Introduction
       This is an extension of my 'Who Chooses Our 'Heroes?' essay [1], published on the 4^th of July 2001 in the aftermath of the year 2000 presidential election. That essay questioned whether or not our Vietnam War POWs were heroes in the tradition of America's past wars - wars in which all agree we won. It is well-advised to digest that essay before judging the new information that has become available since the 2000 election. The new information is directly pertinent to the 2008 presidential election - especially regarding the fitness of Senator John Sidney McCain III to be president of the United States.

       In a one-hour special on 'Hannity's America' Fox News TV show (Sunday, March 16, 2008), the following exchange occurred between Sean Hannity and Senator McCain:

Begin Interview
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Hannity:  Let me start - tomorrow is the 35^th anniversary of your return from Vietnam…You were held for five and a half years of your life, tortured, beaten. Take us back to that night when you ended up.
McCain:  …I was very excited, very happy. And it was - it was a moment that I'll never forget.
Hannity:  When you were captured, you had broken your two arms. You had shattered your knee, you broke your shoulder. Ant then when they captured you, they had beaten you, I read, and stabbed you with a bayonet.
McCain:  You know, I had the misfortune of landing in a lake in the center of the city of Hanoi, or practically. So the natives were a little restless, as we say. And so it got a big crowd around. I land in this lake. To make a long story short, the army people came up. Otherwise, it might have been a lot worse than that. And took me a very short ride to the prison. So my escape and evasion part of this story is very brief.
Hannity: …and then I understand you didn't get any medical help for nine days. You spent two years of this five-and-one-half year period in solitary confinement. What does that do to a person, to spend that much time in solitary confinement?
McCain:  I think it makes you a better person. Obviously, it makes you love America. I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company, but probably the most important thing about it, Sean, is that I was privileged to have the opportunity to serve in the company of heroes. I observed a thousand acts of courage and compassion and love. My senior ranking officer (SRO) was Colonel Bud Day …He was a very tough old bird, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. And I still stand in great awe of him, and he inspired me. He inspired me to do things I otherwise wouldn't have been capable of.
Hannity:  Well, now one story that maybe people don't know is, because of the rank of your father, who was an admiral, as was your grandfather …
McCain:  Yes.
Hannity:  -- they offered to give you personal release, and you declined the offer. And then you were beaten for one straight week afterwards.
McCain:  Because our Code of Conduct says that everybody goes home in order of their capture. Also, and far more importantly than that, I knew that it would be used as a propaganda tool. The Vietnamese made it very clear. Ho Chi Minh made it very clear that they would win the war not on the battlefields of South Vietnam. They never won a battle in South Vietnam, but in the streets of Washington, San Francisco, et cetera. So, I knew that it would be not only propaganda, but also they would call in my fellow prisoners and say, see, the admiral's son goes home and you stay.
Hannity:  And it would be used against you.
McCain:  Yes.
Hannity:  You know -
McCain:  Could I also finally say, I'm glad I didn't know the war was going to last a few years longer.
Hannity:  You might have had a different opinion. Well, maybe that's honest. You know, I was surprised in one of our earliest interviews - and I know there's been a lot of highlighting the differences that conservatives have with you, but I know that it is universal that people respect and honor your heroism and your service to your country. You know that, and we've had a relationship over the years where we've agreed at times and we've disagreed at times.
McCain:  But could I also mention I think people are grateful for your past service, but I think you know very well, and so do our viewers, that they want to know what you're going to do for them, not what you have done for them.
Hannity:  I agree. I think in light of the anniversary, though, this is a day for you, and also for the country. And I think it gives you an opportunity to tell a story that maybe some people don't know about you. I'll never forget one of the first times I interviewed, and I was talking - maybe it was when your book first came out - and you had actually said - because you signed statements that you confessed to be a war criminal. And you said to me - and we had gone through all the torture you had been through, all the beatings, all the broken bones, the five and a half years. You didn't take the opportunity to get out when they gave you the opportunity. And you said, 'I failed myself, my fellow prisoners, and my family, and my country.' How could you be that hard on yourself?
McCain:  I think I thought that I was unbreakable. You know? - I was a pilot, a Navy pilot. And I thought that I would never show those traits. But I also want to point out that leaders like Colonel Bud Day and Jim Stockdale and Robbie Reisner and Bill Lawrence and so many others, they said, look, you failed, go back again. All of us are human. Go back and do better the next time. And that's the way their leadership inspired us. They knew that we might fail, but they wanted us to go back into the fight.
Hannity:  But you'd have broken arms, and they'd hang you from your arms for hours. I mean, look, I know Sean Hannity, I'd tell them whatever they wanted to hear. And I think most Americans would.
McCain:  Sean, you say that. You say that, but it's not true. It's not true. You love your country. You know what's right. They are the enemy.
Hannity:  Even when you're tortured, huh?
McCain:  I can't tell you - but I can't tell you - I could never do it. Look, I'm just a human being.
Hannity:  Yes.
McCain:  But we're inspired by our leaders. We're inspired by our love of our country. And people who love their country would do the same or better than I did.
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End of Interview

       This is quite an inspiring story, told on the political campaign trail to bolster support for Senator John McCain's candidacy for president of the United States of America. In text format it renders a sense of true heroism for some in the viewing audience, and at least respect for his service to our country for all of us. But when viewed on the TV screen, McCain's body language was quite revealing. During all of the talk of heroes, etc., he looked like a 'deer in the headlights.' Something was wrong. He looked as if there might be some out there in the viewing audience who would know that he was dissembling, misleading, and possibly hiding behind the 'heroism of others' by telling his story as if their 'heroism' would somehow conform to that which Hannity was attempting to attach to McCain. So I started looking for answers. I scoured the two exhaustively detailed books [2][3]^, on the subject, which have been written since the POWs returned home in March of 1973. Robert Timberg's book [4], 'The Nightingale's Song,' was also used as an excellent account of McCain's early years. What I found was truly astounding.

       It must be pointed out that the above accounts, based on books written by a few of the POWs after their return, as well as post-return debriefings by Pentagon debriefers and psychologists, are all 'self-reported' accounts. The POW's own accounts are the only records that exist of their treatment, etc. That is, we have no records of the interrogations and other pressures exerted on the POWs  from the North Vietnamese vantage point. It is clear that such records were made because of the intense efforts of the enemy to gather 'biographical' data on each prisoner - as well as their experiments with various torture techniques (e.g. the Cuban experiment at the Zoo). But the U.S. did not insist on receiving these accounts when it had the leverage in the 1990s to formalize ambassadorial relations and the follow-on trade agreements with the North Vietnamese. Indeed, some rabid anti-McCain critics believe that McCain urged the North Vietnamese government, on a trip with Senator John Kerry to Hanoi during the Trade Agreement negotiations to never release those records. They will no doubt never be accessed.

