John McCain: An Essay, by John Karaagac: on War & Peace

Donald Trump: John McCain's actions in Vietnam were not "heroic"

John McCain: 1966: Part of no-win situation in Operation Rolling Thunder

American pilots encountered relatively little resistance from Soviet-made North Vietnamese jets. The real enemy was the North Vietnamese Soviet-built air defense systems, reckoned to be among the best in the world at the time.

In the narrative of his shoot-down, McCain refers to "jinking" the plane, that is, the grueling aeronautical acrobatics necessary to evade this type of defensive systems. McCain actually underplayed the risk to American pilots in what increasingly became something of a no-win situation, in which the American flyers were faced with a double jeopardy of antiaircraft fire on one hand and Soviet surface-to-air missiles on the other. It took nerves and skill, and one wonders if McCain was quite ready for his first combat flight over Hanoi, not because of his flying skills, but because of the novelty of the threat.

John McCain: 1967: Survived USS Forrestal fire that killed over 100

One suspects that, to this day, McCain cannot recount the incident without betraying intense emotions--the type that causes the speaker to lose composure. Aboard the Forrestal in that frightful day in the summer of 1967 the fire was eventually brought under control, but not before more than 100 crewmen lost their lives.

John McCain: 1967: Shot down on first mission over central Hanoi

McCain immediately ejected out of the cockpit and was temporarily knocked unconscious by the force. The parachute opened and McCain regained consciousness before landing in a small, man-made lake in the center of Hanoi. Weighed down by 50 lbs of equipment and gear, McCain sank several times. A Vietnamese pulled him to shore.

A woman poured tea to McCain's lips, and photos were taken. Kindness or propaganda? Then came the stretcher, and McCain was deposited on a truck and taken to Hanoi's main prison: Hoa Lo, dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton."

John McCain: 1967: POW son of admiral was propaganda coup for N. Vietnam

Then an officer rushed in, claiming they just learned that McCain's father was a "big admiral." The North Vietnamese cleared McCain for surgery. The logic was clear enough: the son of a big admiral was a propaganda gold mine. Win him over, it was reasoned, and others would follow. McCain was, in their words, the "crown prince."

For propaganda, the patient must be made presentable, and so a cast was quickly fashioned. Without painkiller, McCain passed out several times as the exasperated physician tried to connect the broken bones in his arm. For propaganda, there must be a change of scenery, so McCain was put in a proper hospital room which was, for all practical purposes, a film prop.

John McCain: 1967:Refused making propaganda film in exchange for medicine

The film of McCain was eventually aired for American audiences in early 1968. Many thought he looked drugged. He was, in fact, fatigued from the prolonged, and futile, medical treatment without painkiller. Nonetheless, McCain was given a leg operation, which the North Vietnamese also predictably filmed. Because of his "bad attitude," the camp authorities refused McCain a second operation--typical of their psychological punishment. Up to this point, the North Vietnamese seemed, if not sympathetic, certainly not conspicuously INhumane. It was only in the face of resistance from a specific POW or a group of POWs, that they brought the full weight of physical coercion down. But that would come.

John McCain: 1968: Under torture, wrote coerced "confession"

Beaten and bloodied, McCain agreed to write the statement that he was sorry for the "crimes" he committed. The interrogator wrote the final draft and, as McCain noted, "it was in their language." For McCain, this was a victory of sorts: if forced to admit anything, the prisoner should keep it as close to communist rhetoric as possible, misspell words, dissemble--all in the goal of making it clear that the confession was with the work of someone who had been tortured, brainwashed, or not within his right senses. "I am a black criminal," wrote McCain, "and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors." He wrote that he had bombed a school, which was yet another lie.

John McCain: Silent about origins & necessity of Vietnam

Given that McCain's argument that official lying carries profound policy consequences and corrodes trust between the governors and the governed, his silence on the origins of American involvement in Vietnam is an interesting omission. It may also be an issue that McCain, who spent 5 half years imprisoned as a result, does not care to pursue to its logical implications. In that he could be forgiven.

Lyndon Johnson: 1965-1968: Operation Rolling Thunder air campaign

American pilots encountered relatively little resistance from Soviet-made North Vietnamese jets, which were typically used as a decoy to lure the superior American pilots into traps. The real enemy was the North Vietnamese Soviet-built air defense systems, operating on Soviet doctrine, staffed with Soviet weapons, often armed by Chinese and North Koreans, and reckoned to be among the best in the world at the time.