my target I saw two rockets streaking by my side, and it was terrible to see. They flew very fast, very strongly.

“For me, there is no longer any doubt. Things are taking place in a favorable opinion. The United States at present seems to be standing alone, so much is its isolation.”

Nhan Dan interview Nov. 9, 1967, all done at Gai Lam.

He stayed at Gai Lam for approximately 6 weeks recovering. McCain was then transferred to The Plantation, the model prison, the show prison visited by dignitaries and the Red Cross. At The Plantation, his roommates Bud Day and Norris Overly nursed him back to health. In fact it was Overly who bathed and tended McCain until he could walk and feed himself. In January 1968 all three where transferred to the ‘Corn Crib’ area within The Plantation, it was there McCain was visited by high level Soviets officials according to his book. He was also interviewed by French reporter Francois Chalais in January.

My meeting with John Sidney McCain was certainly one of those meetings which will affect me most profoundly for the rest of my life. I had asked the North Vietnamese authorities to allow me to personally interrogate an American prisoner. They authorized me to do so. When night fell, they took me – without precautions or mystery – to a hospital near the Gia Lam Airport reserved for the military. (Passage Omitted) …

… John Sidney McCain McCain is not an ordinary prisoner. Hhis father is none other than Admiral Edmond John McCain, Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe (Passage Omitted)

In a weak voice, he relates his story to me: I was carrying out a bombing mission, my twenty-third raid, over Hanoi. It was then that I was hit. I wanted to eject but while doing so I broke both my arms and my right thigh. Unconscious, I fell in a lake, some Vietnamese jumped into the water and pulled me out. Later I learned there must have been about twelve of them. They immediately took me to the hospital, in a condition two inches away from death. A doctor operated on my thigh. Others at the same time dealt with my arms.

(How are you treated here?)

Very well. Everybody is very nice to me.

(How is the food?)

…

This isn’t Paris, but it is alright.

(Do you have something to read?)

They have suggested that I read, but my hands are unable to hold even a newspaper.

Overly was offered and accepted early release. He, along with two other prisoners were the first POWs to be released. Day was transferred to another camp, The Zoo March 1968. In April McCain was moved to another building, ‘the Warehouse’ located in the largest cell block of the camp and he started solitary confinement.

The term solitary is really misleading, McCain was still occupying a 3-4 man cell and simply was not assigned another cell mate.  This may not seem like an important point but it is the basis of McCain’s claim he was tortured continuously for those two years. Guy and Larson, the senior ranking officers at the Plantation during the time McCain was there have stated it is their belief McCain was never beaten or abused.

Larson told the New Times, “Between the two of us, it’s our belief, and to the best of our knowledge, that no prisoner was beaten or harmed physically in that camp (known as ‘The Plantation’). “My only contention with the McCain deal is that while he was at The Plantation, to the best of my knowledge and Ted’s knowledge, he was not physically abused in any way. No one was in that camp. It was the camp that people were released from.”

McCain, the Crowned Prince was too valuable politically to the North Vietnamese and keeping him sequestered from the general population if the North Vietnamese were attempting retraining – brainwashing would make perfect sense. We know during this time he was interviewed by the Soviets and his injuries were treated by Soviet doctors.  Whether or not McCain is a real life Manchurian Candiate I do not know, but there is some compelling circumstantial evidence to support the theory. The records of his treatment and confinement still exist in Vietnam and are covered in his sealed POW file.

McCain continued to collaborate with the North Vietnamese while he was at the Plantation. In May of 1968 he allowed himself, on two separate occasions to be interviewed by North Vietnamese generals.

In late June, 1968 while still sequestered from other POWs, McCain was offered early release, which he refused. The only evidence I can find to support this is reference to September 13, 1968, cable from Averell Harriman recounting McCain was offered and refused early release. It is also said Le Duc Tho mentioned McCain’s refusal to U.S. envoy Harriman, during their private meetings at Paris Peace Talks Sept. – Oct. 1968. It is that meeting which prompted the cable. With the number of declassified documents pertaining to McCain readily available on the web, the cable is conspicuously absent. Altho it may be buried in Harriman’s extensive collection of personal papers at the National Archives. It is first mentioned in the book Nightingale’s Song and all other references go back to the first mention in the book. This is not to say it didn’t happen, just hard to prove with only McCain’s words assuring us it is fact. Normally he would be expect to make anti-American statements for release, but he was already doing that on a fairly regular basis. Also, McCain’s injuries were such that he could have been given a humanitarian release.  We do know McCain was offered release in the months prior to the end of the war and it was Henry Kissinger who said NO. If the offer was true, there is nothing particularly altruistic or heroic about his refusal. Officers were required to take their turn, to be released ahead of other prisoners who had been in capitivity longer would have ruined McCain’s military career and was something he could not hide by the sealing of his records.

