Something To Think About: John McCain: War Hero? Collaborator? Victim?

CounterPunch:

John McCain’s been getting kid-glove treatment from the press for years, ever since he wriggled free of the Keating scandal and his profitable association – another collaboration, you might say -- with the nation’s top bank swindler in the 1980s. But nothing equals the astounding tact with which his claque on the press bus avoids the topic of McCain’s collaborating with his Vietnamese captors after he’d been shot down.

How McCain behaved when he was a prisoner is key. McCain is probably the most unstable man ever to have got this close to the White House. He’s one election away from it. Republican senator Thad Cochrane has openly said he trembles at the thought of an unstable McCain in the Oval Office with his finger on the nuclear trigger.

What if a private memory of years of collaboration in his prison camp gnaws at McCain, and bursts out in his paroxysms of uncontrollable fury, his rantings about “gooks” and his terrifying commitment to a hundred years of war in Iraq. What if “the hero” knows he’s a phony?

Doug Valentine has written the definitive history of the Phoenix Program in Vietnam. He knows about the POW experience. His dad, an Army man, was captured by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp in the Philippines for forced labor. Many of his mates died. Doug wrote a marvelous book about it, The Hotel Tacloban.

Now Valentine has picked up the unexploded bomb lying on McCain’s campaign trail this year. As he points out, he’s not the first. Rumors and charges have long swirled around McCain’s conduct as a prisoner. Fellow prisoners have given the lie to McCain’s claims. But Valentine has assembled the dossier. It’s devastating. We’re running it in our current CounterPunch newsletter and we strongly urge you to subscribe.

Some excerpts from Valentine’s indictment.

“War is one thing, collaborating with the enemy is another; it is a legitimate campaign issue that strikes at the heart of McCain’s character. . .or lack thereof. In occupied countries like Iraq, or France in World War II, collaboration to that extent spells an automatic death sentence.. . .The question is: What kind of collaborator was John McCain, the admitted war criminal who will hate the Vietnamese for the rest of his life?

“Put it another way: how psychologically twisted is McCain? And what actually happened to him in his POW camp that twisted him? Was it abuse, as he claims, or was it the fact that he collaborated and has to cover up? Covering-up can take a lot of energy. The truth is lurking there in his subconscious, waiting to explode. ”

“McCain had a unique POW experience. Initially, he was taken to the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp, where he was interrogated. By McCain’s own account, after three or four days he cracked. He promised his Vietnamese captors, “I’ll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital ...

“His Vietnamese captors soon realized their POW, John Sidney McCain III, came from a well-bred line in the American military elite. . .The Vietnamese realized, this poor stooge has propaganda value. The admiral’s boy was used to special treatment, and his captors knew that. They were working him.”

“. . .two weeks into his stay at the Vietnamese hospital, the Hanoi press began quoting him. It was not ‘name rank and serial number, or kill me’. as specified by the military code of conduct. McCain divulged specific military information: he gave the name of the aircraft carrier on which he was based, the number of U.S. pilots that had been lost, the number of aircraft in his flight formation, as well as information about the location of rescue ships.”

“…McCain was held for five and half years. The first two weeks’ behavior might have been pragmatism, but McCain soon became North Vietnam’s go-to collaborator…..McCain cooperated with the North Vietnamese for a period of three years. His situation isn’t as innocuous as that of the French barber who cuts the hair of the German occupier. McCain was repaying his captors for their kindness and mercy.

“This is the lesson of McCain’s experience as a POW: a true politician, a hollow man, his only allegiance is to power. The Vietnamese, like McCain’s campaign contributors today, protected and promoted him, and, in return, he danced to their tune. . .”

