FACT SHEET: Military record of John McCain

[Lt_Ripley]

what we do know about McCains military service.

FACT SHEET: Military record of John Sidney McCain III

Both McCain III’s father and grandfather were Admirals in the United States Navy. His father

Admiral John S. ”Junior” McCain was commander of U.S. forces in Europe - later commander of

American forces in Vietnam while McCain III was being held prisoner of war. His grandfather

John S. McCain, Sr. commanded naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

McCain III, like his father and grandfather, also attended the United States Naval Academy.

McCain III finished near the bottom of his graduating class in 1958.( -------------- actually bottom 1 %)

McCain III lost five U.S. Navy aircraft

1 - Student pilot McCain III lost jet number one in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus

Christi Bay while practicing landings.

2 - Pilot McCain III lost another plane two years later while he was deployed in the

Mediterranean. ”Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines

which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the

son of an admiral.

3 - Pilot McCain III lost number three in 1965 when he was returning from flying a Navy

trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. McCain III radioed, ”I’ve got

a flameout” and ejected at one thousand feet. The plane crashed to the ground and

McCain III floated to a deserted beach.

4 - Combat pilot McCain III lost his fourth on July 29, 1967, soon after he was assigned to

the USS Forrestal as an A-4 Skyhawk combat pilot. While waiting his turn for takeoff, an

accidently fired rocket slammed into McCain Jr’s. plane. He escaped from the burning

aircraft, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors, destroyed at least 20 aircraft,

and threatened to sink the ship.

5 - Combat pilot McCain III lost a fifth plane three months later (Oct. 26, 1967) during his

23rd mission over North Vietnam when he failed to avoid a surface-to-air missile. McCain

III ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently

parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi. After being pulled from the lake by the North

Vietnamese, McCain III was bayoneted in his left foot and shoulder and struck by a rifle

butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton.

1973 New York Daily News labeled POW McCain III a “PW Songbird”

On McCain III’s fourth day of being denied medical treatment, slapped, and threatened with

death by the communist (they were demanding military information in exchange for medical

treatment), McCain III broke and told his interrogator, ”O.K., I’ll give you military information if you

will take me to the hospital.” U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former

POW John McCain.

It was then that the communist learned that McCain III’s father was Admiral John S. McCain,

the soon-to-be commander of all U.S. Forces in the Pacific. The Vietnamese rushed McCain III to

Gai Lam military hospital (U.S. government documents), a medical facility normally unavailable

for U.S. POWs.

By Nov. 9, 1967 (U.S. government documents) Hanoi press was quoting McCain III describing

his mission including the number of aircraft in his flight, information about rescue ships, and the

order of which U.S. attacks would take place.

While in still in North Vietnam’s military hospital, McCain III gave an interview to prominent

French television reporter Francois Chalais for a series titled Life in Hanoi. Chalais’ interview with

McCain III was aired in Europe.

Vietnamese doctors operated on McCain’s Leg in early December, 1967.

Six weeks after he was shot down, McCain was taken from the hospital and delivered to a

U.S. POW camp,

In May of 1968, McCain III allowed himself to be interviewed by two North Vietnamese

generals at separate times.” May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

In August 1968, other POWs learned for the first time that John McCain III had been taken

prisoner.

On June 5, 1969, the New York Daily News reported in a article headlined Reds Say PWSongbird 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 . . .” The Washington Post explained McCain III’s broadcast: “The English-

Language broadcast beamed at South Vietnam was one of a series using American prisoners. It

was in response to a plea by Defense Secretary Melvin S. Laird, May 19, that North Vietnam treat

prisoners according to the humanitarian standards set forth by the Geneva Convention.”

In 1970, McCain III agreed to an interview with Dr. Fernando Barral, a Spanish psychiatrist

who was living in Cuba at the time.

The meeting between Barral and McCain III (which was photographed by the Vietnamese)

took place away from the prison at the office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in

Hanoi (declassified government document). During the meeting, POW McCain sipped coffee and

ate oranges and cakes with the Cuban.

While talking with Barral, McCain III further seriously violated the military Code of Conduct by

failing to evade answering questions ”to the utmost of his ability” when he, according government

documents, helped Barral by answering questions in Spanish, a language McCain had learned in

school. The interview was published in the in January 1970.

McCain III was released from North Vietnam March 15, 1973

In 1993, during one of his many trips back to Hanoi, McCain asked the Vietnamese not to

make public any records they hold pertaining to returned U.S. POWs. McCain III claims, that

while a POW, he tried to kill himself.

McCain III was awarded “medals for valor” equal to nearly a medal-and-a-half for each

hour he spent in combat

For 23 combat missions (an estimated 20 hours over enemy territory), the U.S. Navy awarded

McCain III, the son of famous admirals, a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished

Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a

dozen service medals.