What is also interesting about McCain’s story of torture during that time is remarkably similar to the story of another POW. Not the cross in the sand, but rather the “good” guard who loosened his ropes at night. From a NY Times piece from 2000.

Later in the evening a guard he had never spoken to entered the room and silently loosened the ropes to relieve his suffering. Just before morning, that same guard came back and re-tightened the ropes before his less humanitarian comrades returned.

McCain recounts it in Nightingale’s Song, but what caught my eye was another POW, Tom Moe had virtually the identical experience.  In the middle of the night, one of the less hostile guards, whom we called Mark, sneaked in and loosened the ropes a little.  Moe spoke about McCain at the RNC. The story of their 5 year friendship at the Hanoi Hilton also can not be true. Moe was at the Hanoi Hilton in solitary from Jan 1968 to early 1969 when he was transferred to The Plantation again in solitary confinement in the beginning. It is possible they “met” there because they would have shared the time Jan 1969 to Jan 1970 when McCain was returned to the Hanoi Hilton and Moe sent to Son Tay prison. However, it is also unlikely either one of them were tortured at The Plantation. It is also worthwile to note McCain stayed sequestered and Moe was given a new roommate shortly after his arrival at The Plantation.

McCain was again interviewed in the spring of 1969 interview broadcast June, 1969. His interview of June 1969 is really quite telling, he is rebutting the claim by the US Government that POWs were being mistreated.

From a NY Daily News article regarding these interviews. June 1969 – “Reds Say PW Songbird Is Pilot Son of Admiral. . . Hanoi has aired a broadcast in which the pilot son of United States Commander in the Pacific, Adm. John McCain, purportedly admits to having bombed civilian targets in North Vietnam and praises medical treatment he has received since being taken prisoner.” New York Daily News, June 5, 1969

He was interviewed again by Dr. Fernando Barral January of 1970

The pilot interviewed is John Sidney McCain, son and grandson of American Navy Admirals. His father, as the Yankee prisoner declared, is higher ranking than General Abrams, who commands the Yankee aggressor troops in South Vietnam; despite this, Johnson gave orders directly to Abrams, passing over McCain’s father, who has a long history of services of aggression in Korea, among other imperialist merits. As is seen, Lt Commander John Sidney has a very good name….

Following are the notes from Dr. Barral’s interview with the Yankee Pilot:

(Could you tell me your name, serial number, and rank?)

“My name is John Sidney McCain and I am a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy – serial No 624787. I understand and speak some Spanish. I studied it in school and I have been in Spain several times. On one of those occasions I visited the Navy Academy and met Prince Carlos….”

In the course of the interview, on various occasions he showed that knowledge of the language, saying some words, dates, and so forth in Spanish, or (using it) when he thought the interpreter was seeking the corresponding French word.

Naturally, from the very beginning this established a more direct communication between us, and more than one question or my response was made directly in Spanish.

(Immediately afterward, I asked him about the date and circumstances of his capture.)

“On 26 October 1967 I was overflying Hanoi in an A4E plane based on the carrier Oriskany when my plane was hit by a ground-to-air missile. I bailed out, colliding in the air with the remains of the plane, and I landed in one of the lakes in the center of Hanoi, in the middle of the water. On landing I tried to get free of my parachute, but could not move, and did not realize why I could not move my arms or legs, but it was because of the injuries.”

(Injuries?)

“Yes, as a result of colliding with the remains of the plane, I fractured my right leg at the knee, and both arms, the right one in three places. Moreover, I dislocated both shoulders.”

…

(What happened next? That is, what was the capture itself like?)

“Well, many people gathered around since it was the center of Hanoi and at midday.”

(Soldiers, militiamen, or civilians?)

“I could not determine exactly, because they had removed their clothing in order to take me out of the water.”

(Well, go on.)

“From there, they took me to a military hospital in Hanoi, a large hospital where they operated on me and attended to the multiple fractures. I understand I received more than a liter of blood….”

(Were you the object of any physical or moral violence?)

“No, although at the time of capture I could sense the people’s hate or indignation, there were no insults or violence of any type. On the contrary, you have seen how I am recovering from my injuries.”

