First person account - John McCain, POW

I was at a Steve & Barry's sporting goods store here in Olathe the other day and I saw a black hoodie sweat shirt with the familiar white logo, " POW/MIA - You are not forgotten." As I thought about the message, I thought about my own father, who was MIA in 1968 (later declared KIA) and the experience of John McCain.

My own father's story is something I may tell at another time. In this post, I wanted to find a Web resource that tells John McCain's story, because I think it reveals something essential about the man, even as so much short-lived political spin fills the air. I found a Web link to McCain's first person narrative of his prisoner of war experience, published in U.S. News and World Report in May of 1973. It is a long article, but a riveting read.

Some excerpts from the first page of the 17 page account:

I pulled the ejection handle, and was knocked unconscious by the force of the ejection—the air speed was about 500 knots. I didn't realize it at the moment, but I had broken my right leg around the knee, my right arm in three places, and my left arm. I regained consciousness just before I landed by parachute in a lake right in the corner of Hanoi, one they called the Western Lake. My helmet and my oxygen mask had been blown off.

I hit the water and sank to the bottom. I think the lake is about 15 feet deep, maybe 20. I kicked off the bottom. I did not feel any pain at the time, and was able to rise to the surface. I took a breath of air and started sinking again. Of course, I was wearing 50 pounds, at least, of equipment and gear. I went down and managed to kick up to the surface once more. I couldn't understand why I couldn't use my right leg or my arm. I was in a dazed condition. I went up to the top again and sank back down. This time I couldn't get back to the surface. I was wearing an inflatable life-preserver-type thing that looked like water wings. I reached down with my mouth and got the toggle between my teeth and inflated the preserver and finally floated to the top.

Some North Vietnamese swam out and pulled me to the side of the lake and immediately started stripping me, which is their standard procedure. Of course, this being in the center of town, a huge crowd of people gathered, and they were all hollering and screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking at me.

When they had most of my clothes off, I felt a twinge in my right knee. I sat up and looked at it, and my right foot was resting next to my left knee, just in a 90-degree position. I said, "My God--my leg!" That seemed to enrage them —I don't know why. One of them slammed a rifle butt down on my shoulder, and smashed it pretty badly. Another stuck a bayonet in my foot. The mob was really getting up-tight.

From the last page, after his long stay in Hanoi was over....

I've received scores of letters from young people, and many of them sent me POW bracelets with my name on it, which they had been wearing. Some were not too sure about the war, but they are strongly patriotic, their values are good, and I think we will find that they are going to grow up to be better Americans than many of us.

This outpouring on behalf of us who were prisoners of war is staggering, and a little embarrassing because basically we feel that we are just average American Navy, Marine and Air Force pilots who got shot down. Anybody else in our place would have performed just as well.

My own plans for the future are to remain in the Navy, if I am able to return to flying status. That depends upon whether the corrective surgery on my arms and my leg is successful. If I have to leave the Navy, I hope to serve the Government in some capacity, preferably in Foreign Service for the State Department.

I had a lot of time to think over there, and came to the conclusion that one of the most important things in life—along with a man's family—is to make some contribution to his country.

TK: McCain is reaching for "some contribution" to his country now, and it may fall within his reach. While some conservatives have written off McCain as a Republican imposter, others, such as some quoted in this NYT ariticle - As McCain wins, critics on right look again - are reconsidering. After reading this first person account, I'm sure McCain can deal with whatever Limbaugh dishes out.