Captain McCain was one of my State's Senators. I did not know him except by reputation. He was a navy aviator with some 22 sorties "Downtown" in Vietnam. For those who don't know, that means he flew an A4 attack fighter into the most concentrated barrage of anti-aircraft fire ever seen. He did so in an unarmored aircraft, with nothing protecting him but speed and maneuverability. One time, those were not enough, and then-Lieutenant-Commander McCain's fighter was knocked out of the sky. LtCdr McCain bailed out, breaking his arm in the process, coming to rest in a lake. He was almost immediately taken prisoner, and then his second act of Heroism took place. Lieutenant-Commander McCain was the son of Admiral John Sidney McCain II, and the North Vietnamese knew they had captured a valuable prisoner. However, this did not stop them from beating and torturing their prisoner, especially after he refused early release, saying he would stay with the other officers. When he was finally released on March 14, 1973. He came home partially disabled. Unable to raise his arms over his head, he had to have someone else comb his hair. From this, he went on to win a seat in the Congress of the United States, and later he would win the Senate seat formerly occupied by Barry Goldwater. His record of Achievements in the Senate are many, including many bipartisan efforts to enact legislation that would help out the average American. Among his last worthy deeds was his "No" vote on the bill which would have killed the Affordable Care Act, which saved some 13 million Americans from being thrown off health insurance, and a speech in the well of the Senate where he implored his fellow Senators to return to "Regular Order", wherein things got done in a bipartisan fashion, under the normal rules of the Senate.
I did not personally agree with John McCain on political issues. Many of the things he supported I believed were completely wrong. However, I write here today to commend John Sidney McCain III, Captain USN (Rtd). He was a man of courage and convictions, and a real American Hero.
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
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