Is McCain a 'war hero'?

I'm going to post this here instead of out in the crazy world of GD or GDP.

My question is serious and not intended to elicit snark. I wanted to see what other vets thought about it.

Here's my logic ..... going by stated stories and not background bullshit, John Kerry was decorated for an act of courage. Or several. Bob Kerrey, no doubt, did what they said he did to get his Medal of Honor. Max Cleland ... nuff said. Jack Kennedy in the aftermath of the destroyer cutting his boat in half .....

And on and on.

But John McCain ...... there seem to be two overarching events in his career. His plane caught fire on the deck of the Forrestal and he barely escaped with his life. Later he got shot down and spent a lot more time as a POW than I dare say I ever could. And he acted with valor in doing it ... mostly. I am of a mind that his taped 'confessions' were the result of some form of torture and do not hold that against him, UMCJ regs notwithstanding. I also acknowledge his not accepting an early out over fellow prisoners.

Does McCain qualify for the 'war hero' adulation he seems to get? I'm not trying to put the guy down, but it seems to me there are many others more deserving. I also dare say some of them are still living under bridges and fighting demons.

I recognize that what gets called 'heroism' is often the result of a terrifying mixture of circumstance, preservation, and opportunity far more than intent on the part of the 'hero'.

Again, I am not trying to put McCain down on this particular point ...... just trying to get some honest perspective.

nit-picky way McCain is not a "War Hero", and although I do not at all like his politics and policies, I am willing to give him much credit for surviving years of torture under the Viet Cong.

That survival, as genuinely admirable as it is, does not, in my opinion, make him specially qualified to be President. Or even Senator or Congressman. Worse yet, far too many Democrats have this bizarre starry-eyed view of him as some kind of liberal. He's not. He's a genuine conservative, and we can never forget that.

He shouldn't have been at the Hilton at all, because anyone else who wrecked a plane in training wouldn't have had a chance to fly again, but of course, Pa and Gramps were flag rank...had he been an ordinary schmuck, he'd be shipdriving, IF he could handle that!

But once he got there for his extended stay, he acquitted himself well and honorably. He endured incredible torture and indignity, and he kept his 'center.' He also provided an enormous amount of support to his fellow prisoners, and that's, well, leadership.

Every time I see him move his arm in that goofy way I am reminded that he can't LIFT that arm.

He was a shithead when he worked on the Hill, before he ran for office, but I do have to give him 'props' for his conduct during the war as a prisoner.

All that said, you can be a war hero, and not deserve to be President. One thing doesn't have to lead to the other. And in his case, it shouldn't!

but he was also an unfortunate victim of war

When I went to school they taught us that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and saying "I can not tell a lie". We also were told that Lincoln walked 10 miles to pay back a penny. Both stories are just political fables.

Now in this election mCCains is using footage of him in VietNam and we are told that John McCain was a tortured POW. I wonder about McCain's history as a POW in light of him caving into Bush allowing him to keep torturing prisoners in secret torture camps. I think McCain's story is hard to grasp. I do not think McCain was heroic, nor did he risk his life while captured. HE SAVED HIS LIFE.

McCain is the son of an admiral and it is known that he got special treatment when he was supposedly held in North Vietnam as a POW. I think that maybe McCain either wasn't really tortured like the real troops were because if he were he wouldn't have caved in to let Bush do the same sort of thing that the Commies did to him.

Any senator who supports legalized torture is committing treason to the Constitution. Torture is an evil practice and America should not embrace it.

...when the North Vietnamese gave him the opportunity to jump the line for release he refused and allowed someone else with more time in the camps to take his rightful place.

That said, it's unconscionable how he has supported the Insane President during the past seven hellish years.

Before McCain was discharged I think, for the most part he was honorable.

Colonel George Day was awarded the Medal of Honor for his personal bravery while a captive in North Vietnam, the same prison in which McCain was a prisoner.