(But were you not afraid of being the object of violent treatment if you were captured…?)

“Actually, I never thought I would become a prisoner; therefore those fears never came up.”

(Did you never think of the possibility of being captured?)

“No. I was traveling at high altitude. I felt completely safe in the plane.. I am considered one of the best pilots….”

…

(?? What made you join the U.S. Navy? [difficult to read])

“[There was a] family reason since I have many relatives in that branch of service. In particular, my grandfather was [difficult to read] -nding in World War II; he was one of those who [saw] the Japanese sign the act of surrender, and a Naval destroyer bears his name. And my father is also an Admiral; he is Chief of the Pacific Command of the U.S. Armed Forces. Actually, it is a matter of military tradition. Once of my forebears was a colonel in Washington’s independence forces. Another was a general in the war of secession. Thus it was natural for me to follow a military career. Of course my father was not always an admiral; during World War II he was a commander of a submarine. He has been in the Navy since 1927 and has been an admiral since 1965. He holds the highest rank in the Navy. If I had not been downed, I would have become an Admiral at an earlier age than my father. Theoretically, General Abrams is his subordinate….”

(Theoretically?)

“Yes, although in practice, because of the importance of this war, Gen. Creighton Abrams receives his orders directly from Washington.”

(I do not understand this about “in theory and in practice.” I thought that in military life everything is standardized in an inflexible manner….)

“Well, look, in fact Abrams is his subordinate but since the Tet offensive of 1968 in view of the gravity of the situation, Abrams instead of asking for instructions from my father, who is in Honolulu, so that he in turn would ask for them from Washington, went directly to Washington for them because the war is here in Vietnam and my father also has Okinawa, Korea, and so forth under his command. That is why, since the war is so important, he receives his instructions directly from Washington. It is a political problem also, not only military.”

(Well, let us leave these things about political and military aside. They are too complex. At any rate I do not believe that your father likes the situation very much; that his subordinates receive orders directly from above.)

…

“Look, my father is a very intelligent person, but… when the bombings of the north began, Johnson asked Abrams’ opinion, not my father’s because Abrams [is] in Saigon, in the war….”

“Now I am going to speak about my wife,” he says spontaneously, “she is not in the armed forces,” he added with a certain humor. “I saw her the last time in August of 1967. At that time I was on the aircraft carrier Forrestal when I fire broke out which damaged it heavily and it had to be sent for repairs to the United States. At that time I miraculously escaped with my life because I was in my airplane and the two pilots on my left and the two on my right were killed.”

(How did that happen?)

“A plane caught fire and one of its rockets went off. This in turn caused other explosions. There were 135 deaths, almost all the airplanes were destroyed and the ship was seriously damaged. As a result of the fire I became famous on TV.”

(As one who miraculously escaped death, no?)

“Yes, but in addition I was able to see my family and stay there nearly a month. I then returned this time to the aircraft carrier Oriskany and 1 month later I was shot down.”

(You said that you were going to talk to me about your wife bout you continue on the subject of the war….)

… “She is very pretty. Before marrying me she was a model for magazines and on TV. We have a 3-year-old girl. When I saw her she was still a baby. She also has two children from a former marriage. She now returned to work as a model on TV.”

(How did you find out?)

“I had a letter from her after I became a prisoner.”

(??)

“Yes they authorized me to recieve a letter and presents on Christmas Eve and I was able to send greeting cards.”

(Would you like me to relay a message for you?)

“If you would be so kind. Tell her I am well, that I wish her happiness, and not to worry about me.”

(The address!)

“Her namy is Carol McCain, Mrs. Carol McCain. She lives in….”

[McCain has to write her address with his left hand because the Spanish speaking interviewer can’t understand… 553 Patio Lane, Orange Park, Florida, USA]

(What schooling did you have?)

I went to the Naval Academy. I took two university majors, electrical engineering and naval architecture. The courses were very difficult; 1,200 of us began and only 400 graduated. Discipline was very strict also. I was also in the Spanish Naval Academy. It was there that I met Prince Carlos, as I said before. When I finished I had two choices; to be a naval officer or a pilot.. I chose to be a pilot. I had to study another year and a half and I graduated in 1958. I trained intensively. I flew many hours in training to become a jet pilot.”

(Many?)

“Yes, 4,000. They really demand 200 but I flew 4,000 hours.”

(??)

“I wanted to become a test pilot. It is fascinating to test new models.”

(At any rate the difference between 200 and 4,000 appears to be great.)

