Senator John S. McCain

My previous post “Unlucky” somehow never was shown on Facebook even though I entered it personally. It was about an enlisted guy I knew back in 1967 who had a very unlucky cruise on the Kitty Hawk. What I realized this morning was there was another guy whom I never knew that had a far worse unlucky cruise about the same time.

His name is John S. McCain, currently a senator from Arizona. McCain was on board the USS Forrestal in July of 1967 when A Zuni rocket from an F-4 Aircraft was ignited from an electrical spike and shot an A-4 aircraft across the deck. The A-4 was next to McCain’s A-4 and knocked the fuel belly tank off and exploded the fuel. The fire spread to McCain’s aircraft and he barely made it out, despite burns to his legs.

McCain being the warrior he was, requested more combat duty on the USS Oriskany and got it. In October of 1967 he was on his 23rd bombing mission over north Vietnam when his A-4 was hit by an NVA missile. He parachuted out of the plane only to injure both arms and land in a lake. He was captured and spent 5 ½ years as a POW. He was beaten severely during the early years in Hanoi, sometimes every two hours.

I noticed in 2008 when he ran for president that he could not raise his arms even shoulder high. Yesterday I saw him on TV and realized his jaw is very deformed; I assume that too was from his captivity in Hanoi.

This man was born into a very good family, was a handsome warrior that just had one very unlucky cruise that led to nearly dying in a fiery explosion and then led to being a POW for years where he was beaten and deformed. Since he retired from the navy he has done well as  respected congressman and later senator. I salute his service in the navy and to his country in subsequent years.