       Nevertheless, the above references - if read carefully - are sufficient to grasp the full account of a large number of the 591 POWs returned to us. And especially for a fact check on John McCain's self-reporting of his record as a POW. The reference accounts do not conform to McCain's account - either as told to Sean Hannity or to other news outlets over the years. And more importantly, new information exists that document the fact that John McCain, Hannity's POW 'hero' has not told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth concerning his behavior as a prisoner of war. More on that later.

       From the public record, the references noted above, the facts are as follows. McCain was shot down over Hanoi on 26 October 1967 [5]. "McCain had been taken prisoner … when his A-4 [Skyhawk] had one of its wings shattered by a missile and he was forced to bailout upside down at a high speed. The awkward ejection broke his right leg, his right arm in three places, and his left arm, and tore his helmet off and knocked him unconscious. He nearly died when he descended into a lake in the middle of Hanoi and the weight of his survival gear dragged him to the bottom. After coming to and twice kicking himself to the surface, then sinking again, he somehow activated his life preserver and floated to the top, only to be bashed and bayoneted by an enraged mob until soldiers finally intervened and loaded him onto a truck for prison. 'No American reached Hoa Lo [the infamous Hanoi Hilton] in worse physical condition than McCain,' John Hubbell wrote. He was carried on a stretcher into the Vegas section where, despite the trauma of his wounds, he was worked over for military information."

       According to Hubbell [6], "…the cockeyed Bug interrogated him. Bug wanted McCain to tell him what kind of aircraft he had been flying and to name future targets. McCain kept replying with name, rank, and serial number. Each time he did this, Pigeye and Big Ugh would seize him by the neck of his T-shirt - he had been stripped to his underwear - and smash a fist into his face. McCain was knocked unconscious a couple of times, in which state, Bug deduced, it was not possible to interrogate him. The torture guards were instructed to soften their blows. Bug advised the broken pilot of his criminal status, assured him that he had no rights and that if he failed to provide satisfactory answers he would receive no medical treatment. That surprised McCain. He could not believe that his injuries would be left untended. All he had to do, he decided was to hold out for a couple of days. Then the interrogator would give up on him, and he would be taken to a hospital.

       Holding out wasn't easy. He was weak and feverish and in great pain. The interrogations and beatings continued…He became aware that he was losing consciousness more often and that he was staying unconscious longer. He began to wonder how long he could survive. His left sic [right] knee was the size, shape, and color of a football." At this point it is of note that McCain revealed in a U.S. & News Report article [7], "They wanted military rather than political information at this time. Every time they asked me something, I'd just give my name, rank and serial number and date of birth. I think it was on the fourth day that two guards came in, instead of one. One of them pulled back the blanket to show the other guard my injury. I looked at my knee. It was about the size, shape and color of a football."

       "I remembered that when I was a flying instructor a fellow had ejected from his plane and broken his thigh. He had gone into shock, the blood had pooled in his leg, and he died. Then I realized that a very similar thing was happening to me. When I saw it, I said to the guard, 'O.K. get the officer.' An officer came in after a few minutes. It was the man that we came to know very well as 'The Bug.' He was a psychotic torturer, one of the worst fiends that we had to deal with. I said, 'O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital.' He left and came back with a doctor…who was completely incompetent. He squatted down, took my pulse. He did not speak English, but shook his head and jabbered to 'the Bug.' I asked, 'Are you going to take me to the hospital?' 'The Bug' replied, 'It's too late.' I said, 'If you take me to the hospital, it will get well.' [The doctor] took my pulse again, and repeated, 'It's too late.' They got up and left, and I lapsed into unconsciousness."

       It was clear from this published record that the North Vietnamese were about to let John McCain die. In fact, the record shows that [8] "…however primitive enemy medical care was by American standards and however uneven, belated, and sometimes counterproductive was its application, the captor's medical intervention doubtlessly did in some instances save lives. George Coker testified to how vulnerable the POWs were to the ravages of shoot-down injuries, a tropical climate, and 'zero hygiene,' so that 'the least little scratch' could lead to a softball-size infection…The fact that the enemy released no amputees among the fallen aviators was construed by some as an indication that the Vietnamese preferred to let the most gravely ill prisoners die rather than return them maimed, but a less sinister explanation might be simply that they were able to mend or stabilize those threatened with the loss of a limb."

       Nevertheless, in John McCain's case it is clear that he would have been left to die had it not been for his father, ADM John S. McCain, Jr., then-commander-in-chief of U.S. Naval Forces Europe. As he had in the past when his son got into trouble rebelling against authority, John McCain Jr. rescued him by direct intervention. In this case, it was simply luck of the draw' for his son, 'The Crown Prince.' According to the P.O.W book [9], "The Vietnamese had not been quick about identifying [McCain] and had nearly let him die… 'We have the crown prince!' exclaimed [his jailers]. [They] crowed the news to their captives." McCain was taken to a hospital soon after they learned of his famous father. The book, 'Honor Bound,' reveals that [10] "The captors judged the 'crown prince' a prize worth saving and a natural for The Plantation propaganda stagings once he was well enough to be taken there."

       It is at this point that the new information, heretofore privately held, but now available and previously authenticated by Department of Defense authorities at the time, documents the extent to which John McCain 'sang like a canary' while in the North Vietnamese hospital and in his 'room' during the several weeks he was at the Hoa Lo prison before being transferred to The Plantation. He revealed military information to the enemy in return for obtaining medical treatment as he had promised his interrogator, 'Bug.' Such medical treatment was denied to many other wounded POWs (e.g. Ray Vohden [11], who two-and-one-half years after his shootdown, had been tortured by the Cubans at the Zoo. His right shinbone had been snapped just above the ankle and after a 'good deal of amateur carpentry' on the injury, about three inches of the shinbone were missing. Vohden had suffered a lot of infection in the leg and was still in considerable pain and on crutches at the time of his torture. And Jim Bell [12], who was marched through the angry Hanoi crowd on the infamous 'march' of the Zoo and Briarpatch prisoners through the streets to the stadium, while being viciously pummeled by the maniacally supercharged people along the way, "…word flashed through the mob that [Bell and his march-mate] were the last twosome. The crowd closed in on him, and for Bell, who had suffered a terrible shoulder injury during his shootdown nine months earlier, it was an especially painful injury." His broken shoulder would not be mended until he returned home. Bell, in his wife's book on her experiences during those days remarks, [13] "Ray was one of the few prisoners that actually did receive some medical treatment in Hanoi. Most of us with broken arms, ribs, dislocations, and such were not treated. Broken legs were treated within their very limited capabilities and resources."

