John McCain

=== Prisoner of war ===

McCain was taken [[Early life and military career of John McCain#Prisoner of war|prisoner of war]] 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]].<ref name="az-pow">Nowicki, Dan & Muller, Bill. [https://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter3.html "John McCain Report: Prisoner of War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605054859/http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter3.html |date=June 5, 2015 }}, ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' (March 1, 2007). Retrieved November 10, 2007.</ref><ref name="hub-363" /> McCain fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected from the aircraft,<ref name=Dobbs>Dobbs, Michael. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/04/AR2008100402351.html "In Ordeal as Captive, Character Was Shaped"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904183401/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/04/AR2008100402351.html? |date=September 4, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (October 5, 2008)</ref> and nearly drowned after he parachuted into [[Trúc Bạch Lake]]. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.<ref name="az-pow" /> McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main [[Hỏa Lò Prison]], nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".<ref name="hub-363">Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', p. 363</ref>

Although McCain was seriously wounded and injured, his captors refused to treat him. They beat and [[interrogated]] him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was an admiral.<ref name="hub-364">Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', p. 364</ref> His status as a [[prisoner of war]] (POW) made the front pages of major American newspapers.<ref name="nyt102867j">[[R. W. Apple, Jr.|Apple Jr., R. W.]] [http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19671028.pdf "Adm. McCain's son, Forrestal Survivor, Is Missing in Raid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415031004/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19671028.pdf |date=April 15, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (October 28, 1967). Retrieved November 11, 2007.</ref><ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/165690022.html?dids=165690022:165690022&FMT=ABS&FMTS= "Admiral's Son Captured in Hanoi Raid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808212456/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/165690022.html?dids=165690022:165690022&FMT=ABS&FMTS= |date=August 8, 2013 }}, [[Associated Press]]. ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (October 28, 1967). Retrieved February 9, 2008 (fee required for full text).</ref>

McCain spent six weeks in the hospital, where he received marginal care. He had lost {{convert|50|lb|kg|0}}, he was in a chest cast, and his gray hair had turned white.<ref name="az-pow" /> McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi.<ref>Timberg, ''American Odyssey'', p. 83</ref> In December 1967, McCain was placed in a cell with two other Americans, who did not expect him to live more than a week.<ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', 54.</ref> In March 1968, McCain was placed into [[solitary confinement]], where he remained for two years.<ref>Timberg, ''American Odyssey'', p. 89</ref>

In mid-1968, his father John S. McCain Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release<ref name="hub-451">Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', pp. 450–51</ref> because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,<ref>Rochester and Kiley, ''Honor Bound'', p. 363</ref> and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially.<ref name="hub-451" /> McCain refused repatriation unless every man taken in before him was also released. Such early release was prohibited by the POWs' interpretation of the military [[Code of the United States Fighting Force|Code of Conduct]], which states in Article III: "I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy."<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive Orders|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/10631.html|website=National Archives|access-date=October 24, 2017|date=August 15, 2016|archive-date=August 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825143232/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/10631.html|url-status=live}}</ref> To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured.<ref name="az-pow" />

Beginning in August 1968, McCain was subjected to a program of severe torture.<ref name="hub-453">Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', pp. 452–54</ref> He was bound and beaten every two hours; this punishment occurred at the same time that he was suffering from heat exhaustion and [[dysentery]].<ref name="az-pow" /><ref name="hub-453" /> Further injuries brought McCain to "the point of suicide," but his preparations were interrupted by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-U.S. propaganda "confession."<ref name="az-pow" /> He had 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."<ref>Timberg, ''American Odyssey'', pp. 95, 118</ref><ref name="usnwr73">McCain, John. [https://www.usnews.com/articles/news/world/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account.html "How the POW's Fought Back"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013133940/http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/world/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account.html |date=October 13, 2008}}, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' (May 14, 1973), reposted in 2008 under title "John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account". Retrieved January 29, 2008. Reprinted in ''Reporting Vietnam, Part Two: American Journalism 1969–1975'', pp. 434–63 ([[The Library of America]] 1998). {{ISBN|1-883011-59-0}}.</ref> Many U.S. POWs were tortured and maltreated to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements;<ref>Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', pp. 288–306.</ref> virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors.<ref>Hubbell, ''P.O.W.'', pp. 548–49</ref> McCain received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.<ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', p. 60</ref>

McCain refused to meet various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.<ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', p. 64</ref> From late 1969, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable,<ref>Rochester and Kiley, ''Honor Bound'', pp. 489–91</ref> while McCain continued to resist the camp authorities.<ref>Rochester and Kiley, ''Honor Bound'', pp. 510, 537</ref> McCain and other prisoners cheered the [[Operation Linebacker II|U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign]] of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.<ref name="usnwr73" /><ref>Timberg, ''American Odyssey'', pp. 106–07</ref>

McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years, until his release on March 14, 1973, along with 108 other prisoners of war.<ref name="nyt031573">Sterba, James. [http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19730315.pdf "P.O.W. Commander Among 108 Freed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415031012/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19730315.pdf |date=April 15, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (March 15, 1973). Retrieved March 28, 2008.</ref> His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.<ref name="vf0207">[[Todd S. Purdum|Purdum, Todd]]. [https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702 "Prisoner of Conscience"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120054149/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702 |date=January 20, 2015}}, ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', February 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2008.</ref> After the war, McCain, accompanied by his family and his second wife [[Cindy McCain|Cindy]], returned to the site on a few occasions in efforts of trying to come to terms with what had happened to him there during his capture.<ref>{{cite news |title=McCain, in Vietnam, Finds the Past isn't Really the Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/27/world/mccain-in-vietnam-finds-the-past-isn-t-really-past.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527141248/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/27/world/mccain-in-vietnam-finds-the-past-isn-t-really-past.html |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |date=April 27, 2000 |access-date=July 31, 2018|last1=Landler |first1=Mark }}</ref>
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