Raw data; we report, you decide:

The impression that McCain and the media has attempted to portray of McCain's 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam is about as far from the truth that one could possible go. McCain, from the first moments of his capture, had behaved as a COLLOBORATOR and propaganda tool for his North Vietnamese captors. McCain had engaged in no less than 30, and likely as many as 38 anti-American propaganda broadcasts for Radio Hanoi during the period of his captivity. Far from the image of a dedicated American "hero" sweating it out in a North Vietnamese prisoner's "hotbox" for 5 1/2 years, McCain was often given "special" treatment by his captors, who were fully aware of his father's and grandfather's 4 star admiral positions with the Navy. No one has ever witnessed McCain's supposed "torture" at the hands of his jailers. The consensus opinion of other POWs in McCain's camps was that McCain was NEVER tortured by the North Vietnamese. McCain's disgraceful and wholly reprehensible conduct (along with John Kerry) during the 1991-93 Senate Committee on POW/MIAs leaves no doubt that McCain is a traitor to this country and its veterans and especially to the families of POWs and MIAs. ..Ken Adachi].

By Ret. Col. Earl Hopper < tfoinc@hughes.net>
Interviewer, Jerry Kiley
Audio Transcriped by Ken Adachi
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/earlhopperinterview08feb08.shtml
February 8, 2008

The video interview is divided into 5 parts:

Part 1: http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/Hopper_Interview_Part1_Corrected.wmv

June 22, 2007 interview between Ret. Army Col. Earl Hopper and Interviewer Gerard "Jerry" Kiley of Veterans Against John McCain (http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com)

Earl Hopper: I'm a US Army retired colonel. I spent 30 year in the Army. I was Airborne Special Forces, I fought in Europe, Korea, and Vietnam. My oldest son was also on active duty, He was in the Air Force and shot down over North Vietnam. He remains missing in action. Although the government has declared him dead, we have no body; no evidence of his death.

I first became familiar with the present senator from Arizona, John McCain (and I hate to say "from Arizona" because I'm a native of Arizona. I was born and raised there, and still live there) but, from the very beginning, in talking to the returned POWs, in the very beginning we began to hear some very bad things about John McCain and his activities while he was in the POW camps.

As an example (and I'll quote this because it can be checked out), he personally wrote an article in the magazine [US News & World Report] , wherein he stated that during the time he was in prison (in fact I think it was 5 or 7 days after he was captured) he asked the [North] Vietnamese to take him to the hospital, the Vietnamese hospital. And in so doing, he promised them that he would would give them classified military information.

They did. He did.

They took him to the hospital, questioned him, and he gave highly classified information. The most important of which was he gave the "package route", which was the route to bomb North Vietnam. He told in detail the altitude they were flying, the direction, if they made a turn, and how to get (into N. Vietnam ?) He also gave them where the targets were; of their primary entry. Whether it was a railroad; whether is was a bridge; whether it was an ammunition or fuel dump; or whatever it was, he gave them the primary targets the United States was interested in.

After he gave them that information, the Vietnamese naturally moved their anti- aircraft defenses into those areas and built them up and strengthened them. They also moved the rockets, aircraft weapons, into the "package route" of where the airplanes were flying in or egressing. The result of this, according to the information that came out later on, in intelligence, was that the Vietnamese started knocking down our aircraft in greater amounts than they had before. In fact, there was an estimate that we started losing 60% more aircraft and more men than we had previously. This went on for about a month, and it got so bad, that they finally called off the bombing of North Vietnam because of the information that McCain had given to them.

(Video clip 2)

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_hopper_video2.htm

When he returned, there were several of the American prisoners, to include five colonels, Colonel Ted Guy, was the one that wanted to prefer charges against McCain and two or three other returned POWs because during the time they were in prison, they were not acting in accordance with the military code. And as a result of these other colonels wanting to prefer charges against them, the Secretaries of the services got together and they decided that, No, they did not want these 'renegade' (my word, renegade) prisoners of war coming home to be charged and court marshaled.

They had played up the prisoners of war as "heroes" during their homecoming [Operation Homecoming-negotiated return of American POWS to America]. They didn't want anything now to "disturb" that view that they had given to the American people; that the American people picked up. All returned POWs, if you remember, were "heroes" when they first come home. And they didn't want to disturb that view.