       It is up to the reader to judge whether or not he or she would have made the same decision that John McCain made. It is clear from the Hannity interview that Sean would not have hesitated to make the trade. But Sean Hannity was not a 'warrior,' a professional military officer who had been trained to withstand such hardship while in enemy hands. He had not taken an oath to observe the Code of Conduct that was the standard for our Prisoners of War. John McCain was bound by that oath. Nevertheless, there were several glaring problems with McCain's interview with Hannity.

       First of all, McCain's first absolute lie was that "My senior ranking officer (SRO) was Colonel Bud Day…" The facts are that Bud Day was never McCain's SRO - at any camp that McCain was held prisoner. There was no such officer in the Vietnamese hospital at which McCain received treatment and during the first several weeks of post-treatment care while he was recovering at Hoa Lo and before he was transferred to The Plantation. And Bud Day was never an SRO in any of the POW camps, (The Plantation, the Zoo, Alcatraz, or Camp Unity), except as a building SRO at the Zoo, in which Day was incarcerated. Day was, however, a true American hero - a resister from beginning to end while a POW and was awarded the Medal of Honor primarily for his courageous and heroic near-escape [14] from his captors after being shot down near the DMZ. With a "…wrenched left knee which was badly swollen, a torn up right side of his face (he could only see out of his left eye), and a broken right arm in three places…he escaped from his captors during the night and walked, swam, and ran for fourteen days and nights before being recaptured less than a mile from a friendly American base." A true hero in America's grand 'warrior' tradition. McCain's attempt to hide under Bud Day's heroism was a public display of self-serving delusion of the first order.

       The truth is that while McCain was at The Plantation, his SRO was Ted Guy, an Air Force fighter pilot who plays a major part in this story. The references reveal that Dick Stratton - the POW who went on worldwide television performing his 'Manchurian Candidate' caper -- giving the first big victory the POWs had in their battle with the North Vietnamese propaganda machine - was the camp SRO at The Plantation before McCain arrived and was essentially the 'de facto' SRO while the two senior officers, Hervey Stockman and Gordon Larson were in isolation. The formal SRO during McCain's imprisonment at the Plantation was, however, Ted Guy [15].

       The next major dissembling was McCain's response to Hannity's statement, "You spent two and one-half years in solitary confinement…" The fact is that McCain was never in solitary confinement as it is generally recognized - a cramped cell of small dimension, in darkness and solitude with no means of communicating with another human being. Instead, McCain spent those two years at The Plantation, situated on a tree-lined two acres which had formerly been the home of the colonial mayor of Hanoi [16]. "The faded grandeur of the place inspired the nickname 'Plantation,' although the prisoners referred to the site by a number of names as well, among them 'Country Club,' 'Funny Farm,' 'Holiday Inn' … The Vietnamese converted a portion of the facility into a Potemkin village of sanitized cells, garden patches, and scrubbed corridors that would serve as a showplace for displaying the captives to visiting delegations and conducting photo sessions and other propaganda activities…The POWs lived in…outbuildings that once contained servants' quarters and utilities…the cells varied from 6 feet by 10 feet to 14 feet by 24 feet, holding from one to five men. They were spacious, even by Vegas standards. Most comfortable were the three cells that comprised the 'Show Room,' the area featured in the propaganda events. As one would expect in a 'show' camp, carrots predominated over sticks in the treatment of captives. There was little physical abuse, at least initially [during the time of McCain's initial internment], rather mostly soft-sell efforts to modify attitudes through indoctrination quizzes, visits to historic sites or to view local bomb damage, and exposure to antiwar literature. Though exercise was limited…the prisoners did get outside to make coal balls for the kitchen, dump waste buckets, and use the bath stalls two or three times a week."

       McCain gives away the nature of the 'cell' in which he ended up inhabiting at The Plantation in his U.S. & World Report article, when he describes the interview he had with 'The Cat,' the commander of all the POW camps at the time, who offered him his release during June of 1968. McCain wrote [17], "I really didn't know what to think, because I had been having these other interrogations in which I had refused to co-operate. It was not hard because they were not torturing me at this time. They just told me I'd never go home and I was going to be tried as a war criminal…I was astonished, and I tell you frankly that I said that I would have to think about it. I went back to my room, and I thought about it for a long time." That's right, you see it right there in print - McCain referred to his 'room,' not his 'cell.' And that room' was the same 10 foot by 10 foot 'cell' that he, Bud Day, and Norris Overly shared before the latter two left The Plantation in March 1968.

       Compare McCain's treatment at The Plantation with that of other POWs in the other camps. For example, Jim Bell was imprisoned at Briarpatch, a primitive camp situated in the mountains west of Hanoi [18]. "POWs here were housed in tiny seven feet by ten feet pens in brick huts that had no electricity or plumbing…Navy Lt. Cdr. James Bell was chained to his bed for 35 days…Treatment at Briarpatch always seemed to be more vicious than elsewhere in the system, perhaps because of the camp's atavistic character and isolated location that gave staff somewhat freer rein and that heightened tensions and irascibility all around. An undesirable assignment for prison personnel and POWs alike, there was a tendency for 'bad attitude' cases on both sides to wind up there, making an already grim situation even more combustible [19]…deep holes dug beneath cell bunks, ostensibly as bomb shelters, became convenient punishment stalls… Bell (among others) were required to spend a month in the dank, vermin-infested pits for communication violations." According to the 'PO.W.' book [20], "Jim Bell…was confined for thirty days to 'the pit,' a grave-sized hole about four feet deep, dug in the floor of the cell beneath one's bunk…Bell's wrists were cuffed behind him; thus, he was unable to cope with the clouds of mosquitoes and the crawling vermin that lived with him in the dark, dank hole."