“Well, look, it was because I wanted to be an astronaut. That is why I also engage in a great deal of sports: boxing wrestling, swimming, camping, and so forth.”

(And what happened?)

“I had to come to Vietnam.”

(What is your religion?)

“I am a Protestant.”

(Being in captivity, has your faith increased? Do you have hopes for the future?)

“My beliefs have always been more or less the same intensity. As long as the war lasts I do not have much hope for the future.”

Of the interviews McCain gave between October 1967 and January 1970, in each one he broke the Code of Conduct, collaborated with the North Vietnamese. Collaborator, those who broke, who gave information rather than nonsense, that number is actually very, very small. But in his book, Faith of My Fathers, McCain levels some very serious accusations against cell mates who he tells us collaborated. In McCain’s own words. “They not only stopped resisting but apparently crossed a line no other prisoner I knew had even approached,” McCain wrote. “They were collaborators, actively aiding the enemy.” John McCain has also crossed that line when he gave information about his squadron and targets. The two  POWs in question Edison Miller and Walter Wilber deny all the accusations and unfortunately there is no way to verify either version of the story. What is known is Miller did make anti-war statements used as propaganda, but then so did John McCain. Both Miller and Wilber insist is they never spoke against their country or give away military secrets. The difference is Miller’s statements along with that of another POW were played over the loud speakers to undermine morale. This angered many, including James Stockdale.  In the end, POWs who made antiwar statements under the duress of captivity would not be prosecuted for their statements.

As of of January 1970 McCain was back at the Hanoi Hilton in a single man cell. The Hanoi Hilton, Hoa Lo Prison the main prison in Hanoi. There were 12 other prisons in North Vietnam, however bad it was, the Hanoi Hilton was not the worst.  In September of 1969 Ho Chi Minh died and the prison conditions improved, the new regime was pragmatic and believed minimally maintaining the prisoners would gain them the upper hand negotiating with the U.S. Food improved in quantity and quality, the beatings and torture were abandoned altho McCain would have you believe he was beaten virtually every day of those 5 1/2 years.  

nampows.org Of the 802 Southeast Asia POWs (661 military, 141 civilians/foreign nationals), 472 were tortured and imprisoned in North Vietnam, some longer than eight years, 263 in the South Vietnam jungle POW camps for as long as nine years, 31 in Laos, 31 in Cambodia and 5 in China (two of whom were held for over 19 years under sub-human conditions)

John McCain was released March 14, 1973 after 5 1/2 years in captivity. He dumped his first wife Carol who had worked tirelessly for his return and married Cindy Hensley in 1980 and started his political career. As of 1993 there were 2128 MIAs from the Vietnam war, today 1,827  remain unaccounted for. John McCain the war hero could have and should have been a strong advocate for no normalization before a full accounting. Instead John McCain selfishly threw the POW/MIA families under the bus along with those left behind.

In 1991 the Senate approved the creation of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. McCain, already a seasoned Senator fought against the release of POW documents and debriefings. Records that would have been declassified and available years ago. We have had access to the same kind of records for the Korean War for years.  The Vietnam records are now sealed forever and even the families of the missing do not have access to them. The sealing of those records also sealed the information concerning live sightings of those still in country. More importantly for John McCain it sealed forever the truth of his captivity.

The sum of the secrets McCain has sought to hide is not small. There exists a telling mass of official documents, radio intercepts, witness depositions, satellite photos of rescue symbols that pilots were trained to use, electronic messages from the ground containing the individual code numbers given to airmen, a rescue mission by a Special Forces unit that was aborted twice by Washington and even sworn testimony by two defense secretaries that “men were left behind.” This imposing body of evidence suggests that a large number — probably hundreds — of the US prisoners held in Vietnam were not returned when the peace treaty was signed in January 1973 and Hanoi released 591 men, among them Navy combat pilot John S. McCain.

Included in the evidence that McCain and his government allies suppressed or tried to discredit is a transcript of a senior North Vietnamese general’s briefing of the Hanoi Politburo, discovered in Soviet archives by an American scholar in the 1990s. The briefing took place only four months before the 1973 peace accords. The general, Tran Van Quang, told the Politburo members that Hanoi was holding 1,205 American prisoners but would keep many of them at war’s end as leverage to ensure getting reparations from Washington.

Furthermore, over the years, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) received more than 1,600 firsthand reports of sightings of live American prisoners and nearly 14,000 secondhand accounts. Many witnesses interrogated by CIA or Pentagon intelligence agents were deemed “credible” in the agents’ reports. Some of the witnesses were given lie-detector tests and passed. Sources provided me with copies of these witness reports. Yet the DIA, after reviewing them all, concluded that they “do not constitute evidence” that men were still alive.