So the Secretaries of the armed services decided and told the other POWs that they would not allow these particular POWs to be charged and be court marshaled over their activities while in the POW camps. Consequently, none of the POWs ever went into the court; [and] never had any legal action taken against them for being traitors while they were in captivity.

Interviewer: Earl, is it true that I heard mentioned before, that McCain did not receive any increase in his military rank, which was common. Could you just talk about that for a second?

That's true.

A man, if he's in captivity, and either a prisoner of war or missing in action, is on active duty; the very same as if he was stationed right here in the United States. He gets his promotions, along with his peers. He gets his increase in pay, his wife still gets the allowance that he sent to her and so forth. And he is promoted, along with his peers, here in the States. Both in the same year group, as prisoners of war, missing in action; gets promoted along with the active duty people.

McCain did not do it. He did not get promoted even when he returned.

Now, the Navy knew of his activities while he was in the POW camp because the enemy [North Vietnamese] widely broadcast over their radio, what McCain was doing. And in fact, praised McCain for doing it.

So he got no promotion at all while he was in captivity.

Other POWs, that were in captivity at the same time, they got their promotion at the time they were supposed to.

(video clip 3)

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_hopper_video3.htm

Interviewer: And I understand that most POWs in that time frame that McCain was there, 5 1/2 years, would have received at least one promotion, if not two promotions, during that time frame. Is that correct?

They would have received, yes, at least one, and possibly two. It all depends on when their date of rank was before they went down. Many of them got a promotion early after their captivity, after they were captured, and then they stayed long enough to get another promotion after that. My son, for example, was shot down and was carried as 'missing in action'; not as a prisoner of war, but 'missing in action'. And he went from first lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel in a 'missing in action' status before they finally declared him dead.

Interviewer: And Earl, some people say that what McCain did was at the very least collaboration and at worst, treasonous. Would you say that you would agree with that?

No. I agree with only one part of it. He was treasonous.

McCain, for what he did while he was in captivity, was a traitor. Because he gave information to the enemy, classified, military information to the enemy, which caused the deaths of many of his fellow aviators that came in behind him.

Interviewer: He is your senator and he's running for president. What's your feelings about that?

My feeling is: first, he's not MY senator. He is just from Arizona. He's not a native of Arizona, thank God. He came in there because certain political influences here in the States, say "if you go to Arizona, Barry Goldwater is retiring, and that's a good place where you can fill in, and you got the name of a hero." The Republican Party got behind him and he went in there and he got the nomination and the election-unfortunately.

I have never liked McCain, either professionally, militarily, politically, or personally. I just never did care for him. And it's certainly nothing personal that we had over him. [However,]It became personal.

One day there was a hearing here in Washington on the [Earl said "Korean", but meant Vietnam] prisoners of war, missing in action by the Senate POW committee. McCain came into the Hart Senate office building from his office about the same time that I came in from the outside and we kind of came together and I said "Hello John"

He turned around and looked at me and said: "I don't like what you said about my wife!"

I never met his wife. I didn't know his wife. I couldn't even tell you her name, even today.

I said "Well, what did I say about your wife, John? I don't remember saying anything."

And he said "Oh, forget it".

I said "No, I want to know. You said I said something about your wife. I want to know what it is you're accusing me of" . And he wouldn't answer me.

I said "John, you're a liar".

And we were within, oh, five feet of each other.

(video clip 4)

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_hopper_video4.htm

And he turned, and he turned as red as the bars on the United States flag; from his neck up, you could see, the red come out. And I said "John, I said you were a God damn liar!".

It was plenty loud. He heard it because he was only a few steps away from me. He said nothing and continued to walk away.

John has no courage of any kind. I wouldn't allow someone, even though... if I were a senator and a taxpayer come in and called me a liar, I would stop and get it settled right there. And in his case, all he had to do was say "I'm sorry, I made a mistake" and that's all. But he didn't have the nerve to do it or the courage.

