General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJohn McCain Dead at 81: My perspective as a 250 combat mission survivor (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia).
What incredible sadness washes over me hearing this expected news. What a good man. What a history. We have lost a lion in the Senate, and I say that as a card-carrying Democrat.
His history in Vietnam is epic. I was there, so I can call it. As I flew the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night, I knew his story. I had to. I could end up with John, in the Hanoi prison. He would be my commander.
This is my all time favorite Saguaro photo. In Tucson Mountain Park, of the Sonoran desert. On a road called the McCain Loop.
RIP, Sir
WestIndianArchie
(386 posts)nolabear
(41,991 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,699 posts)I am sad to hear this news, even though I knew it was coming.
No-one escapes death. He went honorably and I hope without pain.
May he rest in peace.
GemDigger
(4,305 posts)I thank his and yours for your service.
Still In Wisconsin
(4,450 posts)We've all lost a good man, and those who served, especially in his war, have lost a little more.
Go peacefully, Senator McCain, and thank you.
FightingIrish
(2,716 posts)He was a living legend in the ranks of Naval Aviation and an inspiration to all of us who served in his footsteps. I seldom agreed with him but had to admire the honor and decency he never abandoned. I just lowered our flag to half staff. It felt good honoring in that small way.
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)and a lone cactus, my thanks also to DemoTex.
mcar
(42,372 posts)and your service. I knew of Sen. McCain's Vietnam experience, but watching Ken Burns Vietnam War taught me so much. I was a kid then and paid little attention. What you all went through was eye opening.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
john657
(1,058 posts)and picture.
Like you, I am deeply saddened by his passing, and I can relate to you and John, I was a door gunner on a Huey in Vietnam and could have ended up in the Hanoi Hilton also but, for the grace of god, go I.
RIP Senator John McCain and safe passage.
Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)Thanks for sharing DemoTex
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)I was young the last time he talked about it but my brotherinlaw flew the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night in some capacity. We visited him and my sister in Colorado Springs around '68 or '69 and at an air show at the Academy he was showing us the different aircraft. One was a small prop driven reconnisence llane. I think the mission was to fly low spot targets and drop flares to light them up. He saw some time in an F100 before his tour ended.
NBachers
(17,136 posts)Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)dalton99a
(81,570 posts)flotsam
(3,268 posts)of him escaping from his plane in the Forrestal fire. 23 trips downtown. A stud!
slumcamper
(1,606 posts)Commendations for sharing such an extraordinary retrospective and deeply meaningful tribute.
ProudProgressiveNow
(6,129 posts)sl8
(13,883 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)Senator McCain would surely smile.......RIP.......
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)to give the orange anus the finger.
You know what I mean, Vern?
KT2000
(20,587 posts)for the special tribute to Senator McCain.
Lithos
(26,404 posts)It's important to look past the politics and to the character of the person. John McCain while flawed in his politics followed two previous generations of McCains in giving their whole life to the service of the United States. The Country and the Constitution always first.
L-
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)AJT
(5,240 posts)Tiggeroshii
(11,088 posts)Army 4 years. He has no shortage of respect in the armed forces. He was a legend.
Aristus
(66,462 posts)You'll always be a hero to me...
Grasswire2
(13,571 posts)You are noted and honored. May we never forget.
JohnnyRingo
(18,641 posts)Thanx for posting.
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)Good job coming back home.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)What was the maximum that you had to do?
I am sure that exceeded that number and agreed to continue when you didn't have to.
Thank you for your tribute to Senator McCain.
He stood out not only as a POW but also as a father and was critical to normalizing relations with Vietnam in the 90s.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211046181
Raine
(30,540 posts)and such a beautiful picture, thank you for sharing them both...
oasis
(49,408 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)He was thirty when I was twenty. It's a sad day.
VOX
(22,976 posts)His story will be remembered.
Hekate
(90,793 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)ChazII
(6,206 posts)Thank you for sharing it. Making plans to go to down to Tucson when it gets a bit cooler.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)tiptonic
(765 posts)I too did not know him but had nothing but respect for the man. Sleep well my friend.
fierywoman
(7,694 posts)GentryDixon
(2,959 posts)I wore the POW bracelet of LTC Benjamin Purcell until after he was released. Many years later I looked him up because I wanted to send the bracelet back to him.
I was surprised a few weeks later to receive a note from him thanking me for the bracelet, and enclosed was an autographed book he and his wife Amy had written entitled "Love & Duty". They wrote it from both his perspective of being a prisoner of war, and she as a "waiting wife" trying to raise their children. It was a very heartfelt narrative of their lives.
https://www.veteransunited.com/network/highest-ranking-vietnam-pow-dies-at-85/
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Thank you for sharing those comments.