       Jim Bell was shot down approximately two years before John McCain - on 26 October 1965. After being processed through the Heartbreak Hotel in the Hoa lo complex, he was shipped out to the Zoo and from there to the Briarpatch on 1 December 1965. He was the SRO for most of his time there. He was responsible for dictating the resistance posture of all the POWs in response to the policies and dictates of the V. In his words [21], "Although most of the time the V chose to ignore the POW command structure, they knew it was there, and when they undertook a camp-wide program…they'd usually start with the SRO. Their plan was obviously to start with the SRO, and once he had submitted, the rest of the camp would fall in line. As a result, I spent about two months in leg chains. My legs were tightly chained together at the ankles and to the bed. I was released once a week to take my toilet bucket outside for emptying and to take a walk up the hill for a quiz (interrogation)…at a later interrogation the camp commander sentenced me to three months in 'the hole.' … When serving out a sentence in the hole, you would take your toilet bucket with you to serve as a stool, and you would spend your entire time, day and night in 'the hole.' You were normally handcuffed, usually in back, so this wasn't a pleasant existence…"

       Compare this experience with John McCain's relatively 'conversational' relationship with his captors at The Plantation, John McCain's 'room' with Jim Bell's and others' 'hole.' One was relative comfort, the others in 'the hole' the reality of solitary confinement. McCain could have explained the difference to Sean Hannity but did not. He demurred.

       John McCain's third transgression during his interview with Hannity occurred when he said, "I observed a thousand acts of courage and compassion and love [while imprisoned]…" The fact is that there were more than a thousand acts of courage and compassion and love carried out by the other prisoners in the Hanoi prison complex, many of them so moving under the barrage of barbaric torture by the enemy that it moves one to silent awe and admiration upon reading of them -- but John McCain could not possibly have 'observed' them. He was in solitary confinement, you see. Of course, he was able to learn of them after the torture let up in the wake of Ho Chi Minh's death on 2 September 1969, after which the POWs were allowed to freely communicate and find out had occurred while living communally at Camp Unity. McCain's dissembling on this subject during the Hannity interview was a disgraceful effort to attach the courage and heroism of others to himself.

       The final transgression that John McCain made during the Hannity interview was when Sean stated, "But you'd have broken arms, and they'd hang you from your arms for hours…" The fact is that McCain was not tortured, nor was he beaten, nor was he hung by ropes. Others were but John McCain was not. McCain was slapped and cuffed around, but he was not tortured as the others were tortured. McCain, in his own words, tells us that [22] "They took me out of my 'room' to 'Slopehead,' who said, 'You have violated all the camp regulations. You're a black criminal. You must confess your crimes.' I said that I wouldn't do that, and he asked, 'Why are you so disrespectful of guards?' I answered, 'Because the guards treat me like an animal."

      McCain continues, "When I said that, the guards, who were all in the room - about 10 of them - really laid into me. They bounced me from pillar to post, kicking and laughing and scratching. After a few hours of that, ropes were put on me and I sat that night bound with ropes." McCain was roughed up for the next four days in that way until he finally said, "O.K., I'll write for them." He signed the 'confession' that the North Vietnamese interrogator wrote for him.

       Observe that John McCain was never subjected to the excruciating 'rope tricks' that many of the other POWs experienced before their rigged 'confessions' were signed. And a few, including Jim Kasler, Red McDaniel, and Jim Bell, did not sign 'confessions' even though having been put through brutal torture, including the 'ropes.' The 'Honor Bound' book describes the torture regime that commenced in the fall of 1965 [23]. "The North Vietnamese, increasingly agitated by both mounting POW resistance and unrelenting U.S. bombing raids, rather suddenly stiffened their treatment of the American prisoners. Until November 1965, there had been warnings and threats, an occasional reprisal or strong-arm tactic, mostly aimed at the seniors, but no concerted effort to discipline the Americans - disorganized harassment and isolated incidents of 'slaps and cuffs, Hervey Stockman [the SRO at The Plantation when John McCain first arrived there] described the climate. The lackadaisicalness of guards and generally loose supervision by prison officials had permitted relatively easy communication among prisoners. This atmosphere of benign neglect changed abruptly following 24 October [1965]…[when prison authorities were made aware of the degree of clandestine activity among the Americans…A tighter regime at some point was inevitable…No doubt, together with the spreading bombing damage in the Hanoi-Haiphong area, it shortened tempers. In any case, it gave the Vietnamese a pretext for clamping down. The new era that ensued, so distinct that the POWs in retrospect referred to it variously as the 'Middle Years' or 'Extortion Era' of the captivity experience, would extend from late October 1965 to the fall of 1969."

       John McCain self-reports that, contrary to the clampdown at Hoa lo, the Briarpatch and the Zoo, the 'lackadaisical attitude existed at The Plantation during his early years there, from December 1967 all the way up through June 1968 [24]. "…my treatment was basically good. I would get caught communicating, talking to guys through the wall, tapping - that kind of stuff, and they'd just say, 'Tsk, tsk; no, no.' Really, I thought things were not too bad."

       In fact during 1968, while McCain was still imprisoned at the Plantation, when the resistance movement within the POW ranks and the enemy's attempt to force confessions and interviews with U.S. anti-war groups visiting Hanoi in the propaganda war against America, most of the prison camp internees suffered a great deal of torture. This was not the case at the Plantation. According to the book [25], 'Honor Bound,' "If it had been any other camp, the captor would have likely countered the spreading rebelliousness at the Plantation with a ferocious general crackdown on communication and other POW activities. But the camp's peculiar status as a showplace for visitors limited the actions that the Vietnamese could take to restore control. Although they sporadically resorted to brute physical force, as with McCain and Carrigan (Footnote: Plumb was another who got mauled…He reported twice being spreadeagled on the ground and whipped with a fan belt, but the 'common punishment,' he said, was for guards to force violators to their knees and beat them about the face with open hands [i.e. slaps and cuffs] much preferred 'because it left only welts and bruises. Whereas the fan belt left permanent foot-long scars.), officials could not institute a camp-wide reign of terror at Plantation without subverting the very purpose for which the facility was established."

       "Instead they relied on more subtle psychological means to undermine POW organization and solidarity, preying on the group's inexperience and exploiting the prison's Potemkin character to maximum advantage. In a kind of shell game intended to fuel both suspicion and confusion, they moved prisoners in and out of cells and rotated men between the show rooms and the other lockups, the latter practice especially raising questions among the residents as to who was getting preferential treatment and why. To sow dissension further, they allowed some individuals writing privileges, usually those whose identities as POWs were already known, while denying a man's cellmates the same indulgence…By Spring 1968 it became clear to Cat that the hands-off approach was not working and that unchecked resistance at the Plantation threatened to ruin the high-stakes propaganda program. Deciding on more drastic measures, the prison superintendent rounded up a dozen or so known or suspected troublemakers [including Bud Day, but not John McCain] … and had them deported to the Zoo."