No, McCain is not MY senator. I have no respect for him personally or professionally.

Interviewer:: And as far as the presidential, eh, do you think he would make a decent president?

Absolutely not! That would be the biggest mistake the voters of this country could make if they elected John McCain as president. John McCain doesn't have nerve enough to do anything. He would do whatever money PAID him to do, from the voters, that's all. He has no personal courage whatsoever.

Interviewer: Do you feel betrayed by McCain?

Absolutely. Every American should feel betrayed by McCain, and especially every military man and especially the pilots that flew in Vietnam after McCain was captured.

I've been to Hanoi. I've seen that sign that they put up for him where he was captured, there by the lake. The sign even made [had] a mistake on it. They called him [said] that he was from the US Air Force. They also called him McCann, not McCain.

So everything dealing with that man is wrong, and it would be the worst mistake this country could make to nominate and select him president.

Interviewer:: Could you just, eh because I don't think we touched on it, your credentials. You were a board member of the National League of Families?

Yes, I was a charter member of the national league of families. I was in Washington here when we first met, with Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona, and Senator Bob Dole from Kansas, And they encouraged us, as a family group, to incorporate . By being incorporated, we could have more effect on congress and other politicians; rather than just have a loose group of family members. And I was one of the original ones. As a matter of fact, I think I'm the only living member of that original group now.

(video clip 5)

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_hopper_video5.htm

In the following year, 1970, we met again here in Washington, and after discussion, we incorporated and become The National .... Families of American Prisoners (???) in Southeast Asia. I ran for the board of directors after one or two years and was elected to it. I was a member of the board of directors for some 12 or 14 years. I was the chairman of the board of directors for about 8 years at that time. I also served two years as the executive director of the National League of Families and I ran their national Washington office. I was also state coordinator for the League in Arizona. I'm now the vice chairman or the vice president if you will, of the POW organization known as Task Force Omega which is incorporated.

We do an awful lot on POW/MIA work. My wife is a research analyst . She's written a book that lists every man as missing, prisoner, returned, or unreturned. And she gets calls from all over the country-including the government- asking her for information that we have on the POW/MIAs . She's a wonderful researcher.

Interviewer:: We were against John Kerry and we defeated him when 4 years ago, when he ran, or less than 4 years ago, but the last election. What's your feelings as far as Kerry's relationship or McCain's relationship with Kerry?

They're two of a kind.

Kerry is a liar. He put himself in for a Silver Star which the actions were not true. He put himself in three times for the Purple Heart, when he was not qualified, because a Purple Heart has to be treated by a doctor. And the wound has to be caused by the enemy.

In Kerry's case, and he omitted this, his Purple Heart was caused were by, some of them, by rushing scratches. But all of them were treated by his local boat medic, who was not a doctor, who was just an aids man. So his Purple Hearts didn't even qualify. And this was evidenced by a number of members of his crew that turned against Kerry while he was running and said no, Kerry was lying. And I believe them.

Interviewer:: And their relationship, though, in terms of.., you said they were two of a kind. Two of a kind in terms of..how did they affect-both of them together-the POW issue?

They're both liars. Neither of them has any effective combat command experience, as they claim they do. They're very low character. You can't trust either of them because they do not tell the truth.

Interviewer:: And as far as their effect on the POW issue, in terms of information gathering and the release (?) (words trail off)

Neither of them. Neither of them has ....on the POW issue.

Patty Hopper: Earl, when they were on the Senate Select Committee, what effect did their behavior have on the POW/MIA issue, both John Kerry and JOhn McCain?

John McCain,. when he was on the Senate POW/MIA committee, was not loyal to our POWs. Every time a witness appeared that was on our side, to include family members, he would pressure them. John McCain is not pro-POW.

Interviewer: Just to clarify, what committee are we talking about?

John McCain was on the Senate POW/MIA committee which was composed of about ten members from the Senate on that committee.

