U.S. Military Code Of Conduct

Code of Conduct III
a. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
e. Such enemies have attempted to lure American POWs into accepting special favors or privileges in exchange for statements, acts or information. Unless it is essential to the life or welfare of that person or another prisoner of war or to the success of efforts to resist or escape, a POW must neither seek nor accept special favors or privileges.
f. One such privilege is called parole. Parole is a promise by a prisoner of war to a captor to fulfill certain conditions such as agreeing not to escape nor to fight again once released—in return for such favors as relief from physical bondage, improved food and living conditions or repatriation ahead of the sick, injured or longer–held prisoners.



Am I missing something? Why does McCain get so much credit for DOING WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO?

Assuming he did it right.

The Code of Conduct does require resistance, but they also tell you that everyone breaks, it's a just a question of when.

The Code of Conduct that was in place during the Vietnam war was a little tougher then what it is today:


"b. The duty of a member of the armed forces to use all means available to resist the enemy is not lessened by the misfortune of captivity. "

So much for "but they also tell you that everyone breaks"!


"f. Recent experiences of American prisoners of war have proved that, although enemy interrogation sessions may be harsh and cruel, one can resist brutal mistreatment when the will to resist remains intact."

I guess he lost his will when he saw how serious his wounds were and he thought he was going to die!


"b. A member of the armed forces remains responsible for personal actions at all times.

c. A member of the armed forces who is captured has a continuing obligation to resist and to remain loyal to country, service, unit and fellow prisoners.

d. Upon repatriation, POWs can expect their actions to be reviewed, both as to circumstances of capture and conduct during detention. The purpose of such review is to recognize meritorious performance as well as to investigate possible misconduct. Each review will be conducted with due regard for the rights of the individual and consideration for the conditions of captivity; captivity of itself is not a condition of culpability. "

So please stop trying to tell me what the military was like in 1968. Before your time.

You won't find a single soldier from that era who will tell you different. They told us "everyone breaks." If you don't know that, now is a good time to end your ignorance.

Ask Clifford. Ask Tahiti Nut. Ask anyone on this board who served in the war zone in that era.

I held Top Secret and cryto clearances. I had daily access to very sensitive, highly classified materials. Getting captured was a concern. Every one of us was taught to hold out as long as you could, but recognize that you will break under torture.

The only people that can really judge McCain on his POW days are his fellow POWs in that camp. They know whether he followed their code, and that's what really matters. I've heard some didn't care for him, and I can see how that might be true.

He didn't do what he was supposed to do, he gave information to the enemy in order to get medical treatment.

everybody talks about how grande it was that he refused to go home before other people.. but in actuality that was something required of him based on the code of conduct... so why does he get praise for doing what he was told to do ?

It's always a bad idea to let your opponent define the terms of debate. Saying "it's not so tough to be a POW and endure torture and mutilation for two years" only makes you look stupid.

my point was, why does he get so much credit for staying when he could have left when infact the code of conducts required him to stay versus others who had been there longer...

so hes a hero because he followed the rules? it just confuses me , thats all.

so maybe you shouldnt put words into peoples mouths, 'it only makes you look stupid'.