       Prior to October 1965, although there were sporadic instances of 'slaps and cuffs,' there were no documented cases of outright torture of American POW in North Vietnamese prisons [26]…Even as the Vietnamese steadily turned to more brutal methods as a matter of course in November and December 1965, they went to elaborate lengths to justify their actions…What they did not realize was how much abuse the prisoners would take before surrendering. Before long, torture, as both an instrument of punishment and a means for extracting information - cloaked in a rationale of legitimacy - became a standard procedure."

       A description of this torture technique is provided below. The 'Cuban program' of torture took place at the Zoo from August 1967 through the summer of 1968. Jim Kasler, an Air Force major, entered the picture in July 1968 [27]. "[Kasler had already endured almost two years of constant suffering from either illness or torture, most recently when Spot supervised a session in the Auditorium that combined [hand and ankle] cuffs and ropes in an effort to force him before a delegation. The strong, silent type…he would take pain to the point of passing out before giving the enemy the satisfaction of hearing him scream for relief. The session with Spot was murderous, including a garroting in the ropes and shellacking as he was made to kneel on his damaged leg. But nothing prepared him for the 11 appointments he had with Fidel [the head Cuban interrogator] in July and August [1968], among the worst sieges of torture any American withstood in Hanoi."

       "Kasler knew of Fidel through the communication network. He did not come face to face with him until 3 July, when the Cuban roared into his cell and as a calling card smashed the heel of his boot into the POW's chest. Ostensibly Lump handed Kasler to the Cubans to get him to appear before Spot's delegation, but Fidel had bragged to one of the prisoners six months earlier that he looked forward to locking horns with a warrior of Kasler's reputation, so the assignment may have been planned or solicited all along. In any case, Fidel welcomed the challenge of breaking a hardliner who had defied some of Hanoi's toughest extortionists. Over the course of two months he employed every weapon in his arsenal, from flattery to fan belt, to conquer the American. He deprived Kasler of water, wired his thumbs together, and flogged him [with a rubber hose] until his 'buttocks, lower back, and legs hung in shreds.' During one barbaric stretch he turned Cedric loose for three days with a rubber whip. By the time Fidel wrung Kasler's token compliance [to say 'I surrender,' nothing else], and called off the savagery, the POW was in a semi-coma and bleeding profusely with a ruptured eardrum, fractured rib, his face swollen and teeth broken so that he could not open his mouth, and his leg re-injured from attackers repeatedly kicking it. Had the Cuban program not wound down toward the end of the summer, Kasler might have gone the route of Cobeil [who was subsequently beaten to death by the Cubans]. For weathering the ordeal with his mind and honor intact, in Guarino's [his SRO] judgment the ace fighter pilot should have received the Medal of Honor. In a final exchange Fidel tossed the prostrate victim a pack of Viceroy cigarettes and a package of Juicy Fruit gum…and ordered him to take them. When Kasler declined, Fidel threatened to resume the punishment and the prisoner acceded."

       It is not sufficient to compare John McCain's jocular, wise-guy, banter with his captors and the above summary of the punishment that Jim Kasler took to just say 'I surrender' to his captors to make the point here. One must delve into the specifics of Kasler' situation to understand the nature of the difference. The details are recorded in the "P.O.W" book.[28] "September [1967] was eventful at the Zoo…Except for the few hours Pool Hall SRO Jim Kasler and his cellmate…had spent screening rice from their excrement bucket, Kasler had remained in torture cuffs for thirty-two days and nights. In mid-September the cuffs were finally removed. His wrists were badly swollen, dark and purplish. He was taken to an interrogation by Elf…The man had badly bucked teeth and looked upon Kasler as though he were a meal about to be enjoyed."

       Elf demanded to know what orders Kasler had issued to the other American 'criminals' in his building, and also that Kasler explain the tap code to him. Kasler declined to answer. He knew that Elf already had this information. Other Pool Hall prisoners had returned from torture and had reported in detail what had been extracted from them. Elf's plan now, the prisoner realized, was simply to break him, establish himself as his master, get him started in the business of 'cooperating' - in the Vietnamese mind, once a prisoner had cooperated in any way at all, even if the cooperation had been tortured out of him, it would be difficult for him to stop; it would be like turning a ratchet backward."

       "At Elf's signal Lantern Jaw pulled the prisoner's arms behind him and squeezed the torture cuffs back onto the tender, swollen wrists, ratcheting them down to the last notch, against the bone. Then he threw him to the floor and tied him into torture ropes. This was his first experience with 'the rope trick.' The pain was excruciating, but he promised himself that he would not give the enemy the satisfaction of hearing him cry out, and he did not."

       "He suffered in silence, sweating through his clothing, for perhaps half an hour. Then the ropes and cuffs were removed. The wrists were a shredded, bloody mess; strips and pieces of purplish skin hung from them. The same questions were put to him again; again he refused to answer. This time the cuffs were applied diagonally, across the wristbones, adding a degree of pain Jim would not have believed possible. He lasted for perhaps fifteen minutes before agreeing to talk. The ropes and cuffs were left on him as he was dragged to a stool, seated upon it, and the questions put to him again. After providing information he knew the enemy already had he was stashed in solitary in the Carriage House and locked in leg irons. He was urged to write a paper explaining why the United States was in Vietnam. He wrote, 'The United States is in South Vietnam to stop the spread of militant Communism in Southeast Asia.' This seemed to be accepted and he was left alone. One day he sat on a sawhorse in his cell, looking through a crack in the door, and he saw the man the other prisoners called Fidel…In times to come, Kasler was going to get to know Fidel far better than he would have liked."

       But before Jim Kasler was to meet Fidel in person [about a year later, September 1968], he was brutally tortured by Spot[29]. "'The food has gotten much better,' the interrogator Spot observed, smiling, to Jim Kasler. The Korean War ace who had led the first strikes against Hanoi's oil depots two years earlier, studied Spot. He knew him to be a sadist, and judged him to be a homsexual. He hated him, with a quiet, intense hatred, and knew that the feeling was mutual. He wondered why Spot was attempting to be friendly; why the smile and the inane conversation?"

       "Suddenly spot announced: 'My major has directed me to find a man to meet a delegation and make a TV appearnance on the occasion of the downing of the 3,000^th enemy airplane over our country. And so who should I think of but you, of course, which is quite an honor for you.' 'Bullshit, I'm not going to see any goddamn delegation, [replied Kasler]. 'You have no choice. You are in our hands now. We have kept you alive, now you owe this to us,' [retorted Spot].

