![]() ![]() forces in Asia in 1968, he was known as the "Crown Prince" and subjected to special attention from his captors. As the son of a top Navy admiral, who became commander in chief of U.S. "It showed," his brother said, "that he can make tough decisions in tough times."Īlthough the story of his imprisonment has been told many times, including by the candidate, a review of tens of thousands of documents and interviews with several dozen Vietnamese and former POWs yields fresh insights into McCain's experience.įor McCain, communism was not a theoretical abstraction it was an oppressive reality he endured every minute from his capture in October 1967 until his release in March 1973. The decision to reject early release, Joe McCain believes, was "the most important single moment of his entire life" and turned him into a potential commander in chief. His resistance of his captors - especially his refusal to accept an offer that would have freed him before his comrades - forged his character, taught him the meaning of honor and, eventually, launched him on a meteoric political career.īefore his final, fateful bombing mission, McCain had been a gregarious flyboy "whose ambitions did not go much beyond being a commander of a squadron," according to Joe McCain, his younger brother. The injuries he sustained would affect his mobility for the rest of his life.In hushed conversations with his fellow POWs four decades ago, he developed firm beliefs about how the United States should use its military power, lessons that he has sought to apply to the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. gripping a handrail and with hair that had turned white, according to a New York Times report from 1973 on his release. He limped off the plane that returned him to the U.S. McCain was finally freed after five and a half years, two of which he spent in solitary confinement. McCain said that upon capture he was struck, kicked, and bayoneted by several hundred Vietnamese before they were chased off by a nurse. 26, 1967, photograph shows Hanoi residents recovering him from the city's Truc Bach lake. But he refused, adhering to the military code of "first in, first out." On his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, his plane was shot down. While holding him as a prisoner of war, the North Vietnamese tried to exploit the fact that his father was a prominent admiral at the time. Hanoi residents held a memorial at the lake on Sunday, leaving flowers to remember the man who "fought for peace in many countries, including Vietnam," as one onlooker told The Associated Press. He was refused medical treatment and beaten with a bayonet. ![]() ![]() Already badly injured, he was beaten and taken to a nearby prison called Hoa Lò, which the U.S. ![]() McCain's plane was shot down during a bombing run over North Vietnam in 1967, and he parachuted into a lake in what is now a busy part of Hanoi. In Hanoi, McCain is etched in the city's history, with a memorial at the lake where his plane crashed and at the prison - now a museum - where he was held captive. John McCain, who died Saturday at the age of 81, was tortured and held captive for five and a half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, an experience that shaped the rest of his life. Revisiting Hanoi where John McCain crashed and was help captive 02:20 ![]()
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