“McCain had roughly 20 hours in combat,” explains Bill Bell, a veteran of Vietnam and former

chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs -- the first official U.S. representative in Vietnam

since the 1973 fall of Saigon.

“Since McCain got 28 medals,” Bell continued, “that equals to about a medal-and-a-half for

each hour he spent in combat. There were infantry guys -- grunts on the ground -- who had more

than 7,000 hours in combat and I can tell you that there were times and situations where I’m sure

a prison cell would have looked pretty good to them by comparison. The question really is how

many guys got that number of medals for not being shot down.”

For years, McCain has been an unchecked master at manipulating an overly friendly and

biased news media. The former POW turned Congressman, turned U.S. Senator, has managed

to gloss over his failures as a pilot and his collaborations with the enemy to become America’s

POW-hero presidential candidate.

For more information: www.againstmccain.com www.usveterandispatch.com

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccai...word%5B1%5D.pdf

Edited July 4, 2008 by Lt_Ripley

[Atheist God]

We get it You don't like the Republicans, Bush or John McCain... Most of us agree with you.

Surely there must be other news you can post that does not involve John McCain, Iraq, and Bush.

[ninjadude]

We get it You don't like the Republicans, Bush or John McCain... Most of us agree with you.

Surely there must be other news you can post that does not involve John McCain, Iraq, and Bush.

You mean there is something MORE important than the US election? pushaww...

[Atheist God]

You mean there is something MORE important than the US election? pushaww...

I'm not saying the election is not important.... I just have mud slinger fatigue when it comes to the candidates.

Seriously who cares.

[Lt_Ripley]

We get it You don't like the Republicans, Bush or John McCain... Most of us agree with you.

Surely there must be other news you can post that does not involve John McCain, Iraq, and Bush.

oh I did. it just gets passed up.

Edited July 5, 2008 by Lt_Ripley

[IamsSon]

21 WAYS TO BE A GOOD DEMOCRAT

December 30, 2007

capitalism_socialism 1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. Nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth’s climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV’s.

6. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

7. You have to believe that the same teacher who can’t teach fourth graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

8. You have to believe that hunters don’t care about nature, but loony activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.

9. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

10. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion of the Christ for financial gain only.

11. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

12. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

13. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, and A.G. Bell.

14. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

15. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.

16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried is because the right people haven’t been in charge.

17. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.

18. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

19. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese Government is somehow in the best interest to the United States.

20. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.

21. You have to believe that it’s okay to give Federal workers off on Christmas Day but it’s not okay to say “Merry Christmas.”

Ready to vote???

Yeah, McCain is far from perfect... but I still have waaaaaay too many working brain cells to vote Dem.

[Atheist God]

Yeah, McCain is far from perfect... but I still have waaaaaay too many working brain cells to vote Dem.

Yet not enough to realize that regardless of who you vote for your still voting in a face man who ain't gonna represent you because they're both equally corrupt.

[IamsSon]

A choice between a man who refused early release from a POW Camp because he felt loyalty and responsibility towards his men, or one who has spent the last 20 years learning that God will support any action against the white man... hmmm, really difficut. Not.

[Atheist God]

A choice between a man who refused early release from a POW Camp because he felt loyalty and responsibility towards his men, or one who has spent the last 20 years learning that God will support any action against the white man... hmmm, really difficut. Not.

That's the past this is the present: Both men make all decisions now not based on what people want but what special interest groups want. Both are just as corrupt as one another and regardless of who gets elected policy making will be the same and America will still continue to tank.

[bathory]

but I thought the swiftboating of John Kerry was a bad thing?

[Cradle of Fish]

Yeah, McCain is far from perfect... but I still have waaaaaay too many working brain cells to vote Dem.

If you actually had any you wouldn't take part in this farce.

[Atheist God]

but I thought the swiftboating of John Kerry was a bad thing?

Like John Kerry John McCain is no longer that man before he entered the political arena... A local politician once told me that everyone who enters politics goes into it with the best of intentions then realize they can't make the difference they want to and just go with the flow.

Anyone who makes it that far in a presidential race are picked by special interest groups thus that's who gets all the money.

I have no doubt that John McCain used to be a good guy but it's not the case now.

[Homer]

So not one positive thing could be found in the fact sheet? Not even one?

McCain isn’t in the navy anymore, and therefore is not seeking a promotion to Admiral. Since retiring from the navy, McCain has spent about 26 years in congress.

Since McCain is running for president, and not seeking a navy promotion, perhaps the focus should be less on a military career that ended 27 years ago, and more on his public service career that has been ongoing for 26 years.

[bathory]

nice source btw

http://www.usvetdsp.com/mar08/mccain_manchurian.htm

McCain is not only a fraud, but he's also a communist sleeper agent brain washed by the soviets to destroy the world...

also note that the above link is found on the front page of Ripley's source

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/

In an echo of the attacks from the 2000 South Carolina primary that dealt a critical blow to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, a new flyer says the Arizona senator is a traitor.