       "'I owe you nothing,' [Kasler answered]. Kasler was terribly ill from the infection in his leg. Nonetheless, he had been subjected to prolonged, brutal torture and beatings. Only recently, Spot had beaten him to a pulp, then kept him on his knees for the rest of the day, allowing him a five-minute rest break each hour because of his leg infection. This, the sadist had explained, was in keeping with the humane and lenient treatment." Spot got up to leave the room, handing Kasler an English-language Vietnam Courier. Kasler read of the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. He was trying to digest this shocking news, when Spot returned to demand his 'final decision.' Kasler advised that he already had it. He would make no appearances, before people or cameras."

       "The next day Kasler was summoned again to interrogation. The table was laden with torture paraphernalia - ropes, leg irons, and three different sets of cuffs, all of them different sizes. 'You can torture me, you can drag me before that delegation,' Kesler said, 'but I'm not going to say a goddamn word when I get there. And I'm not making a TV appearance.

       "Spot supervised the torture. Lump came in to observe, as guards lashed Kasler's arms behind him so that the backs of the wrists met, and hell cuffs were ratcheted on down to the bones. Then ropes were pulled on, bone-tight, from the elbows to the shoulders and his arms pulled tightly together. The prisoner suffered this excruciation in silence. Spot kept urging him to put an end to his discomfort; all he need do was agree to meet with a delegation. Kasler tried to concentrate on not thinking about the awful pain in his wrists; other prisoners, he knew, found the pain in the shoulders and chest to be the worst, but for him the hell cuffs were the worst."

       "After perhaps forty-five minutes, the cuffs and ropes were removed, and Kasler was made to kneel for a beating. Then another, smaller set of hell cuffs was ratcheted on. The pain was worse this time; after about half an hour it was intolerable, and he lost consciousness. When he awakened, the cuffs were being removed. He was allowed fifteen minutes' rest, then was given another beating. Hell cuffs were reapplied and this time, somehow, the pain was intensified. He passed out within a few minutes."

       "'Do you surrender? Do you surrender?,' Spot was asking him when he regained consciousness. The cuffs had been removed. A guard stood over him, holding them. Sick, bathed in pain, Kasler could take no more. He muttered, 'Okay, I surrender.' Abruptly, the torture guard pulled him up onto his knees, pulled his arms behind him, and ratcheted the cuffs back onto his wrists, down to the bones. Again he passed out. He was awakened and again asked, 'Do you surrender?'

       "Again he surrendered, but again it was as though he had not spoken; again he was tortured to unconsciousness. This happened several times. At last the torture guard pulled him up onto his knees, threw a rope around his neck, and began garroting him. Unable to breathe, he lost consciousness. He awakened to find the guard slapping his face and Spot continuing to ask, 'Do you surrender?' 'Yes,' Kasler said again. Finally the torture ended. Kasler judged that he had been tortured as long and as intensively after first saying that he surrendered as he had been before. It took him several hours to regain the use of his hands."

       "The next dawn, [after refusing to meet a delegation] July 3 [1968], the camp medic entered Kasler's cell to bandage his draining leg. Jim knew what this meant; it was always done prior to torture, to keep the blood and pus from staining the interrogation room. Within an hour he was in torture. Lump entered, pulled up a stool, and sat down next to the prisoner's head, 'Now, Kasler,' he said, 'I am going to enjoy this.' Kasler was alternately put in hell cuffs and ropes, and beaten. Once, guards were standing on his wrists, trying to squeeze them into a smaller pair of cuffs, when a voice said, 'Kasler!'"

       "It was Fidel…Now, it seemed, he was to be handed over to the Latin. Fidel reached down, grabbed Jim by the neck of his shirt, and shook him like a rag doll. 'What do you think you're pulling, you m…….f…er? What kind of s…….are you trying to pull?' Fidel seemed beside himself with rage. He kept screaming obscenities. Then he slammed the heel of his boot down into the center of Kasler's chest. Intense pain exploded up through the shoulder and down the arm to the hand. Jim gasped, fought for air, felt certain he was having a heart attack and was going to die."

       "Torture guards kept stuffing rags into his mouth. He had not cried out, but many did in torture, and the Vietnamese did not like it. He kept spitting the rags out onto the floor, and guards kept trying to replace them in his mouth. After a while, when he still had not screamed, they stopped trying to gag him. 'Why are you doing this, you m…….f……er?' Fidel shrieked. 'Why won't you cooperate?' 'You won't make a traitor out of me!' Kasler muttered. 'You're not going to make me betray my country!'"

       "After a while Fidel ordered the cuffs and ropes removed. Kasler sat at the table before him. 'Who knows you're here?' the Latin asked. 'Nobody,' Kasler replied. Then why are you pulling this s….? You don't have to go through this. You'll go before the delegation.' 'I refuse,' Kasler said. Shifting psychological gears, Fidel asked, 'You want a drink of water." 'Yes,' Kasler responded. Having sweated through the tortures, Jim was completely dehydrated. Guards brought water. Fidel turned a small table fan on Kasler and gave him a cigarette. At length the Latin said, 'Okay, when you go before the delegation…' 'Forget it,' Kasler said. 'I'm not doing anything.'"

       "'Back on your knees!,' yelled Fidel. Guards administered another beating. He was squeezed again into hell cuffs and torture ropes. He lay in agony, trying to concentrate on something other than the pain that assailed him. He tried to fling his mind into the past; he thought about pies his mother used to make, picnics with his wife and children. He recited the Lord's Prayer to himself, thinking through the meaning of each word and thought. Then Fidel was now on the floor next to him, asking, 'Do you want to take a bath?' 'Yeah,' Kasler replied. 'Are you gonna surrender,' Fidel demanded. 'No,' Kasler said. He was taken out of torture. Fidel ordered him to go to the bath area, clean up, and 'change those filthy clothes. You smell like a pig!'"

       "After the bath he was returned to the interrogation room. Kasler again advised Fidel he was not going before any delegation. 'On your knees!,' barked Fidel. This time, after the hell cuffs were on, Jim's thumbs were wired together. Ropes were tied around his elbows. A guard stood in front of him, put a foot on his head to hold him down, and lifted his arms slowly, until they seemed to be in a ball behind his head. The pain was the worst he had known yet. It engulfed him, yet he could feel it all, the wires cutting the thumbs, the cuffs biting through the skin and into the bone, the shoulders turning, turning, agonizingly, in a direction they were not meant to turn. But he did not cry out - he would not give his tormentors that satisfaction. And so it continued - and got worse. Even tighter torture cuffs were applied and fists were smashed repeatedly into his face."

