McCain's Navy Record Released

Documents Highlight Citations For Medals He Earned As A Prisoner In Vietnam

(AP)  From his five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp to his tenure as the Navy's liaison to the Senate, John McCain's Navy record boils down to a series of unadorned paragraphs that bestow upon him some of the nation's top military honors.

The Navy recently released McCain's military record - most of it citations for medals during his Navy career - after a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press.

McCain was awarded a Silver Star Medal for resisting "extreme mental and physical cruelties" inflicted upon him by his captors from late October to early December 1967, the early months of his captivity, according to the citation. The North Vietnamese, according to the Navy, ignored international agreements and tortured McCain "in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes."

McCain, now the Republican Party's likely presidential nominee, was taken prisoner in October 1967 after he was shot down while on a mission over Hanoi. He wasn't freed until March 1973, after the United States signed peace agreements with the North Vietnamese. His captors tortured him and held him in solitary confinement. Still, he declined an offer of early release until those who had been at the prison longer than him were let go.

That decision earned McCain a Navy Commendation Medal. Although McCain was "crippled from serious and ill-treated injuries," he steadfastly refused offers of freedom from those holding him prisoner. "His selfless action served as an example to others and his forthright refusal, by giving emphasis to the insidious nature of such releases, may have prevented a possibly chaotic deterioration in prisoner discipline," the citation says.

McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958, and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year. He retired in April 1981 with the rank of captain. In that time he received 17 awards and decorations. Besides the Silver Star Medal, McCain also received the Legion of Merit with a combat "V" and one gold star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star Medal with a combat "V" and two gold stars.

Several citations mention his achievements either as a prisoner or as a lieutenant commander flying bombing runs off the deck of the USS Oriskany. Some are signed by then-Secretary of the Navy John Warner, who would become a colleague of McCain's in the Senate.

The citations refer to his "accurate ordnance delivery" and his "aggressive and skillful airmanship." He earned his Bronze Star the day before he was shot down, for participating in a mission over an airfield in Phuc Yen, 11 miles north of Hanoi.

The citation for his Distinguished Flying Cross sums up McCain's misfortune the following day:

"Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target."

Years later, as his Navy career approached its end, McCain received the Legion of Merit Medal. By then, his missions were in the halls of Congress as a liaison to the Senate from the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs.

He was praised for providing Navy leaders "with sage advice and sound judgment for enacting critical legislation during a period of severe fiscal constraint."

The following year, he ran for Congress from Arizona, and won.

[ranger1948]

glock4me
You are right but if the only choices i have are obama and mccain i would vote mccain as he is th lesser evil. As of now if hillary is out of the race i am going back to my first choice Ron Paul

[glock4me]

Someone had posted that he had aided the enemy while in captivity. I didn''''t see any of that in this article. If he is a true hero i can respect that, but i won''''t vote for him since he wants to continue the war in Iraq, and i won''''t vote for obama for any position either.


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Posted by ranger1948 at 09:44 PM : May 08, 2008


Ranger1948, as usual presidential elections seem to be about voting for the "lesser of two evils".

[ranger1948]

Someone had posted that he had aided the enemy while in captivity. I didn''t see any of that in this article. If he is a true hero i can respect that, but i won''t vote for him since he wants to continue the war in Iraq, and i won''t vote for obama for any position either.

[glock4me]

Hey libs, this is what a war hero looks like (since you haven''t seen one since JFK).

Doesn''t he look good in that flag pin. Why won''t your guy wear one... oh right, he hates America.

[libh8er]

John McCain still calls Vietnamese people %u201Cgooks%u201D for Gods sake!
Posted by makeitso928 at 04:43 PM : May 08, 2008

The man can''t lift his left arm over his shoulder thanks to them. If he wants to refer to them as ''*****'', it''s kinder than how I refer to libs.

You''re not even in his league to be critizing him.

[libh8er]

meager not meeger

[libh8er]

taddles,

If that''s the fantasy you wack-off to, have at it. You are obviously too stupid to realize that Ubama not th ''uniter'' he claims to be (except among bedwetting, leftwing liberals, such as yourself.)

He has absolutely ZERO chance of carrying the ones who ''cling'' to God and guns to cope with their meeger lives. In other words, mainstream America.

Get used to forming the words President McCain (as much as I hate to say it.)

[taddles-2009]

"as a presidential candidate, I''''d just as soon vote for Pee Wee Herman.....

Posted by LibH8er at 01:05 PM : May 08, 2008"


That about sums up the general attitude of the Repubs, that''s why they will lose in November, because they are not excited about their candidate. They will vote for McCain not because they want him to be president but because they don''t want Obama to be president.

That''s exactly what happened to Kerry, he was not the nominee that could excite the party so people voted for him as a protest vote against Bush or just stayed home.

The historic Dem turnout will be an eye opener for the Repubs who are trying on capitol hill to figure out how to keep the party from collapsing. They are loosing the trust of their core voters and they''re out of money so they can''t support the state elections. The Repubs will have a hard enough time just keeping the party afloat let alone supporting any kind of significant campaign for President.

Rowdy, hope you have your checkbook out, McCains gonna need every dime.

[libh8er]

he''''s not my HERO!
Posted by ObamasLady at 03:50 PM : May 08, 2008

He''ll release them when John F-ing Kerry (who served in Vietnam for 90 days) releases his. :)

[obamaslady]

Who cares about his Navy records. Where are his MEDICAL RECORDS WHICH WERE SUPPOSED TO BE RELEASED LONG AGO?? WHY CAN''T THE MSM ASK WHERE THOSE MEDICAL RECORDS ARE - OR HAVE THEY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THEM!

I do know one thing about his military service that suggests he is NOT the hero he portends - he finally answered the questions from Viet Cong so that he could come home and that does not equate to HERO in my eyes. A lot of other military men paid the ultimate price and were not allowed to come home and marry a rich heiress or given the chance to enrich themselves in a cushy Senate job, so he''s not my HERO!

[libh8er]

McCain''s Navy - starring Tim Conway and Ernest Borgnine as John McCain.

[libh8er]

parrot123,

Just cause you''re too stupid to understand it, don''t blame me.

[parrot123-2009]

Can''t fault the guy for his service to his country. as a presidential candidate, I''d just as soon vote for Pee Wee Herman.....

I''d be crying like a little girl if I had to endure what he did. Gotta give it to him for that.
Posted by LibH8er at 01:05 PM : May 08, 2008


Could this Repug be really really serious - or is he too dumb to realise what he''d just posted ? HMMMM

[noloyalisti]

The question is would you still vote for McCain if he 1) had a bad temper he could not control 2) supported Bush in his wonderful foreign policy debacles and wants to escalate it for 100 years 3) was paid off by lobbyists with illegal campaign contributions and fundraising 4) voted against supporting the troops with increased education money and pay 5) agrees with the tax cuts of the wealthiest 1%

Oh wait, this is all true.

[libh8er]

Can''t fault the guy for his service to his country. as a presidential candidate, I''d just as soon vote for Pee Wee Herman.....

I''d be crying like a little girl if I had to endure what he did. Gotta give it to him for that.