John Sidney McCain III - The Man

In today's On-Line edition of "The Wall Street Journal" is a very interesting look into the life and character of John McCain, POW. The article ("Messages From John") is authored by fellow POW in Hanoi, ERNEST C. BRACE.

Mr. Brace gives the reader a great look into the character of John McCain in the worst of circumstances.

It was May 24, 1973. Almost five years previously I had met John under harsher circumstances. We had been confined as POWs in solitary confinement in adjacent cells at a camp the prisoners of war had named "The Plantation" in Hanoi, North Vietnam. We talked to each other through a wall for over a year, of family, our capture, girlfriends, troubles we'd been through, and on Sunday we told each other a movie.

Through Mr. Brace's eyes and words, we can see a John McCain in acting and re-acting in times of REAL STRESS. It is apparent from the events, as seen through one who also experienced the same sacrifices, that John McCain is made of the stuff which America Needs.

John was now in solitary confinement because he refused to co-operate with the North Vietnamese efforts to exploit his father's position. His father, Admiral John Sidney McCain II, was Commander in Chief of Naval Forces Europe when John was captured. Since John's capture in 1967 his father had become Commander in Chief of Naval Forces Pacific, (CINCPAC), a much more significant posting considering John's captivity. John was considered a valuable prisoner by the Hanoi Government and they occasionally tried to use him to their propaganda advantage. John refused to cooperate.

This is an article which should be read by anyone wanting to know "the stuff" of which John McCain is made.

John wanted to follow in the foot-steps of his father and grandfather by becoming an Admiral in the United States Navy. John didn't make Admiral, but he has an excellent chance of becoming Commander In Chief.