McCain Nears 40th Anniversary of His Capture

By Dan Nowicki The Arizona Republic

Forty years ago this week, a North Vietnamese missile blew John McCain out of the sky over Vietnam, marking the start of a dramatic military episode that would give rise to a compelling political career.

The story was gripping enough as it unfolded in real time: McCain, then 31, was the son of then-Vice Adm. John S. McCain Jr., the Navy’s European commander who eventually would take over responsibilities for the Pacific Ocean, which included Vietnam. His grandfather, Adm. John S. McCain Sr., had been a naval hero who battled the Japanese in World War II.

But McCain’s Oct. 26, 1967, downing, capture and subsequent 5 1/ 2 years as a prisoner of war also became the back story of McCain’s success in politics and an underpinning of his two presidential campaigns.

The four-term senator recently said he doesn’t have any plans to mark the 40th anniversary.

“I’m thinking out loud here — maybe I could take a plane and fly over Hanoi again and see if they still want to shoot at me,” said McCain, 71. “No, it’s not a special day. … I don’t think I’ll do anything special on it. Maybe call up some of my old buddies.”

Still, McCain’s brutal captivity in Hanoi’s custody is hardly a distant memory, at least as far as his presidential aspirations are concerned.

New Hampshire television ads include vintage black-and-white footage of a broken and battered McCain and remind voters in the early primary state which candidate “sacrificed for his country.”

And when McCain condemns the use of torture as un-American, no one doubts his credibility.

Some political analysts believe that McCain’s military biography is perhaps his greatest political asset. It also could stir dormant support in New Hampshire, the state where McCain defeated then- Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000 but has struggled this year against Republican rivals Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Rudy Giuliani of New York.

“His numbers are back up in New Hampshire,” national pollster John Zogby said. “McCain began running the ad with him as the war hero and POW and the suggestion from people on the ground is that it is working.”

McCain’s capture

Navy Lt. Cmdr. McCain had already seen his share of action before getting shot down.

Three months earlier, on July 29, 1967, McCain narrowly avoided death on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. As he waited to take off in his A-4 Skyhawk, his plane was hit by a missile accidentally fired from another plane on deck. Gushing gasoline ignited, and 134 men died in a fire and explosions that nearly destroyed the ship.

“To be honest with you, the Forrestal fire seems to be a more impactful date I remember more than that of when I was shot down,” McCain said.

But his 23rd mission over North Vietnam would alter the course of his life. While on a bombing run over Hanoi, a Russian-made surface- to-air missile blasted off one of his wings. He ejected from the plane but broke both arms and his right leg while landing in a lake.

Because of his father’s high-ranking position, the North Vietnamese dubbed McCain “the prince,” remembered retired Air Force Col. George “Bud” Day, an 83-year-old Medal of Honor recipient and fellow POW who eventually shared a cell with McCain.

“I knew that great things were going to happen with him,” Day said. “For one thing, he was the smartest guy that I’d ever been around. He had an absolutely incredible mind, and he had a memory that just wouldn’t quit.”

McCain would remain a POW until March 1973. The North Vietnamese would offer McCain early release, but he wanted no special treatment and famously refused to leave before POWs who had been captured before him.

McCain’s status as a celebrity POW didn’t hurt his political aspirations. McCain’s 1999 book about his Vietnam exploits, “Faith of My Fathers,” added depth to his maverick Republican campaign against Bush in 2000.

But eight years later, the United States is mired in an unpopular war in Iraq and has experienced a major terrorist attack on its own soil. Does McCain’s Vietnam war record still resonate?

On issues such as torture and the treatment of suspected terrorists, definitely, said Brooks Simpson, a history professor at Arizona State University who teaches about the presidency and the military. When it comes to McCain’s continued push for victory in Iraq, not so much.

“At this point, both the president and he are basically saying, ‘Trust us,’ ” Simpson said. “Bush himself has rather clearly drawn a comparison between Iraq and Vietnam that I thought was badly advised in terms of image. A lot of people think it’s just like Vietnam and not in a way that would encourage support for a continued military effort.”

Hanoi memories

In September, McCain invoked the specter of Vietnam by enlisting former POW friends to take part in his three-state “No Surrender” tour.

While on the bus in Iowa, McCain and fellow POW Orson Swindle, a 70-year-old retired Marine aviator shot down in 1966, regaled members of the media with humorous, colorful and sometimes salty anecdotes about how the POWs kept their sanity inside the North Vietnamese prison camps.

McCain took time to salute Doug Hegdahl, a POW who memorized the names of all the prisoners in the camp. When he was released early in 1969, he recited the list to U.S. authorities and publicized the mistreatment and abuse.

“That was the first time that a lot of the families were told that their husbands, fathers, children, whoever it was, were alive,” McCain said. “So we always really appreciated him.”

It was a little ironic payback as the North Vietnamese had considered Hegdahl, described by McCain as “a farm boy,” quite dense and as a result trusted him with duties that they never would have given to other POWs.

McCain recalled watching out the crack of his door once as Hegdahl swept up leaves. When he thought no one was looking, Hegdahl unscrewed the gas cap on the North Vietnamese camp vehicle and dumped the collected leaves, dirt and debris into the tank. Some time later, North Vietnamese officials drove off in the vehicle, which never returned to the camp.

“I was so proud of Doug Hegdahl, I’m telling you,” McCain said.

Swindle said the former prisoners focus on the camaraderie and funny stories and try not to dwell on the bad stuff.

“A lot of it seems like it was yesterday, and a lot of it seems like it was a long, long time ago,” McCain said. “I really do remember the good things.”

Key dates in Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam War experience.

— July 29, 1967: Lucky to survive fires and explosions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal after a jet accidentally fires a missile that hits McCain’s plane on the deck.

— Oct. 26, 1967: Shot down during a bombing run over Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam.

— July 4, 1968: Adm. John S. McCain, Jr., McCain’s father, becomes the Navy’s commander in chief in the Pacific.

— March 14, 1973: Released by North Vietnam.

— May 14, 1973: Writes the “inside story” of his captivity for U.S. News & World Report and appears on the magazine’s cover.

— 1985: Now an Arizona congressman, returns to Vietnam to participate in veteran CBS newsman Walter Cronkite’s hourlong television special, “Honor, Duty and a War Called Vietnam.”

— 1999: Random House publishes “Faith of My Fathers” by McCain and co-author Mark Salter. The best-selling memoir covers McCain’s life up to his release from the Vietnamese prison.

— 2005: A&E cable television network airs a dramatized version of “Faith of My Fathers” featuring actor Shawn Hatosy as McCain and Troy Ruptash as his fellow prisoner of war George “Bud” Day.

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.