The Patriot Files Forums - John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account

John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account

By John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy

By John S. McCain
Posted January 28, 2008
John McCain spent 5½ years in captivity as a POW in North Vietnam. His first-person account of that harrowing ordeal was published in U.S. News in May 1973. Shot down in his Skyhawk dive bomber on Oct. 26, 1967, Navy flier McCain was taken prisoner with fractures in his right leg and both arms. He received minimal care and was kept in wretched conditions that he describes vividly in the U.S. News special report:
http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcache/5818.png John McCain lies in a hospital bed in Hanoi, North Vietnam, after being taken prisoner of war.
(Francois Chalais)
http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcache/5819.png Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III after his release from captivity in Vietnam.
(Thomas J. O'Halloran for USN&WR/Courtesy Library of Congress)

Related News

This story originally appeared in the May 14, 1973, issue of U.S.News & World Report. It was posted online on January 28, 2008.

Of the many personal accounts coming to light about the almost unbelievably cruel treatment accorded American prisoners of war in Vietnam, none is more dramatic than that of Lieut. Commander John S. McCain III—Navy flier, son of the admiral who commanded the war in the Pacific, and a prisoner who came in "for special attention" during 5½ years of captivity in North Vietnam.

Now that all acknowledged prisoners are back and a self-imposed seal of silence is off, Commander McCain is free to answer the questions many Americans have asked:

What was it really like? How prolonged were the tortures and brutality? How did the captured U.S. airmen bear up under the mistreatment—and years spent in solitary? How did they preserve their sanity? Did visiting "peace groups" really add to their troubles? How can this country's military men be conditioned to face such treatment in the future without crumbling?

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/...n-account.html