Honoring John McCain

Forty years ago today, Navy pilot John McCain was shot down over Hanoi. He spent five and half years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton refusing to offer the North Vietnamese a propaganda triumph by accepting early release because his father was Commander-in-Chief of US forces in the Pacific (CINCPAC).

Few pilots volunteered for assignments to the Tonkin Gulf as carrier pilots. Most flew their missions with grim determination — counting the days until they could ro
tate back to their homes and families. They accepted the risks as their duty, and suffered in silence. John McCain had been to Vietnam before on the USS Forrestal, barely surviving the disastrous fire that nearly caused the loss of the ship. He then volunteered to be assigned to another squadron, a squadron on its way to Vietnam.

While I am not sure that John McCain would be my notice for President, as a free American we should remember his sacrifice.