Are McCain's
handlers playing the wrong card?
By David H. Hackworth
January 25, 2000
 John
McCain is being hailed by the press as a "genuine war hero." But is
he a war hero in the conventional sense like Audie Murphy and John
Glenn?Or is his "war hero"
status the creation of a very slick publicity campaign that plays on
flag, duty, honor and country?
For sure, McCain has the fruitsalad a
Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying
Cross, three Bronze Stars , two Commendation medals plus two Purple
Hearts and a dozen service gongs.
On a purely medal count basis, he
outweighs Murphy and Glenn, who both for years repeatedly performed
extraordinary deeds on the ground or in the air against an armed
enemy.
McCain's valor awards are based on what
happened in 1967, when during his 23d mission over Vietnam, he was
shot down, seriously injured, captured and then spent 5 1/2 brutal
years as a POW.
In an attempt to find out exactly what
the man did to earn these many hero awards, I asked his Senate
office three times to provide copies of the narratives for each
medal. I'm still waiting.
I next went to the Pentagon. Within a
week, I received a recap of his medals and many of the narratives
that give the details of what he did.
None of the awards, less the DFC, were
for heroism over the battlefield where he spent no more than 20
hours. Two Naval officers described the awards as "boilerplate" and
"part of an SOP medal package given to repatriated (Vietnamera)
POWs."
McCain's Silver Star narrative for the
period 27 October 1967 the day after he was shot down to 8 December
1968 reads: "His captors… subjected him to extreme mental and
physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and
false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to
those brutalities, he contributed significantly towards the eventual
abandonment…" of such harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese.
Yet in McCain's own words just four days
after being captured, he admits he violated the U.S. Code of Conduct
by telling his captors "O.K, I'll give you military information if
you will take me to the hospital."
A Vietnam vet detractor says, "He
received the nation's third highest award, the Silver Star, for
treason. He provided aid and comfort to the enemy!"
The rest of his valor awards issued
automatically every year while he was a POW read much like the
Silver Star. More boilerplate often repeating the exact same words.
An example: "By his heroic endeavors, exceptional skill, and
devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld
the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States
Armed Forces."
Yet McCain's conduct while a POW negates
these glowing comments. The facts are that he signed a confession
and declared himself a "black criminal who performed deeds of an air
pirate." This statement and
other interviews he gave to the Communist press
press were used as propaganda to fan the flames of the antiwar
movement.
Accounts by McCain and other writers
tell of the horror he endured: relentlessly beatings, torture,
broken limbs. All inflicted during savage interrogations. Yet no
other POW was a witness to these accounts.
A former POW says "No man witnessed another man during
interrogations… We relied on each other to tell the truth when a man
was returned to his cell."
The U.S. Navy says two eyewitnesses are
required for any award of heroism. But for the valor awards McCain
received, there are no eyewitnesses, less himself and his captors.
And they're not talking.
Our POWs in Vietnam were treated
appallingly. The Viets would either break a POW or kill him. POWs
provided info beyond name, rank and serial number or they didn't
come back.
Based on these stalwart men's horrific
experiences, the Code of Conduct has been changed. A POW says, "Now
the training is to give them something… don't risk permanent damage
to health, mind or body."
McCain refused an early release. An act of valor? Three former POWs
told me he was ordered to turn it down by his U.S. POW commander and
he "just followed orders."
McCain certainly doesn't appear to be a
war hero by conventional standards, but rather a tough survivor
whose handlers are overplaying the war hero card.
David H. Hackworth died in June 2005,
he was a much-decorated and highly unconventional former career Army
officer who became a combat legend in Vietnam. Col. Hackworth
received 78 combat awards — including a Distinguished Service Cross,
a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and eight Purple Hearts — during his
25-year military career which spanned the Korean and Vietnam wars..
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