McCain as POW
What a stark choice we are going to have for President in November: A Democrat in Barack Obama who was comfortable for 20 years with a pastor who hates his own country, and whose first political fundraiser was held in the home of an unrepentant domestic terrorist, or a man who is one of the finest examples of heroism and leadership under fire America has ever seen. John McCain is that man, and now Col. Bud Day - McCain's roommate during part of his imprisonment in Vietnam, is speaking out on the strength, character and heroism of the man who must become the next President of the United States:
Here is the YouTube upload of the story:
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Here is video of Sen. John McCain, in his own words, talking about something he knows a great deal about, having served as a POW in Vietnam for 5 1/2 years. It is the "measure of a nation" - Sacrifice.
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Thirty-Five years ago, John McCain was released from a Vietnam prisoner camp. He was captured and held captive in the "Hanoi Hilton" after he was shot down flying for the Navy in 1967. This video featuring Orson Swindle, McCain's mom, and others, looks back at the time.
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Here is Part 5 of our series, The POW Years: John McCain in His Own Words. John McCain wrote a 17 page spread for U.S. News and World Report soon after his return from captivity in Vietnam. It was printed in U.S. News in May 1973. You can go there and read the entire feature. This is John McCain's account of those terrible years in his own words.
Part 2 - "It Looked to Many as if I Had Been Drugged"
Part 3 - "Communication Was Vital "for Survivial"
Part 4 - They Told Me I'd Never Go Home"
PART 5
Prayer: "I Was Sustained in Times of Trial"
I was finding that prayer helped. It wasn't a question of asking for superhuman strength or for God to strike the North Vietnamese dead. It was asking for moral and physical courage, for guidance and wisdom to do the right thing. I asked for comfort when I was in pain, and sometimes I received relief. I was sustained in many times of trial.
When the pressure was on, you seemed to go one way or the other. Either it was easier for them to break you the next time, or it was harder. In other words, if you are going to make it, you get tougher as time goes by. Part of it is just a transition from our way of life to that way of life. But you get to hate them so bad that it gives you strength.
Now I don't hate them any more—not these particular guys. I hate and detest the leaders. Some guards would just come in and do their job. When they were told to beat you they would come in and do it. Some seemed to get a big bang out of it. A lot of them were homosexual, although never toward us. Some, who were pretty damned sadistic, seemed to get a big thrill out of the beatings. read more »
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Here is video of John McCain talking on Trinity Broadcasting Network about his faith and some of his experiences while a POW in Vietnam. The video was added to YouTube in March 2007, but I'm not sure when the interview actually took place. Very moving and inspirational.
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Heroic Texas Congressman Sam Johnson has endorsed John McCain for President. Johnson, who served as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, like McCain, called McCain a "stand-up American who will boldly lead our country forward." Here is the press release issued by the McCain campaign:
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that Texas Congressman and former Vietnam War POW, Sam Johnson, has endorsed John McCain for president.
"John's legacy of service, his love for America, his reputation as a reformer, and his hope for a better tomorrow clearly set him head and shoulders above the Democrats running for president," said Congressman Johnson. "John's beliefs are the cornerstones of all that make America great -- freedom and free-enterprise. He's a stand-up American who will boldly lead our country forward. I am proud to endorse him for president."
John McCain thanked Congressman Johnson, saying, "I have the utmost respect for Sam's courageous service to our great nation. He was brutally tested and stood strong, serving as an inspiration to those of us held captive in Hanoi. I am proud to count him as a friend and humbled to have his support."
Congressman Johnson represents Texas' 3rd District. He serves on the Ways and Means Committee and is the Ranking Member on the Social Security Subcommittee. He returned home to Texas after serving in the U.S. Air Force for 29-years. He flew combat missions in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars and was a Prisoner of War in Hanoi for nearly seven years. He is a decorated combat veteran and has been awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, one Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals, and three Outstanding Unit Awards.
After his distinguished military career, Congressman Johnson started a home-building business and served in the Texas legislature before being elected to the United States House of Representatives. He grew up in Dallas and graduated from SMU. Congressman Johnson and his wife Shirley are proud parents of three children and grandparents to ten.
Here are some remarks about his captivity in Vietnam that Rep. Sam Johnson shared in a speech several years ago. Among other things, he talks about his experience of spending 72 days in leg stocks:
Let me just tell you a couple of stories that happened to me while I was a POW because I think they are insightful.
One, when I was first shot down, I landed right in the middle of a whole division of North Vietnamese troops. My back-seater and I both got out and we were captured immediately. read more »
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Here is a video report from NBC News on John McCain's hopes for wrapping up the nomination tomorrow, as well as the endorsements he received from GOP Governors today. The report also mentions the Gloria Steinem dissing of McCain's POW service.
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Aging Feminist Gloria Steinem denigrated Sen. John McCain's service as a Prisoner of War (POW) in a speech she made over the weekend. The vile attack came as she spoke in behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead of the pivotal March 4 primaries. Steinem also denigrated McCain's military training saying about Hillary Clinton, "I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody." Here is part of the New York Observer report:
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clinton’s behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation.
From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance of John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an interview with The Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack Obama benefits—and Clinton suffers—because Americans view racism more seriously than sexism.
Steinem raised McCain’s Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton.
“Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five and a half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”
Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.
“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”
To The Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”
Shameful. Is this what the Democratic Party has come to?
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Here is a very moving conversation between the most militarily decorated living American, Bud Day, and Tom Brokaw. Bud Day is a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, including being a POW in Vietnam, where he was a cellmate of Sen. John McCain. Day talks about honor, service, and gives some insight into those terrible days as a POW. This video ran on NBC in November 2007.
Note: He begins talking about his time as a POW at around the 7:12 mark of the video.
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Here is Part 4 of our series, The POW Years: John McCain in His Own Words. John McCain wrote a 17 page spread for U.S. News and World Report soon after his return from captivity in Vietnam. It was printed in U.S. News in May 1973. You can go there and read the entire feature. This is John McCain's account of those terrible years in his own words.
Part 2 - "It Looked to Many as if I Had Been Drugged"
Part 3 - "Communication Was Vital "for Survivial"
PART 4
"They Told Me I'd Never Go Home"
I really didn't know what to think, because I had been having these other interrogations in which I had refused to co-operate. It was not hard because they were not torturing me at this time. They just told me I'd never go home and I was going to be tried as a war criminal. That was their constant theme for many months.
Suddenly "The Cat" said to me, "Do you want to go home?"
I was astonished, and I tell you frankly that I said that I would have to think about it. I went back to my room, and I thought about it for a long time. At this time I did not have communication with the camp senior ranking officer, so I could get no advice. I was worried whether I could stay alive or not, because I was in rather bad condition. I had been hit with a severe case of dysentery, which kept on for about a year and a half. I was losing weight again.
But I knew that the Code of Conduct says, "You will not accept parole or amnesty," and that "you will not accept special favors." For somebody to go home earlier is a special favor. There's no other way you can cut it.
I went back to him three nights later. He asked again, "Do you want to go home?" I told him "No." He wanted to know why, and I told him the reason. I said that Alvarez [first American captured] should go first, then enlisted men and that kind of stuff. read more »
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