Interviewer: 1992, correct?

Yes

John was not pro-family member; he was not a pro-POW, unreturned POW member. He was opposed to anything that we tried to do. As a result, John McCain again reflected his disloyalty to the US service man and their families by not working for the prisoners of war, not attempting to (return them home ?).

So, I have no confidence in John McCain. It would be the biggest mistake this country could make to ever put that man in the White House. I'm not a Republican anymore, I was at one time, but if I were, if the Republicans nominated John McCain, they would lose two of their members, my wife and I.

Patty Hopper: Earl, how did John McCain treat POW/MIA families?

In his questioning of the various witnesses, we had several POW/MIA family members that would testify at the committee hearings. McCain made a special effort, especially on the ladies, to criticize them, speak harshly, and get them to crying. He wanted to break down the family members and break their spirit so that they would not come out and appear good at the hearings.

He did that also on one or two government witnesses who testified in favor of the returned POWs, or I should say the unreturned POWs and their families. He went to great length to try to get the government witnesses prove what they were saying by producing the evidence, the papers, which they were quoting. He did. It didn't bother McCain.

Link.

More:

During his 23rd mission over Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967, Lt. Commander John McCain was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

To relate the event, McCain later recalled that he was "flying right over the heart of Hanoi in a dive at about 4,500 feet, when a Russian missile the size of a telephone pole came up--the sky was full of them--and blew the right wing off my Skyhawk dive bomber. It went into an inverted, almost straight-down spin. -U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

"I pulled the ejection handle, and was knocked unconscious by the force of the ejection--the air speed was about 500 knots. I didn't realize it at the moment, but I had broken my right leg around the knee, my right arm in three places and my left arm. I regained consciousness just before I landed by parachute in a lake right in the center of Hanoi, one they called the Western Lake. My helmet and my oxygen mask had been blown off. "I hit the water and sank to the bottom . . . I did not feel any pain at the time, and I was able to rise to the surface. I took a breath of air and started sinking again." -U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

After bobbing up and down, he was eventually pulled from the water by Vietnamese who had swam out to get him.

A mob gathered on shore and McCain was bayoneted in the foot and his shoulder was smashed with a rifle butt. He was put on a truck and taken to Hanoi's main prison.

After being periodically slapped around for "three or four days" by his captors who wanted military information from him, McCain called for an officer on his fourth day of captivity. He told the officer, "O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." -U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

McCain was taken to Gai Lam military hospital normally unavailable to American POWS. (U.S. government documents)

"Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I [McCain] did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant." Page 193-194, Faith of My Fathers by John McCain.

Nov. 9, 1967 (U.S. government documents) Hanoi press began quoting him giving specific military information.

One report dated read, "To a question of the correspondent, McCain answered: 'My assignment to the Oriskany, I told myself, was due to serious losses in pilots, which were sustained by this aircraft carrier (due to its raids on the North Vietnam territory - VNA) and which necessitated replacements. From 10 to 12 pilots were transferred like me from the Forrestal to the Oriskany. Before I was shot down, we had made several sorties. Altogether, I made about 23 flights over North Vietnam.'"

In that report, McCain was quoted describing the number of aircraft in his flight, information about rescue ships, and the order of which his attack was supposed to take place.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Veteran Dispatch acquired a declassified Department of Defense (DOD) transcript of an interview prominent French television reporter Francois Chalais had with McCain.

Chalais told of his private interview with POW McCain in a series titled Life in Hanoi, which was aired in Europe. In the series, Chalais said his meeting with McCain was "a meeting which will leave its mark on my life."

"My meeting with John Sidney McCain was certainly one of those meetings which will affect me most profoundly for the rest of my life. I had asked the North Vietnamese authorities to allow me to personally interrogate an American prisoner. They authorized me to do so. When night fell, they took me---without any precautions or mystery--to a hospital near the Gia Lam airport reserved for the [North Vietnamese] military. (passage omitted) The officer who receives me begins: I ask you not to ask any questions of political nature. If this man replies in a way unfavorable to us, they will not hesitate to speak of 'brainwashing' and conclude that we threatened him.

"'This John Sidney McCain is not an ordinary prisoner. His father is none other than Admiral Edmond John McCain, commander in chief of U.S. naval forces in Europe. (passage omitted)'"

". . . Many visitors came to talk to me [John McCain]. Not all of it was for interrogation. Once a famous North Vietnamese writer-an old man with a Ho Chi Minh beard-came to my room, wanting to know all about Ernest Hemingway . . . Others came to find out about life in the United States. They figured because my father had such high military rank that I was of the royalty or governing circle . . . One of the men who came to see me, whose picture I recognized later, was Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the hero of Dienbienphu." U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

Vietnamese doctors operate (early December 1967) on McCain's Leg. Later that month, six weeks after he was shot down, McCain was taken from the hospital and delivered to a POW camp, Room No. 11 in "The Plantation" and into the hands of two other U.S. POWs, Air Force majors George "Bud" Day and Norris Overly. They helped further nurse him along until he was eventually able to walk by himself. --Faith of My Fathers by John McCain

McCain, Day and Overly, were relocated (early January 1968) to "another end of the camp, a place we called 'the Corn Crib.'" A group of "obviously senior" Communist Party members visited and talked with McCain. --Faith of My Fathers by John McCain

Overly was offered and he accepted early release. He was released February 16. --Faith of My Fathers by John McCain

Overly was released with David Matheny and John Black. "They were the first three POW's to be released by the North Vietnamese." U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

In March, Day was "relocated" to another cell.--Faith of My Fathers by John McCain. A month later, McCain was "moved into another building, the largest cell block in the camp, 'the Warehouse.'" Day was moved to another prison (the Zoo). McCain began solitary confinement.--Faith of My Fathers by John McCain

For nearly two years, McCain's communist handlers kept him isolated from other U.S. prisoners. Because they considered him a "special prisoner," McCain became the target of intense indoctrination and psychological programs the communists had perfected during the Korean War.

The communists were very much aware that POW McCain would be under great psychological pressure not to do or say anything that would tarnish his famous military family and they considered that to be the key to eventually breaking and then "turning" him. McCain's handlers kept meticulous records of his behavior, including his personal strengths, weaknesses and any special favors he may have accepted while under the pressure of isolation.

McCain's interrogators considered him a "special prisoner." They believed that because he came from a "royal family," he would, when finally released, return to the United States to some important military or government job.

Because he was kept isolated from other U.S. prisoners during these years of captivity, no one, except McCain and his captors, know exactly to what he was subjected or how he responded. Most information in the public record detailing McCain's experience with the North Vietnamese during this time frame came from McCain and McCain only.

"In May of 1968, I [McCain] was interviewed by two North Vietnamese generals at separate times." U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

McCain claimed (page 133 of The Nightingale's Song, by Robert Timberg) that he was first offered early release (parole) in late June, 1968. He said that after months of interrogation he was "summoned" to a room that had soft chairs and a glass table on which were "cookies, a pot of tea, and cigarettes."

He said "Major Bai, known to the prisoners as the Cat," was waiting for him. He said "a second Vietnamese known as the Rabbit, stood by to serve as translator."

McCain said that as he "helped himself" to the cookies, tea and cigarettes, the Cat began speaking through the translator. He said they talked about "his father, other members of his family, the war." McCain said that after about two of talk, the Cat asked him if he wanted to be released. The Cat, according to McCain, told him to go back to his cell and think about it.--The Nightingale's Song.

