John McCain’s Vietnam service basically consisted of flying a number of bombing missions over Vietnam and Cambodia. While on these missions, he was vulnerable to enemy fire, and knowingly, voluntarily exposed himself to this danger – the danger of death, serious injury, and/or capture by the enemy. Since it was done in service of his country, this is definitional “heroism.” Very few such pilots – a percent or two – actually experienced being shot down or captured, and this statistical probability of success undoubtedly gave McCain and his fellow pilots comfort during the long months of “combat.”
At the time, he was living in a comfortable, air-conditioned BOQ (small apartment), living on a base that had a library, movie theater, cable TV (one or two channels), a swimming pool, a recreational gym, and an officer’s club, of which McCain was a member by virtue of his rank. He made enough money (most of which was income-tax-free) to enjoy all of this, while sending most of his pay home to his wife.
After being shot down and captured alive, McCain experienced unspeakable treatment, torture, deprivation, and permanent injuries. Notably, when his captors wanted to release him “early” as a phony humanitarian gesture, he refused to be released ahead of others who had been imprisoned longer. One can only imagine how difficult it was to make this gesture. On the other hand, he did “break down” under torture and give the enemy certain useful information, later admitting that he reached his breaking point and could resist no longer. Military authorities concluded that he should not be court martialed under the specific circumstances of his case. No shame involved.
When one speaks of a “Vietnam War Hero,” however, a rather different picture comes to mind. We picture a “Grunt,” who lives in relatively horrible conditions in a tent in the swamps of the Delta. Most of his meals are OK, but often he subsists on C-Rations or MRE’s. He often goes long periods without bathing, shaving, or having a civilized bowel movement. He goes out daily on missions that could leave him dead, dismembered, or seriously injured at literally any time – this in addition to being subject to various tropical diseases, mainly malaria (which is incurable). He lives in insufferable tropical heat and humidity for almost all of his time in country, enduring mosquitoes and other biting insects, leeches, ticks, and so on, experiencing air conditioning only when going back to base-base camp. Often these soldier were wounded, patched up, and returned to the battlefield without complaint (well…with constant complaints, but you get the idea). This was particularly true of Marines, for whom multiple deployments were common, especially given their normal 4-year enlistment. Again, this is more or less the picture one frames of a Vietnam War Hero, and literally hundreds of thousands of American men fit that description, pretty much.
Last year, the Man Who Would Be President, a victim of Blitherer’s Disease if ever there was one, opined when speaking of Senator McCain, that he was only exalted as a “hero” only because he got caught. The actual quote was,
“He’s not a war hero,” said Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
This was the most ill-advised of a mountain of ill-advised statements that Trump made during the campaign. But as with most of what he says, there is a germ of reality in it. Had Lt. McCain not “lost the lottery” in Vietnam, he would have finished out his service, collected a few ribbons, and continued his military career in relative obscurity. Because despite his military genes, he was apparently not much of an exemplary officer (would never have made Admiral, as his father did), and dropped out to go into politics. He was a hero mainly because he got shot down.
Sorry. It’s true.
At the time, he was living in a comfortable, air-conditioned BOQ (small apartment), living on a base that had a library, movie theater, cable TV (one or two channels), a swimming pool, a recreational gym, and an officer’s club, of which McCain was a member by virtue of his rank. He made enough money (most of which was income-tax-free) to enjoy all of this, while sending most of his pay home to his wife.
After being shot down and captured alive, McCain experienced unspeakable treatment, torture, deprivation, and permanent injuries. Notably, when his captors wanted to release him “early” as a phony humanitarian gesture, he refused to be released ahead of others who had been imprisoned longer. One can only imagine how difficult it was to make this gesture. On the other hand, he did “break down” under torture and give the enemy certain useful information, later admitting that he reached his breaking point and could resist no longer. Military authorities concluded that he should not be court martialed under the specific circumstances of his case. No shame involved.
When one speaks of a “Vietnam War Hero,” however, a rather different picture comes to mind. We picture a “Grunt,” who lives in relatively horrible conditions in a tent in the swamps of the Delta. Most of his meals are OK, but often he subsists on C-Rations or MRE’s. He often goes long periods without bathing, shaving, or having a civilized bowel movement. He goes out daily on missions that could leave him dead, dismembered, or seriously injured at literally any time – this in addition to being subject to various tropical diseases, mainly malaria (which is incurable). He lives in insufferable tropical heat and humidity for almost all of his time in country, enduring mosquitoes and other biting insects, leeches, ticks, and so on, experiencing air conditioning only when going back to base-base camp. Often these soldier were wounded, patched up, and returned to the battlefield without complaint (well…with constant complaints, but you get the idea). This was particularly true of Marines, for whom multiple deployments were common, especially given their normal 4-year enlistment. Again, this is more or less the picture one frames of a Vietnam War Hero, and literally hundreds of thousands of American men fit that description, pretty much.
Last year, the Man Who Would Be President, a victim of Blitherer’s Disease if ever there was one, opined when speaking of Senator McCain, that he was only exalted as a “hero” only because he got caught. The actual quote was,
“He’s not a war hero,” said Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
This was the most ill-advised of a mountain of ill-advised statements that Trump made during the campaign. But as with most of what he says, there is a germ of reality in it. Had Lt. McCain not “lost the lottery” in Vietnam, he would have finished out his service, collected a few ribbons, and continued his military career in relative obscurity. Because despite his military genes, he was apparently not much of an exemplary officer (would never have made Admiral, as his father did), and dropped out to go into politics. He was a hero mainly because he got shot down.
Sorry. It’s true.