It says that when he was a POW, McCain was a “Hanoi Hilton songbird” who collaborated with the enemy.

But it provides scant evidence to back up this claim and it is strongly contradicted by many other accounts reviewed by PolitiFact: interviews with other POWs, an author who has written a McCain biography and the senator’s own accounts.

Robert Timberg, author of John McCain: An American Odyssey , who has interviewed many POWs who served with McCain, said there’s no evidence that he ever collaborated with the North Vietnamese. “I’ve never known of any occasion in which Sen. McCain provided the North Vietnamese with anything of value,” Timberg said.

Edited July 5, 2008 by bathory

[Stardrive]

For anyone interested, here's a link to the George Washington University that gives a recap of his life's timeline and political career.

McCain Timeline

[nickoli]

In August of 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain.[44] McCain was subjected to repeated beatings and rope bindings, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery.[44] After four days, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession".[33] He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable,[45] but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."[46] His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.[47] He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.[48] Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements, with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain.[49]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain

I see nothing in McCains military service to be ashamed of. In fact I believe most anybody would have said most anything in order to stop the beatings. If this is all the left has to attack McCain on then they are left nearly empty handed.

McCains time as a pow shows true principled character under extreme duress.

In mid-1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and McCain was offered early release.[42] The North Vietnamese wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,[43] and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially.[42] McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.

These actions speak volumes about character and an inner sense of right and wrong he did not take the easy way out taking advantage of his fathers political pull yet instead chose to wait his turn. Now that is character beyond reproach, something Obama lacks I might add.

How many years of service to the armed services has the McCain family given? Two Admirals and what 50 yrs of service,sounds like a patriotic family dedicated to the service of America,also keep in mind that John McCain chose combat duty during Veitnam not a cushy supply job away from the action like he probably could have given his connections at the top.

Edited July 5, 2008 by nickoli

[bathory]

that is indeed interesting

Even if he had said anything, which by all accounts, what he told them was pretty useless information, the left are criticising him for giving up information after being severely tortured...

nice

I wonder where this stands with their constant assertions that torture provides inaccurate information 9 times out of 10 lol

Edited July 5, 2008 by bathory

[Atheist God]

that is indeed interesting

Even if he had said anything, which by all accounts, what he told them was pretty useless information, the left are criticising him for giving up information after being severely tortured...

nice

I wonder where this stands with their constant assertions that torture provides inaccurate information 9 times out of 10 lol

In all fairness to McCain he did not sell out when he was a PoW, however there are conflicting reports regarding his torture. One of his former captors said he knew McCain wouldn't talk and so there was no real reason to torture him.

[Thanato]

He lost 5 Aircraft yes, but only 3 of them were really his falt.

~Thanato

Edited July 5, 2008 by Thanato

[ninjadude]

I see nothing in McCains military service to be ashamed of.

How many years of service to the armed services has the McCain family given?

Being a POW is not his entire military service.

The McCain "family" is not running for president. We do not elect families (at least not officially)

[nickoli]

We do however look deep into their backgrounds and the McCain family history is rife with service to country. Nobody is perfect nor does military service alone make one presidential material but their actions and their life experiences do.

[Lt_Ripley]

why doesn't McCain just release his records ( over 600 pages kept secret) instead of the 19 pages he has allowed. ? why are some vets that were camped with him say one thing and some say others.

why was McCain allowed hospital treatment when those with worse injuries were not ?

I'd be interested in seeing his full service record.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Lt_Ripley

[bathory]

why was McCain allowed hospital treatment when those with worse injuries were not ?

I would hazard a guess and say that he was probably worth more to the North Vietnamese?

Its like you guys seem to think the only people capable of producing propoganda are Americans

[Lt_Ripley]

I would hazard a guess and say that he was probably worth more to the North Vietnamese?

Its like you guys seem to think the only people capable of producing propoganda are Americans

that still is no answer as to why he refuses to open over 600 pages of record. Only allowing so far 19. It also doesn't account for his own words in those interviews.

this ' propaganda' wasn't produced by anyone other than McCain himself via interviews with the American press once released and a civillian.

While talking with Barral, McCain III further seriously violated the military Code of Conduct by

failing to evade answering questions ”to the utmost of his ability” when he, according government

documents, helped Barral by answering questions in Spanish, a language McCain had learned in

school. The interview was published in the in January 1970.

Edited July 7, 2008 by Lt_Ripley

[bathory]

oh please

he gave them nothing of value, and had been beaten and tortured to get that far

seriously, is this your criticism?

that a man who was severely beaten and tortured gave the North Vietnamese useless information?