McCain: A lifetime spent in service to his country
TWO things stood out to us regarding the death of U.S. Sen. John McCain — the kind words offered by many longtime political opponents, and the recounting of his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. They underscored McCain’s honorableness, something seemingly lacking in so many Washington politicians today.
That trait was evident in a video clip making the rounds online over the weekend. It showed McCain, at a campaign event during his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2008, twice rejecting audience members’ criticism of his opponent, Barack Obama.
“He is a decent person, and a person you don’t have to be scared (about) as president of the United States,” McCain said in the first case. In the second instance, McCain called Obama “a decent family man … that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.”
How likely are we to hear anything similar from any presidential candidate in today’s uber-partisan climate?
Obama was among those who noted their appreciation for McCain the man. He said few people have been asked to show the kind of courage McCain did during the war, “but all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means.”
Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, who served many years with McCain in the Senate, used words like “character” and “integrity” to describe his former political opponent. “A life lived embodying those truths casts a long shadow. John McCain will cast a long shadow,” Biden said.
We believe those traits derived from a deep and abiding love of country, which were forged as the son of a four-star Navy admiral and shone through during his time as a POW.
McCain’s jet was shot down over Hanoi in October 1967. He ejected and landed in a lake, breaking one leg and both arms. He suffered countless beatings at the hands of the North Vietnamese and eventually was transferred to the notorious “Hanoi Hilton” prison where he spent five years.
During that time, he was tortured repeatedly and did long stints in solitary confinement. His stay could have been shortened, had he allowed the North Vietnamese to free him in mid-1968 after his father was made commander in chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific.
But it was a propaganda move, and he refused, insisting that every American POW captured before him be freed before he would go. His freedom didn’t come until March 1973 following a ceasefire agreement.
McCain said in an interview years later that three things kept him going while in Vietnam: “Faith in God, faith in my fellow prisoners and faith in my country.”
As a U.S. senator, he earned a reputation as a champion of defense and someone who was willing to work with the other side to make America better. We salute the man for his lifetime of service. The country has lost something in short supply these days — a true statesman and patriot.