On July 29, 1967, McCain, by then a
lieutenant commander, was near the epicenter of the
USS Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded;
[28] McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments.
[29] The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control.
[30][31] With the
Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the
USS Oriskany, another
aircraft carrier employed in
Operation Rolling Thunder.
[32] Once there, he would be awarded the
Navy Commendation Medal and the
Bronze Star for missions flown over North Vietnam.
[33]
Prisoner of war
McCain's capture and subsequent imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over
North Vietnam when his
A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over
Hanoi.
[34][35] McCain fractured both arms and a leg ejecting from the aircraft,
[36] and nearly drowned when he parachuted into
Trúc Bạch Lake.
[34] Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.
[34] McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main
Hỏa Lò Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".
[35]
Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, beating and interrogating him to get information; he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a high-ranking admiral.
[37] His status as a
prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers.
[38][39]
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care.
[34] By then having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his gray hair turned white as snow,
[34] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi
[40] in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.
[41] In March 1968, McCain was put into
solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.
[42]
In mid-1968,
John S. McCain Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release
[44] because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,
[45] and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially.
[44] McCain turned down the offer; he would only accept repatriation if every man taken in before him was released as well. Such early release was prohibited by the POW's interpretation of the military
Code of Conduct: To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.
[34]
In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain.
[46] He was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from
dysentery.
[34][46] Further injuries led to the beginning of a suicide attempt, stopped by guards.
[34] Eventually, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession".
[34] He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."
[47][48] Many American POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements;
[49] virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors.
[50] McCain subsequently received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.
[51]
McCain refused to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.
[52] From late 1969 onward, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable,
[53] while McCain continued actively to resist the camp authorities.
[54] McCain and other prisoners cheered the
U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.
[48][55]
Altogether, McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was released on March 14, 1973.
[56] His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.
[57]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain
