1968: How John McCain Spent The Year
On October 26, 1967, a US Navy pilot named John Sidney McCain III was flying his twenty-third mission in Vietnam. It was part of a twenty-plane strike force against the Yen Phu thermal power plant in central Hanoi, a target that had previously been off-limits to U.S. raids due to the possibility of collateral damage. McCain arrived at his target just before noon and dove from 9,000 to 4,000 feet on his approach. As he approached the target, warning systems in McCain's A-4E Skyhawk alerted him that he was being tracked by enemy radar. He did not break off the bombing run and he held his dive until he released his bombs at about 3,500 feet (1,000 m) from ground level. As he started to pull up, the wing of the Skyhawk McCain was flying was blown off by a Soviet-made SA-2 anti-aircraft missile. The missile was fired by the North Vietnamese Air Defense Command's 61st Battalion commanded by Captain Nguyen Lan.
The mission was not successful as the power plant was not damaged. Three of the attacking planes were shot down. McCain's plane went into a vertical inverted spin. McCain bailed out upside down at high speed. Even before he landed on the ground, the force of the ejection had fractured his right arm in three places, as well as his left arm, and his right leg at the knee. He was knocked unconscious. McCain parachuted into Trúc Bạch Lake in Hanoi. He nearly drown from the weight of his equipment was pulling him down, and he could not use his arms to swim,, but he was able to inflate his life vest using his teeth.
Several Vietnamese civilians pulled him ashore. A mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and tore at his clothes. When military personnel arrived, his left shoulder was crushed with the butt of a rifle and he was bayoneted in his left foot and abdominal area. He was then transported to Hanoi's main Hỏa Lò Prison, which had been nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs.
McCain reached Hỏa Lò injured as badly as any prisoner taken there during the war. But his captors refused to give him medical care unless he gave them military information. In his severely injured state, McCain was beaten and interrogated, but he only offered his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth, as required under the Geneva Conventions. Near death, McCain said he would give them more information if taken to the hospital, hoping he could then put his interrogators off once he was treated. A prison doctor came and said it was too late, as McCain was about to die anyway. A North Vietnamese officer discovered that McCain's father was a high-ranking admiral. Suddenly he was a valuable prisoner. He was given medical care, and nicknamed "the crown prince" by his captors.
Two days after McCain's plane his plight as a POW made the front pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post. Once his condition was no longer critical, McCain's interrogation and beatings resumed. Over the next two weeks, North Vietnamese news reports claimed that McCain gave the North Vietnamese his ship's name, squadron's name, and the attack's intended target. Disclosing the military information was in violation of the Code of Conduct. McCain later wrote that he regretted releasing this information, although it was of no practical use to the North Vietnamese. When tortured to give future targets, he named cities that had already been bombed. He was asked for the names of his squadron's members. Instead he gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line.
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital. The care he received was minimal and hospital conditions were unsanitary. He received an operation to set his broken leg but no treatment for his broken left arm. McCain was temporarily taken to a clean room and interviewed by a French journalist, François Chalais, whose report was carried on the French television program Panorama in January 1968. Film footage of McCain lying in the bed, in a cast, smoking cigarettes and speaking haltingly, soon became one of the most widely distributed images of McCain's imprisonment. McCain was observed by high ranking North Vietnamese military personnel incuding Defense Minister and Army commander-in-chief General Võ Nguyên Giáp.
MvCain lost fifty pounds while in captivity. His hair turned white. In early December 1967 McCain was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp on the outskirts of Hanoi nicknamed "the Plantation". He was placed in a cell with George "Bud" Day, a badly injured and tortured Air Force pilot and Norris Overly, another Air Force pilot. The two later said that they did not expect McCain to live another week. The two cared for McCain and kept him alive. According to Day, McCain had "a fantastic will to live".
In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement. He he remained there for two years. In April 1968, his father Admiral Jack McCain was named Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC) effective in July, stationed in Honolulu and commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater. In mid-June of 1968, Major Bai, commander of the North Vietnamese prison camp system, offered McCain a chance to return home early. The North Vietnamese hoped to release McCain for propaganda purposes by appearing merciful. The also hoped to injure the morale of other POWs by telling them that members of the elite like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. But McCain turned down the offer of release. POWs had a "first in, first out" interpretation of the U.S. Code of Conduct. This meant that McCain would only accept the offer if every man captured before him was released as well. McCain's captors were enraged by his declining the offer of release. Bai told McCain that things were about to get very bad for him.
In late August 1968, McCain's captors began a program of vigorous torture against him. Thy used rope bindings to put him into prolonged, painful positions and beat him severely every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. His right leg was reinjured, his ribs were cracked, some teeth were broken at the gumline, and his left arm was re-fractured. He was forced to lie in his own waste. He had attempted suicide, but was prevented from doing so by guards. After four days of torture, McCain was forced to sign and record an anti-American propaganda "confession" that said, in part, "I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors." He used stilted ungrammatical language to signal that the statement was forced. He later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."
Two weeks later his captors tried to force him to sign a second statement, but he refused. He sometimes received two to three beatings per week because of his refusal. This went on for over a year. His refusals to cooperate, followed by loud obscenities directed towards his guards, were heard by other POWs. Under extreme duress, virtually all the POWs eventually yielded something to their captors.
In October 1968, McCain's isolation was lessened when Ernest C. Brace was placed in the cell next to him. On Christmas Eve 1968, a church service for the POWs was staged for photographers and film cameras; McCain defied North Vietnamese instructions to be quiet, speaking out details of his treatment then shouting "Fu-u-u-u-ck you, you son of a bitch!" and giving the finger whenever a camera was pointed at him.
McCain refused to meet with various anti-Vietnam War peace groups coming to Hanoi,refusing to give either them or the North Vietnamese any opportunity to create propaganda.
In May 1969, U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird began publicly questioning North Vietnamese treatment of U.S. prisoners. Radio Hanoi denied any such mistreatment, using edited excerpts from McCain's forced "confession" of a year before.
In late 1969, treatment of McCain and the other POWs suddenly improved. A badly beaten and weakened POW who had been released that summer disclosed to the world press the conditions to which they were being subjected, and the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, which included McCain's brother Joe, heightened awareness of the POWs' plight. In December 1969, McCain was transferred back to the Hỏa Lò, "Hanoi Hilton". His solitary confinement ended in March 1970. When the prisoners talked about what they wanted to do once they got out, McCain said he wanted to become President.
McCain and other prisoners were moved around to different camps at times, but conditions over the next several years were generally more tolerable than they had been before. By 1971, some 30–50 percent of the POWs had become disillusioned about the war, both because of the apparent lack of military progress and what they heard of the growing anti-war movement in the U.S., and some of them were less reluctant to make propaganda statements for the North Vietnamese, but not McCain. McCain and the other POWs cheered the resumed bombing of the north starting in April 1972, whose targets included the Hanoi. POWs cheered during the intense "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, when Hanoi was subjected for the first time to repeated B-52 Stratofortress raids, even as explosions shook the walls of the camp.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, ending direct U.S. involvement in the war, but the Operation Homecoming arrangements for the 591 American POWs took longer. McCain was finally released from captivity on March 14, 1973, being taken by bus to Gia Lam Airport, transferred to U.S. custody, and flown by C-141 to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years, nearly five of them after his refusal to accept the offer of release. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising either arm more than 80 degrees. For his actions as a POW, McCain was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Star Medals, another instance of the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal. On his return to the United States a few days later, McCain was reunited with his wife Carol and his family. She had been badly injured in an automobile accident in December 1969 that left her hospitalized for six months, requiring twenty-three operations and ongoing physical therapy. Businessman and POW advocate Ross Perot had paid for her medical care.
After he returned home, McCain authored a thirteen-page cover story describing his ordeal in U.S. News & World Report. A photograph of him on crutches shaking the hand of President Richard Nixon at a White House reception for returning POWs became iconic. The McCains became frequent guests of honor at dinners hosted by Governor of California Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. McCain underwent three operations and other treatment for his injuries, spending three months at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Psychological tests, given to all the returning POWs, showed that McCain had "adjusted exceptionally well to repatriation" and had "an ambitious, striving, successful pattern of adjustment". McCain told examiners that he withstood his ordeal by having "Faith in country, United States Navy, family, and God".
The mission was not successful as the power plant was not damaged. Three of the attacking planes were shot down. McCain's plane went into a vertical inverted spin. McCain bailed out upside down at high speed. Even before he landed on the ground, the force of the ejection had fractured his right arm in three places, as well as his left arm, and his right leg at the knee. He was knocked unconscious. McCain parachuted into Trúc Bạch Lake in Hanoi. He nearly drown from the weight of his equipment was pulling him down, and he could not use his arms to swim,, but he was able to inflate his life vest using his teeth.
Several Vietnamese civilians pulled him ashore. A mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and tore at his clothes. When military personnel arrived, his left shoulder was crushed with the butt of a rifle and he was bayoneted in his left foot and abdominal area. He was then transported to Hanoi's main Hỏa Lò Prison, which had been nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs.
McCain reached Hỏa Lò injured as badly as any prisoner taken there during the war. But his captors refused to give him medical care unless he gave them military information. In his severely injured state, McCain was beaten and interrogated, but he only offered his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth, as required under the Geneva Conventions. Near death, McCain said he would give them more information if taken to the hospital, hoping he could then put his interrogators off once he was treated. A prison doctor came and said it was too late, as McCain was about to die anyway. A North Vietnamese officer discovered that McCain's father was a high-ranking admiral. Suddenly he was a valuable prisoner. He was given medical care, and nicknamed "the crown prince" by his captors.
Two days after McCain's plane his plight as a POW made the front pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post. Once his condition was no longer critical, McCain's interrogation and beatings resumed. Over the next two weeks, North Vietnamese news reports claimed that McCain gave the North Vietnamese his ship's name, squadron's name, and the attack's intended target. Disclosing the military information was in violation of the Code of Conduct. McCain later wrote that he regretted releasing this information, although it was of no practical use to the North Vietnamese. When tortured to give future targets, he named cities that had already been bombed. He was asked for the names of his squadron's members. Instead he gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line.
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital. The care he received was minimal and hospital conditions were unsanitary. He received an operation to set his broken leg but no treatment for his broken left arm. McCain was temporarily taken to a clean room and interviewed by a French journalist, François Chalais, whose report was carried on the French television program Panorama in January 1968. Film footage of McCain lying in the bed, in a cast, smoking cigarettes and speaking haltingly, soon became one of the most widely distributed images of McCain's imprisonment. McCain was observed by high ranking North Vietnamese military personnel incuding Defense Minister and Army commander-in-chief General Võ Nguyên Giáp.
MvCain lost fifty pounds while in captivity. His hair turned white. In early December 1967 McCain was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp on the outskirts of Hanoi nicknamed "the Plantation". He was placed in a cell with George "Bud" Day, a badly injured and tortured Air Force pilot and Norris Overly, another Air Force pilot. The two later said that they did not expect McCain to live another week. The two cared for McCain and kept him alive. According to Day, McCain had "a fantastic will to live".
In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement. He he remained there for two years. In April 1968, his father Admiral Jack McCain was named Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC) effective in July, stationed in Honolulu and commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater. In mid-June of 1968, Major Bai, commander of the North Vietnamese prison camp system, offered McCain a chance to return home early. The North Vietnamese hoped to release McCain for propaganda purposes by appearing merciful. The also hoped to injure the morale of other POWs by telling them that members of the elite like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. But McCain turned down the offer of release. POWs had a "first in, first out" interpretation of the U.S. Code of Conduct. This meant that McCain would only accept the offer if every man captured before him was released as well. McCain's captors were enraged by his declining the offer of release. Bai told McCain that things were about to get very bad for him.
In late August 1968, McCain's captors began a program of vigorous torture against him. Thy used rope bindings to put him into prolonged, painful positions and beat him severely every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. His right leg was reinjured, his ribs were cracked, some teeth were broken at the gumline, and his left arm was re-fractured. He was forced to lie in his own waste. He had attempted suicide, but was prevented from doing so by guards. After four days of torture, McCain was forced to sign and record an anti-American propaganda "confession" that said, in part, "I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors." He used stilted ungrammatical language to signal that the statement was forced. He later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."
Two weeks later his captors tried to force him to sign a second statement, but he refused. He sometimes received two to three beatings per week because of his refusal. This went on for over a year. His refusals to cooperate, followed by loud obscenities directed towards his guards, were heard by other POWs. Under extreme duress, virtually all the POWs eventually yielded something to their captors.
In October 1968, McCain's isolation was lessened when Ernest C. Brace was placed in the cell next to him. On Christmas Eve 1968, a church service for the POWs was staged for photographers and film cameras; McCain defied North Vietnamese instructions to be quiet, speaking out details of his treatment then shouting "Fu-u-u-u-ck you, you son of a bitch!" and giving the finger whenever a camera was pointed at him.
McCain refused to meet with various anti-Vietnam War peace groups coming to Hanoi,refusing to give either them or the North Vietnamese any opportunity to create propaganda.
In May 1969, U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird began publicly questioning North Vietnamese treatment of U.S. prisoners. Radio Hanoi denied any such mistreatment, using edited excerpts from McCain's forced "confession" of a year before.
In late 1969, treatment of McCain and the other POWs suddenly improved. A badly beaten and weakened POW who had been released that summer disclosed to the world press the conditions to which they were being subjected, and the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, which included McCain's brother Joe, heightened awareness of the POWs' plight. In December 1969, McCain was transferred back to the Hỏa Lò, "Hanoi Hilton". His solitary confinement ended in March 1970. When the prisoners talked about what they wanted to do once they got out, McCain said he wanted to become President.
McCain and other prisoners were moved around to different camps at times, but conditions over the next several years were generally more tolerable than they had been before. By 1971, some 30–50 percent of the POWs had become disillusioned about the war, both because of the apparent lack of military progress and what they heard of the growing anti-war movement in the U.S., and some of them were less reluctant to make propaganda statements for the North Vietnamese, but not McCain. McCain and the other POWs cheered the resumed bombing of the north starting in April 1972, whose targets included the Hanoi. POWs cheered during the intense "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, when Hanoi was subjected for the first time to repeated B-52 Stratofortress raids, even as explosions shook the walls of the camp.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, ending direct U.S. involvement in the war, but the Operation Homecoming arrangements for the 591 American POWs took longer. McCain was finally released from captivity on March 14, 1973, being taken by bus to Gia Lam Airport, transferred to U.S. custody, and flown by C-141 to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years, nearly five of them after his refusal to accept the offer of release. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising either arm more than 80 degrees. For his actions as a POW, McCain was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Star Medals, another instance of the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal. On his return to the United States a few days later, McCain was reunited with his wife Carol and his family. She had been badly injured in an automobile accident in December 1969 that left her hospitalized for six months, requiring twenty-three operations and ongoing physical therapy. Businessman and POW advocate Ross Perot had paid for her medical care.
After he returned home, McCain authored a thirteen-page cover story describing his ordeal in U.S. News & World Report. A photograph of him on crutches shaking the hand of President Richard Nixon at a White House reception for returning POWs became iconic. The McCains became frequent guests of honor at dinners hosted by Governor of California Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. McCain underwent three operations and other treatment for his injuries, spending three months at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Psychological tests, given to all the returning POWs, showed that McCain had "adjusted exceptionally well to repatriation" and had "an ambitious, striving, successful pattern of adjustment". McCain told examiners that he withstood his ordeal by having "Faith in country, United States Navy, family, and God".