       "Kasler was returned to the Ho Chi Minh Room. There Lump met him with another guard who, having been awarded ten minutes to work over the prisoner, beat him unmercifully. That done, Kasler was made to kneel in the center of the floor, so that guards could observe him from the peephole in the cell door. He lost consciousness, fell, awakened, crawled toward his water  jug. He needed water desperately. Before he could reach it, though, the cell door opened and a guard took the jug away. Kasler was made to get back onto his knees. He passed out several times. Each time, guards would enter, revive him, and get him back up onto his knees. Fidel arrived and made him lie face down on the wooden pallet that served as a bed. The Latin unlimbered a heavy rubber whip. Lifting it, he shouted, 'The best way to survive is by being aggressive!' With that, he laid the lash across Kasler's buttocks. Then, 'Strike the enemy first, before he has a chance to hit you!' Another lash. More quotes, from various newspaper and magazine interviews with Kasler prior to the ace's capture. Kasler writhed under the lash that slammed down into him over and over again. Lost in pain, Kasler paid no heed to what his torturer was saying. He counted the blows, fought down a mounting urge to scream, to vomit. The flogging went on and on, and he was unable to lose consciousness. After thirty-six lashes, Fidel asked, 'Are you going to surrender?' 'No,' Kasler responded. 'I'll talk to you tomorrow, you son of a bitch!' Fidel retorted.

       "Kasler's buttocks, lower back, and legs hung in shreds. The skin had been entirely whipped away and the area was a bluish, purplish, greenish mass of bloody raw meat. Lump came to warn, 'Tomorrow, we show you the determination of the Vietnamese people!' But the next day was July 4 and, in deference to the American holiday, Fidel gave Kasler respite. He was given cigarettes, a beer, and a piece of peanut-brittle-like candy."

       "Early on the fifth, he was taken to an interrogation room. Fidel was not present, but the ropes were, and a pair of hell cuffs so small that it took the guards about thirty minutes to get them locked onto the emaciated prisoner's wrists. This pain exceeded all that had gone before. Kasler began to fear for his sanity. He was tied back into torture ropes, and his arms were pulled straight out behind him, then pulled upward, toward his shoulders. The ropes were drawn across his shoulders and down around his feet. Then they were pulled tight, until his toes were against his mouth. He remained tied into this agonized ball for a long time. Guards kept slapping him and punching him. He would not surrender. He knew that the torture that came after surrender lasted as long as that which preceded it."

       "That night guards stayed at his cell door, looking in on him every few minutes to make certain he did not lie down or sleep, and that he did not abuse the clouds of mosquitoes that feasted on him. He was kept like that all the next day and next night. Then, early on the seventh, there was another session with Fidel. 'I'll tell you what I'll do,' said the Latin. 'We'll give a symbolic torture. I'll bring ten other POWs into this room and we'll torture you. They will see it, then you can surrender. Everyone will know you have been tortured and you will be an honorable man.' 'Bullshit,' said Kasler. 'You m……….f…..er!' Fidel shrieked. 'You son of a bitch! What kind of s…. .. are you trying to pull, you bastard?' 'I'll never surrender,' said Kasler. It occurred to him that he had made a mistake, that he should have agreed to being tortured in front of ten other prisoners, then refused to surrender. 'All right,' said Fidel, 'you're going to go in front of that delegation if we have to carry you. Either that or I am going to beat you to death!"

       "That night he was again fed to the mosquitoes. At dawn the next morning, a Vietnamese guard whom the prisoners called Cedric entered the cell. Cedric apparently had been assigned to Fidel as his batman, bootlicker, and errand boy; he fawned on the Latin, and Fidel despised him. Cedric had his own rubber whip. He ordered Kasler to lie on his stomach, then lashed him seven times across his already ravaged buttocks. Kasler was made to remain in position on the bed pallet. For three days, every hour on the hour from 6 AM until 10 PM, Cedric would supervise as a different guard came to deliver three to four lashes with the rubber whip. Each time, Cedric would treat himself to an additional three to four lashes. Cedric always took his time, extracting enormous pleasure from the exercise and heaping upon the prisoner all the appellations he had heard his idol, Fidel, use on Kasler."

       In the three days Kasler was flogged with approximately three hundred more lashes. When he was not being flogged, he was made to sit up on his terrible wounds. At night he was locked in leg irons, and was not allowed to sleep or to do anything against the mosquitoes and flies that were drawn to his blood. During the flogging at noon on the third day, he knew he was going mad. Suddenly, involuntarily, he said, 'I surrender.' He had not meant to say it; some conspiracy of mind and body had overcome the will, and the words had escaped him, like a scream. It didn't matter. The flogging continued. He was flogged six more times that day. At each flogging Cedric kept saying, 'My commander does not believe you. He believes you lie. Why do you lie?'"

       "That evening he was made to sign a letter in which he assured his captors that he would do everything he was told to do 'to the best of my ability.' He was locked again in leg irons but he was given a mosquito net and allowed to sleep. The sleep restored him to the extent that by the next morning he was distraught with himself for having surrendered. But for the next several days he kept replying affirmatively when guards opened his peephole to ask if he still surrendered. He hurt so badly that he could not find it within himself to say something that might lead to a resumption of the torture. Once the peephole opened and he was startled to see an American face. It was Jack Bomar who, along with other Fidel prisoners, was unloading a truck full of melons into a room in the Auditorium. The group had been wondering for days who it was that Fidel had in torture and now, with the guards all in sight and preoccupied, Bomar was finding out. He talked to Kasler for perhaps five minutes, then returned to tell the others who it was and to say, 'He looks bad. Bad.'"

