Thursday, May 08, 2008

John McCain's Military Records Released

The Associated Press recently obtained the military records of Sen. John McCain. There's not a lot of discussion in the media about what's in those records. Let's take a look:

  • A Silver Star Medal-- for resisting "extreme mental and physical cruelties" inflicted upon him by his captors from late October to early December 1967, the early months of his captivity, according to the citation. McCain was repeatedly tortured during his more than five years of captivity "in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes."
  • Navy Commendation Medal--His captors held him in solitary confinement and tortured him. They offered him early release for his cooperation. He declined, urging instead the release of others who had been held in captivity no longer than him. "His selfless action served as an example to others and his forthright refusal, by giving emphasis to the insidious nature of such releases, may have prevented a possibly chaotic deterioration in prisoner discipline," the citation says.
  • He received 17 awards and decorations in total. In addition to the Silver Star Medal, he received the Legion of Merit with a combat "V" and one gold star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star Medal with a combat "V" and two gold stars. The citations refer to his "accurate ordnance delivery" and his "aggressive and skillful airmanship." He earned his Bronze Star the day before he was shot down, for participating in a mission over an airfield in Phuc Yen, 11 miles north of Hanoi.
  • The Distinghished Flying Cross--"Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target."
  • As a congressional liaison for the Navy, he received the Legion of Merit--He was praised for providing Navy leaders "with sage advice and sound judgment for enacting critical legislation during a period of severe fiscal constraint."
  • McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1954 to 1958, and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year.
  • McCain retired in 1981 with the rank of Captain.

Nothing here to look at. Let's talk about Obama's work as a "community organizer" in Chicago and his book, "Dreams of My Father". He's about the future and change. McCain is about the past. Or so we're told.

12 comments:

Bart Lies said...

I suppose if someday we need to defend the USA against Iran's lawyers with a battalion of our own lawyers, Obama would be the perfect Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces.

MissouriDemocrat said...

As a democrat old enough to recall the Vietnam War with a brother serving in country I recall the tremendous division we felt each day and the casualty counts nightly on the news. If I were a Clinton or an Obama running against the kinds of mettle John McCain possesses regardless of his stance on the war in Iraq I would not sleep well at night. Hence they all want to paint a McCain presidency as Bush's third term. Nothing could be farther from the truth. McCain is his own man and bucks his party regularly. He ran against Bush and did so taking opposite stances to GW on more than one issue. McCain is also not scared of the conservative right in his party. For this democrat with a brain I find the choice between McCain and my parties prospects refreshing. I am sure now I will be attacked by every democrat that reads these silly blogs. Being a democrat doesn't mean blindly following some liberal line read like a zombie behind Howard Dean and Nancy fancy.

indyernie said...

Well said MD.

Anonymous said...

So, what about: (1) health care; (2) social security; (3) sustainability; (4) global warming; (5) the economy, etc. I believe even Obama admits to McCain's stellar military background. However, I am a bit curious, how does his military background help his policies on the other issues Americans are facing? McCain - actively sought the endorsements of rouge preachers (worse than Wright if you ask me), ensuring (in code) to all the conservatives that he will put in Supreme Court Justices in order to overturn Roe v. Wade, admitted he knows nothing about the economy while hugging the ever so popular George W. Bush. How is all this going to go over with mainstream America and women in the general come November? Any thoughts?

Chris Worden said...

I strongly disagree with McCain's policies on the war in Iraq and about all of his domestic agenda, but he unquestionablyy the epitome of a war hero, and unlike the hawks who got us into the Iraq war without having ever served a day in uniform, McCain actually has TWO sons who have done tours in Iraq. In other words, when McCain says we stay, he's not risking something for American families that he isn't risking for himself. This praise I grant him without reservation. BUT having said that, it's funny to me that people assume that because McCain was a good warrior in battle that he'll automatically be a good commander-in-chief. That's like saying a great player will always be a great coach, and if Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas have taught us anything, it's that this statement clearly isn't true.

Watcher on the wall said...

tarrandwoolley said...