McCain said that three nights later the Cat sent for him and again asked him if he wanted to go home. McCain said he answered No. --The Nightingale's Song

A week later, according to McCain, he was taken to a room in which the camp commander, who the prisoners had nicknamed Slopehead, was waiting. McCain said ten guards and an interrogator nicked named The Prick was also in the room. --The Nightingale's Song

McCain said the guards charged into him beating and kicking him until he 'lay on the floor, bloody, arms and legs throbbing, ribs cracked, several teeth broken off at the gumline." The Vietnamese, according to McCain, wanted him to confess to being a "black criminal." --The Nightingale's Song

McCain said he was next introduced for the first time to the "torture ropes." He said the torture went on for several days before he broke and agreed to write and sign a confession that he was a "black criminal." McCain said that he was moved to another building away from the other POWs. --The Nightingale's Song

McCain said (page 136) that he was so distraught because he had signed the statement that he attempted suicide but was stopped when a guard burst into the room. --The Nightingale's Song

In August 1968, other POWs learned for the first time that John McCain had been taken prisoner (page 137) after Charlie Plumb and Kay Russell figured out that the "mystery" prisoner in a neighboring cell is McCain. --The Nightingale's Song

A September 13, 1968, cable from Averell Harriman, U.S. ambassador-at-large, to the State Department confirmed that McCain's captors had offered him early release, but that he had refused. The cable reported that, according to the Vietnamese, "Commander McCain feared that if he was released before the war is over, President [Lyndon] Johnson might 'cause difficulties' for his father because people will wonder if McCain had been brainwashed." Harriman speculated that instead, McCain was abiding by the Code of Conduct.-- The Phoenix New Times March 25, 1999

June 1969 - "Reds Say PW Songbird Is Pilot Son of Admiral. . . Hanoi has aired a broadcast in which the pilot son of United States Commander in the Pacific, Adm. John McCain, purportedly admits to having bombed civilian targets in North Vietnam and praises medical treatment he has received since being taken prisoner." New York Daily News, June 5, 1969

"The English-Language broadcast beamed at South Vietnam was one of a series using American prisoners. It was in response to a plea by Defense Secretary Melvin S. Laird, May 19, that North Vietnam treat prisoners according to the humanitarian standards set forth by the Geneva Convention." The Washington Post

In December, McCain was moved out of "The Plantation" and into a "one man cell" in the "Hanoi Hilton.". On Christmas Eve, McCain chatted with the Cat. They talked about McCain refusing early release. --The Nightingale's Song

"There was pressure to see American antiwar delegations, which seemed to increase as the time went on. But, there wasn't any torture.

In January 1970, I [McCain] was taken to a quiz with 'The Cat.' He told me that he wanted me to see a foreign guest." U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

A declassified DOD document reports an interview between POW McCain and Dr. Fernando Barral, a Spanish psychiatrist who was living in Cuba at the time. The interview was published in the Havana Granma in January 1970.

According to the DOD report, the meeting between Barral and McCain (which was photographed by the Vietnamese) took place away from the prison at the office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi. During the meeting, POW McCain sipped coffee and ate oranges and cakes with his interrogator.

While talking with Barral, McCain seriously violated the military Code of Conduct by failing to evade answering questions "to the utmost" of his ability when he, according to the DOD report, helped Barral by answering questions in Spanish, a language McCain had learned in school.

1973 - McCain was released from the Hilton on March 15, 1973.

Two Former POWs Say They Doubt McCain Was Physically Abused

1999 - March 25, 1999, The Phoenix New Times: Ted Guy and Gordon "Swede" Larson, two former POWs, who were McCain's senior ranking officers (SRO's), at the time McCain says he was tortured in solitary confinement, told the New Times that while they could not guarantee that McCain was not physically harmed, they doubted it.

"Between the two of us, it's our belief, and to the best of our knowledge, that no prisoner was beaten or harmed physically in that camp [known as "The Plantation"]," Larson says. ". . . My only contention with the McCain deal is that while he was at The Plantation, to the best of my knowledge and Ted's knowledge, he was not physically abused in any way. No one was in that camp. It was the camp that people were released from."

In 1993, during one of his many trips back to Hanoi, McCain asked the Vietnamese not to make public the records they hold pertaining to returned U.S. POWs.

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