Area man reflects on McCain at ‘Hanoi Hilton’
As the nation and world spent the weekend saying goodbye and saluting Sen. John McCain as a hero fighter pilot, statesman and senator, Ralph Galati had a bit more personal retrospective.
Galati remembered McCain as his fellow captive in the “Hanoi Hilton.”
Ralph Galati of Wallingford had his own personal memories of the beloved senator who passed away from brain cancer
on August 25. He recalled the longtime Arizona senator and two-time presidential candidate “a really great statesman, an American citizen who spent his entire life serving America really well.”
Galati was only 23, when he initially encountered John McCain. Unfortunately, he met the future senator and 2008 presidential candidate, under one of the worst circumstances possible, in “Hanoi Hilton.”
Galati, who moved from Philadelphia to Ridley Township when he was in sixth grade, is a graduate of the former Our Lady of Peace grade school in Ridley Township, the former St. James High School in Chester and Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where he majored in English. He decided to sign up for the Air Force ROTC. The first time that Galati ever flew in an airplane was when the Air Force transported him to basic training. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He attended USAF Flight Training in 1970, and received his Wings in 1971.
A weapon systems officer in the F-4 Phantom aircraft, Galati was assigned to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand in the fall of 1971. On February 16, 1972, he was on his 69th mission in just 90 days, when he and his pilot were shot down over North Vietnam. He was immediately captured and taken to prison camp in Hanoi, or what was commonly referred to as “Hanoi Hilton.” He spent the next 14 months as a prisoner of war, where he endured weeks of solitary confinement, beatings, a meager diet and the uncertainty of never knowing which day might be his last. It was as a POW that Galati initially came in contact with McCain.
“Everybody seemed to know who the future Arizona senator was,” Galati explained, “and not only because his father was an admiral and was in charge of naval operations in the entire Pacific. Rather, John McCain had a reputation of his own, as a dedicated soldier and strong resister and a citizen who loved America and always put country first.”
One day, the prisoners were allowed out into an exercise yard. McCain, who was 11 years older than Galati, spoke briefly to the Delaware County resident. It was one of only a few brief exchanges. In 1973, McCain was released a few weeks before Galati.
While Galati was in prison, his family and friends had no idea of his condition or where he was. His wife of only a few years, Rosemary, had given birth to their daughter Christine four days after Galati’s plane was gunned down.
“To this day, I have no idea of why Senator McCain was in Philadelphia after he was released,” Galati said in an interview this week. “But he tracked down my family and called my wife. He tried to reassure them and allay their fears by telling them that he had talked with me, seen me and that I would soon be home.”
Galati was released a month later on March 28, 1973.
“What makes this so special is that he went out of his way for someone who was basically a stranger to him. He didn’t have to do that. He did it on his own and I think that speaks to his character,” Galati stated.
Galati returned to his native Philadelphia in 1973, worked as a flight instructor, then joined IBM, where he worked for 28 years. After retiring from IBM, he worked as the community outreach director for Delaware County Office of Veterans Affairs and then accepted a position as the founder and director of Veterans Services at Saint Joseph’s University, where he worked for five years before retiring last October. Galati currently serves on
the boards of the Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association, JDog Junk Removal & Hauling, and the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In addition to his daughter Christine, Galati and his wife of almost 50 years, also have a son, Dr. Steven Galati, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
Galati had a few more brief encounters with fellow POW McCain through the years. He met him at the Pentagon in 1978, when they both worked there as Legislative Liaisons— McCain for the Navy and Galati for the Air Force. Their paths crossed again a few years ago, when Sen.
McCain came to Philadelphia to campaign for Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
Ralph Galati received many awards throughout the years, honoring him for his military service, as well as his community service, including the very first Freedom Medal awarded by the Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association. Other awards received include the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation Legion of Honor Gold Medallion, the Delaware County Bar Association Themis Award, the City of Philadelphia Bowl award, the Delaware County Veterans Council Vietnam Veteran of the Year award, Daughters
of the American Revolution Honor Medal, the Christopher Columbus Memorial Association Hall of Fame,
the Pennsylvania and California Legislators Commendations and the Delaware County American Spirit Preservation Award. Galati’s military awards include a Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Valor with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
This past Fourth of July, Galati received the prestigious Magis Award, presented by Mayor Jim Kenney on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, as part of the 2017 Wawa Welcome America Festival.
Ironically, it was through the awarding of some of Galati’s awards that the former POW from Wallingford again witnessed the admirable scope of McCain’s character.
When he received some of the awards, such as the recent Magis award, and when a film was being made about the Veterans Program at St. Joseph’s University, staff for the various organizations reached out to Sen. McCain, requesting
him to speak on video about his relationship with Galati at Hanoi Hilton.
“McCain didn’t hesitate anytime that he was asked,” Galati said. “To him, these were probably very small favors, but to us they were huge. If you would have heard him speak on these videos, you would have thought that he knew me very well. These videos are very flattering to me. He had no idea how significant and appreciated his words were to me and my family.”
Although they had their POW background in common, Galati humbly said that he was way more aware of McCain and the life that he went on to live, rather than the other way around.
“Sen. McCain went on to
be famous in my family and in America. Everything that he did for me and my family speaks volumes about the kind of person he was.”
When Galati first learned
of McCain’s diagnosis with Glioblastoma brain cancer in January, he knew the end was near for the Arizona Senator because Galati had a few friends who passed
away within a year after receiving the same diagnosis.
Galati, almost immediately, reached out through some POW circles to obtain the senator’s home address
so that he could send him a letter. He hopes that McCain received and read it.
“I told him how much he meant to me and my family,” Galati shared. “And how much we all appreciated everything that he did, especially contacting my wife and family to reassure them that he had seen and spoken to me in Hanoi. I wanted him to know how much this selfless and thoughtful gesture meant to us, back then and still now.”
Galati did not expect a response in return.
“I didn’t do it so that he would write back,” the Delaware County resident said. “I did it because it was the right thing to do and it was important to me to send it while he was still able to read it himself.”
When asked if he watched this week’s funeral services for McCain, Galati said that
he didn’t watch because, personally, he finds all funeral services “debilitating” and “morose,” and instead prefers to remember people as they were when they were living.
“I always looked at Sen. McCain as a great statesman, but more importantly as a great American citizen who really loved his country,” Galati shared. “Sure, he sometimes irritated people. But, if he erred, he quickly admitted it, corrected it and moved on. He voted his conscience and always put America first, way behind politics.”
“Over time, I believe more people will come to appreciate Sen. McCain’s contributions to America,” Galati continued. “He was a man of character, with good, solid values. He served our country well and always tried to do what he thought was best for America.”