"So, what about: (1) health care; (2) social security; (3) sustainability; (4) global warming; (5) the economy, etc."

1. There is no global warming, it is another figment of AlGore's egocentric mind.
2. I suspect Senator McCain is far more understanding of health care and social security coming from the retirement capital of the south-west.
Couple this with an actual track record of accomplishments and seniority in the senate to base this on. Obama is a political hack .

Jon E. Easter said...

With all due respect to John McCain whose war record I respect, nothing he has done in the military will solve one of our problems today.

ONE BLACK MAN said...

This is a joke and shows how far Republican stooges will go to distort the record. These are not the records that people, including MIA/POW activist have been asking for. Why won't he release his debriefing after being released from the POW Camp. What about the records pertaining to the three accidents he caused including flying so low he clipped power lines in Spain? More BS from the Party of Lies and deceit.

ONE BLACK MAN said...

Haha, typical Republicans censorship. My blog is open to any to post and I do not "approve" messages. As a Gulf War Vet I am sicken by facism of right wingers and nazis.

r304nd said...

demazjhtJohn McCain is a great american as we all know, i sit and wonder being a veteran as to what commands he heakld during his long and very bright career in the military. I also remember reading a book about Gen. Dean, the highest ranking P.O.W. of the Korean war who wondered out loud and answered his own questions as to why he would never be given a combat command after the war. thgough continued to receive promotions. everyone wants to talk about who has the most experience to be presidentand i say to them whoever wins it will be their first time as president. It is a proven fact that all military men are not leaders and all former military men are not to be presidents. D. McAruther, G. Patton,Wesley Clark, Adm. Stockdale, to name a few. presidens are made or unmade by the people who they appoint to advise them. some pick wisely ans some as the current president proves no matter who you choose to assist you you will continue to make bone headed decesions as long as you have a few bone headed advisors to go along with you.Lets put it in perspective.What office in their right mind, would take a favor from the enemy and go home thinking they would not be run out of the service. That was a no brainer for Sen McCain. And that p[eople is what we do in the military. That is what he was trained for. And that is why J. McCain will always be a hero in my eyes. But a president it does not make. We can no longer afford to think only inside the box as we have been doingb for the past eight years. we must let our Generals lead our troops and keep our military strong. We can not think in cold war terms. I do not know if Obama can do the things he says he wants to do but to be honest with you neither man has really put much on the table besides who is fit and who is not. We need to ensure that our children get a great (not good) education, that our economy is as strong , and our Nation is safe. Safe enough so that no one can scare us into voting for them simply by raising the threat level on key election weeks. Had McCain been his own man he would have picked his first choice for a Veep.It is time for the scare tactics and the name calling to stop. It is time for a change and as long as J. McCain has C. Rove in his company , the man who smeared him in 04 it does not look like that change will come from Sen. McCain.

r304nd said...

S. Pallin, The latest attack dog employed by the GOP. Great forigen relations skills. as fix news(Fox NEWS) puts it she is right next to Russia. GREAT FOREIGN POLICY TRAINING.We can not step backwards in this election. We must move forward.

jhh said...

The US spends more than half the world's total expenditure on its military. That is pretty tough to keep up when the Bush administration blows a trillion of taxpayer dollars on invading Iraq on pretexts--involvment with 9/11 and possession of WMD---that it knew were false and lied about. Meanwhile, Bin Laden is still at large, but we have convicted his chauffeur of being his chauffeur. It is pretty tough to keep up that kind of investment when the Bushies have to drop more than a trillion over 10 days to prop up companies owned by its rich supporters-- a situation they failed to regulate systematically for 8 years. 40 yrs ago, McCain was brave after he was shot down, which proves he is a brave soldier. But he lies about nearly everything as a candidate, as does his totally unqualified running mate, and the morning that Lehman went under, he was saying the economy was fundamentally sound. He admits he knows nothing about economics. Brave (and reckless) pilot yes, but being leader of a complex country takes more than a gut feel. The country can't afford the GOP, which deserves to go bankrupt, just like Lehman.