John McCain: Prisoner of War
John McCain has been called one of the bravest Americans of his generation. Coming from a military family, it was only fitting that he join. After graduating from Annapolis, he trained to become a fighter pilot. McCain enjoyed flying very much. He flew missions in the A-4 jet over North Vietnam. He escaped near death of multiple occasions. However, soon his good luck would catch up with him. While flying a mission over heavily-fortified North Vietnam, McCain’s plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
McCain ejected breaking multiple bones in his body. He was picked up by a small force of North Vietnamese soldiers. They beat him severely and stabbed him. He was taken to a Prisoner of War camp where he was forced to give an interview with a TV news crew. The famous images of McCain with a cast on speaking nervously in front of a camera has never left the American consciousness. McCain was transported to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” This was an infamous building which housed American prisoners in terrible conditions.
McCain would stay here many years enduring torture and daily beatings. He made a close friend during this time who he would converse with through a wall. The two shared stories of home and became each others survival. McCain was given the chance to leave when North Vietnamese generals found that his father was a high-ranking Navy officer. However, he flatly refused stating he would not leave until every prisoner in Hanoi was released.
