| After the SAM struck McCain's plane he was spiraling
violently toward earth at over 500 miles per hour. He
managed to pull the ejection seat handle blowing him
out of his disabled aircraft. He struck part of the
plane, breaking his left arm, his right arm in three
places, and his right knee. He landed in the middle
of a lake in the center of the city. He pulled the life
vest toggle with his teeth. In a matter of seconds hundreds
of Vietnamese were beating him. Someone smashed a rifle
butt into his shoulder, breaking it. Another jabbed
him in the ankle and the groin with a bayonet. Fortunately
an army truck arrived and he was thrown in the back
and taken away from the savage mob. For sure he would
have been killed in another minute or so. He was taken
to the famous "Hanoi Hilton" where the dreaded
interrogations began. In exchange for information he
was promised medical treatment. He gave them his name,
rank, and serial number. They beat him until he blacked
out.
On the fourth day he realized how serious his condition
was. He had a high fever and was loosing consciousness
for long periods of time. He was lying in his own vomit
and bodily waste. His knee was grossly swollen and discolored.
The guards found a camp officer who spoke some English.
McCain begged for treatment and even offered to cooperate.
He was refused, and told it was "too late."
The Vietnamese usually refused treatment to the seriously
injured. Many of our men died who should not have. He
received a few shots, nothing more. His interrogations
were relentless torture. The beatings continued. The
Viets had newspaper clippings detailing his capture,
and stories about his being the son of an important
Admiral. The Viets were extremely aware of the advantage
of propaganda and used it to get what they wanted. They
told McCain he was smearing his families honor. They
were well aware of the importance of the capture of
Lt. Commander John McCain, and explored different ways
to take advantage of it. He was rolled into a treatment
room where a Doctor tried to set the three fractures
in his right arm without any anesthesia. He was then
told he needed two operations on his leg, and if he
did not cooperate with the interrogators they would
remove the makeshift cast. The cast had worn two holes
in his arm down to the bone. They were extremely pleased
to have captured an Admirals son. This information rather
than help caused the beatings to increase. His condition
deteriorated, the high fever remained, and he was now
suffering from dysentery. He had lost over 50 pounds
and was in very poor condition. Most of the time he
was in solitary confinement. Whenever possible fellow
prisoners did what they could to clean him up and help.
John's dysentery became so bad it caused a severe case
of hemorrhoids. Just another source of irritation. The
unpredictable beatings continued.
McCain was interrogated in June, 1968, for over two
hours, and then was astonished when he was asked if
he wanted to go home to be with his family. He still
had dysentery, seriously underweight, and most injuries
were now infected and had not healed at all. John knew
the Code of Conduct, and replied that an American POW
could not accept parole or amnesty or special favors.
He was told that his injuries made his survival very
doubtful, and he could not survive without medical care.
McCain replied that prisoners must be released in the
order of capture and that he would reject their offer.
He was promised that things were really going to get
much worse for him. Again he was called in and asked
if he was ready to confess his crimes. He replied "fuck
you." The next day the beatings started in earnest,
he was knocked down and kicked in the head. They cracked
several ribs, and knocked out several teeth. Again he
was lying in his own blood, vomit and waste when guards
came in and gave him his worst beating yet. One guard
hit him in the face knocking him down. He fell on the
waste bucket and broke his left arm again. They left
him lying on the floor, the pain in the re-fractured
arm was excruciating. He considered taking his own life.
The months and years passed with life at the Hilton
a painful heartache. The Hilton, with it's individual
"torture" rooms became a real hellhole for
McCain. He was singled out as having a bad attitude.
The "attitude" group was relocated to a place
they called "skid row." Life there became
extreme as they were kept in solitary confinement with
no ventilation and no bath facilities. The camp had
a stinking well filled to overflowing with human waste.
Conditions were miserable, with many men suffering from
hepatitis. They were soon transferred back to camp Unity,
which restored their morale. One POW named Mike was
a navy bombardier -navigator shot down in 1967. He had
been there six months longer than McCain. He sewed an
American flag inside his blue prisoner shirt. Every
day before they ate they would hang Mike's flag on the
wall and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The Viets
found his flag and confiscated it. For his punishment
he was beaten savagely, puncturing his ear drum and
breaking several ribs. They dragged his bloody body
back to his cell. With both eyes swollen shut he quietly
began sewing a new flag. |
| The bombing was halted in October.
It was on again off again with the B-52s. The atmosphere
in the Hilton was that something was about to happen.
On March 15 McCain was called in and told he was being
released that day. Dressed in cheap civilian clothes
they boarded buses for an airport near Hanoi. There
a C-141 transport plane was waiting to take them to
Clark AFB in the Philippines. The Los Angeles Times
ran a huge banner headline: Hanoi to Release Admiral's
Son. Arriving home, McCain finally realized the hell
of Vietnam was finally over. He stepped off the airplane
as gracefully as he could, took a deep breath, and looking
to the future- moved on.
John McCain is a United States Senator from Arizona.
He retired from the Navy as a Captain in 1981, and was
first elected to Congress in 1982. He is now serving
his third term in the Senate.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I can only hope that every man that was ever in the
military will read this book and appreciate the contributions
of men like John McCain III. We all owe a debt of gratitude
to men like him, true Americans who sacrificed everything
for their country. |