McCain’s explanation, his excuse is that no one was proven to still be alive and releasing the files would inflict painful memories and emotional stress to former POWs and the families of the missing. The idea they will never know has caused these families even more pain of course that was of no concern for McCain he wanted his records sealed FOREVER.

In 1994 President Clinton normalized diplomatic ties to Vietnam. US investment flowed into Vietnam. McCain was an early advocate for the North Vietnamese, going so far as to fight against war crimes trials for those responsible for the deaths of POWs. At the time, in 1996, only the remains of 8 missing had been returned. During the Senate MIA/Pow hearings McCain face to face with his torturer (” a psychotic torturer, one of the worst fiends we had to deal with.”) , McCain embraced him like a long lost friend. He ignored the pleas of other former POWs and their families to not normalize relations with Vietnam without a full accounting. During this time McCain returned to Vietnam a dozen times and on some occasions met with his old captors. One, the commander at the Hanoi Hilton, Tran Trong Duyet, they greeted each other warmly like buddys. Duyet commented he would vote for McCain if possible. Duyet also denied McCain was ever tortured at the Hanoi Hilton. Which would be the verifiable truth since the rest of it, McCain’s story of torture is basically, conveniently McCain’s word it happened.

In 1996, 23 years after John McCain came home another similar bill, the Missing Service Personnel Act came up in the Senate. It was to force the Pentagon to expend more resources immediately to search for MIAs. McCain worked to have the bill stripped of the ability of Congress to enforce this legislation and ANY criminal liability. McCain frequently exploded in inappropriate anger in committee meetings for the bill. Over the span of six presidents the plight of MIAs left behind has not been addressed, but John McCain has succeeded in keeping his files sealed and the secrets with them.

Selling out others is a pattern with McCain, the Keating 5 and another expensive bail out at the expense of ordinary people.

… he was finally in a position that a true maverick could use to battle the entrenched interests in Washington. Instead, McCain did the bidding of his major donor, Charlie Keating, whose financial empire was on the brink of collapse. Federal regulators were closing in on Keating, who had taken federally insured deposits from his Lincoln Savings and Loan and leveraged them to make wildly risky real estate ventures. If regulators restricted his investments, Keating knew, it would all be over.

In the year before his Senate run, McCain had championed legislation that would have delayed new regulations of savings and loans. Grateful, Keating contributed $54,000 to McCain’s Senate campaign. Now, when Keating tried to stack the federal regulatory bank board with cronies, McCain made a phone call seeking to push them through. In 1987, in an unprecedented display of political intimidation, McCain also attended two meetings convened by Keating to pressure federal regulators to back off. The senators who participated in the effort would come to be known as the Keating Five.

I am not saying his time as a POW was easy in any way, he lived in horrible conditions. But many POWS believe and facts in evidence suggest McCain DID get special treatment. What is more there is very little of McCain’s recounting of his POW experiences that can be verified and what is more problematic is McCain has never, ever corrected any misconceptions or outright lies by others. Even friends like Thomas Moe go along with what he most certainly knows is not true, namely he and McCain spent 5 years together at the Hanoi Hilton. Because the facts are never corrected the myth has grown to heroic proportions and may reach a point where he now walks on water.  McCain needs to release his unedited, un-redacted military records just as John Kerry did. There will be no truth about any of this until he does.

We haven’t even gotten to the likelihood in addition to a hair trigger temper he most certainly suffers from PTSD. There is his age and his memory problems, the possiblity he may be showing the beginning signs of Alzheimers.

Nothing about John McCain has been properly vetted. No matter our misgivings we can’t criticize or question based on the biggest lie of all, his war record makes him a hero.

An excellent diary outlining the birth of the POW/HERO myth.

The Phony Who Created McCain’s Political Persona

Receiving the MOH for their service while in captivity.

Col. Donald G. Cook  

Major George Day

Capt. Lance Sijan

Capt. James Stockdale

Capt. Humbert (Rocky) Versace

Counter Punch Article June 2008

The Military Code of Conduct

History and Documents from Second Indochina War 1959-1975

Bobby Garwood

POWs left behind

Declassified CIA document .

Why I Will Not Vote for John McCain, written by a fellow POW who attended the Naval Academy with McCain.

CIA documents regarding POWs and prisoners.