       "The guards kept coming to the cell, to ask Kasler if he still surrendered. One day he answered, 'No.' Within minutes Cedric was in the cell with a crowd of guards. The prisoner was made to kneel with his hands behind his back, and the guards took turns slapping him in the face. Kasler was able to note that several younger guards were unable to contain their disgust at what they saw happening and stole away. The others enjoyed it. Cedric took out his rubber whip and flailed away at him, lashing with abandon across the face, chest, back, and legs. Kasler's left eardrum was ruptured and blood streamed down the side of his face and neck. Once, when he was driven off his knees and fell back against the bed pallet, a guard kicked him in the back; Jim felt a rib break, felt the sharp, breathtaking pain flood through him, overwhelming all the other pain. He rolled  on the floor, his arms crossed over his chest, trying to protect himself as the guards continued to kick at him. The floor was puddled with blood and pus, most of it from his infected leg. The guards became aware that the leg was bleeding and draining, and began jumping up and down on it. Only half-conscious now, Jim felt a sharp pain above the hip, where the pin had been inserted down through the thighbone. The guards seemed caught up in a bloodlust; they kept screaming, kicking, and spitting at the prisoner. They would smash his head against the floor and occasionally would pull him to his knees to slug at his face. Periodically Cedric would manage to get the others to stand back so that he could lay away with the whip."

       "It went on and on, and the prisoner, weak and broken, wondered when death would come; he knew that he surely could not suffer such treatment much longer. The savagery continued, though, and death did not come. The guards howled and slugged and kicked and spit and whipped, but the prisoner would not die. After what seemed like hours, he lay sprawled, in a stupor. He became aware of an intense physical struggle which did not involve him. Then, suddenly, he was alone. He surmised that other guards had been sent in to pull off those who had seemed bent on his destruction. He lay motionless, wondering whether that was good or bad - what else did the enemy have in store for him?"

       "An hour passed. Guards entered and ordered him onto his knees, hands high in the air. The broken rib filled him with pain, and as he raised his hands this pain intensified. He was warned that if he failed to do as commanded, the beating would be resumed. He stayed on his knees, hands high, until early evening - eight or nine hours. Then he collapsed. He did not lose consciousness. He fell to the floor and lay there, unable to move. Guards entered and threatened him. 'Go ahead and beat me,' he muttered. 'I don't care.' They lifted him onto his bed pallet, put down a sheet of paper. He wrote, as ordered, 'I apologize for surrendering five times and taking back six.'"

       "He lay alone for several days in a semi-coma, uninterested in the meals that were shoved into the cell; in any case, his face was so terribly swollen that he could not open his mouth; it was as though his teeth had been cemented shut. Many of his teeth were broken. Then he found himself in interrogation again, facing Fidel. 'Do you surrender?' the Latin asked. 'Yes,' replied Kasler. He was taken to a bath area and allowed to shave and clean up. He was returned to his cell and a bowl of soup was brought to him. There was a large, hard lump in the broth. He poked at it, then lifted it out of the bowl. It was the head of a dog, complete with all the anatomical appurtenances, -- eyes, nose, ears, teeth, hair. He put the head aside and downed the broth."

       "There was another interrogation with Fidel in which Kasler replied affirmatively when asked if he still surrendered. That was the end of it. There were no more demands to write anything, no insistence that he appear before a delegation. Fidel said, 'We're going to take care of your leg.' Kasler said, 'Bullshit. You haven't done anything for it for two years and you're not going to now.' Fidel insisted that treatment was in the offing. He tossed a package of Viceroy cigarettes and a package of Juicy Fruit gum on the table and told Kasler to take them Kasler declined. Fidel grabbed him by the shirtfront and began shaking him. 'You take 'em,' he shouted, 'or I'm gonna beat the s…… out of you!' He took them."

       "Having failed to persuade Kasler to write an acceptable paper or to appear before a delegation, Fidel concentrated on breaking Cobeil, the 'Faker,' whom he eventually beat to death." If this story sickens you because of the graphic detail of the barbaric torture endured by our POWs, so be it. Suck it up. Stick it out. Read it! And better yet, go to the references provided and read its entirety to measure the courage and fortitude in the face of the suffering of our POWs at the hands of their captors. And in terms of the comparison here of John McCain's 'heroism' and level of 'torture' inflicted on him by his captors compared to that endured by nearly all of the other POWs. That comparison would not be of interest had he not chosen to hide behind the 'heroism' of the real resisters of the scandalous perversion of their barbaric captors - in his 2008 campaign for the presidency of the United States of America.

       And that is not the entirety of existing evidence that reveals the real story of John McCain's behavior as a POW in North Vietnam. There is privately held evidence that belies the public story told in the references above. And it comes from one who should know - John McCain's SRO during most of his imprisonment at The Plantation. Colonel Ted Guy was McCain's SRO. So, just who is Ted Guy? Read his record of service at this hyperlink.

       In a private communication Ted Guy states that [30] "…I have absolutely no love or respect for Senator McCain. As far as I am concerned he is a damn liar and changes his tune to fit the occasion. For example, it has been published and he has said that after he was rescued out of the lake…in Hanoi that he was beaten and tortured. I have a DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] message that quotes Francois Chalais, a French television reporter, on 25 through 27 December about his interview with McCain. In this interview he (McCain) states, 'They immediately took me to the hospital, in a condition two inches away from death. A doctor operated on my thigh, others at the same time dealt with my arms.' So much for the torture. Additionally, my knowledge and observance of McCain while the SRO at the Plantation clearly show me and others that he was never touched. Why then, all the talking to Foreign Press, and everyone else that wanted to talk to him? I and another senior, who I replaced as SRO in the Plantation, because he was out of communication, feel the same.                             

       JOHN McCAIN WAS NEVER TOUCHED THE ENTIRE TIME HE WAS IN NORTH VIETNAM, and I for one have and will continue to state so publicly. I have a thick file about John McCain that I have been collecting for some time. In addition, a friend of mine in Arizona has been doing likewise and the other day sent me a copy of most of the important things he has. These files/letters/conversations with Mcain contain many quotes from, for example an April 23, 1986 letter of his where he says, 'I have always stated that I believe there are American servicemen alive in Southeast Asia until proven otherwise.' Guess he got proof really fast because a few weeks later there were none alive and no one was abandoned.'"

       "These files contain a rath (sic) [wealth] of information about McCain and his deliberate misrepresentation of facts. It proves to my satisfaction that he will leave no stone unturned in his quest for the White House…I firmly believe that we must do everything possible to keep McCain out of the White House."

John McCain 'Sang Like a Canary' to the North Vietnamese
       Within the first four days of his capture, while in his initial interrogation (26-30 October 1967) at the Hoa lo prison and while recovering from his shootdown wounds in the North Vietnamese military hospital (31 October 1967 through mid-December 1967), John McCain provided military information far beyond that which the Code of Conduct - and that which other POWs, while undergoing extreme torture (see above) - refused to divulge to the enemy. Colonel Ted Guy gathered information from various sources - McCain interviews with Hanoi correspondents which were broadcast to American Servicemen in South Vietnam (31 October 1967), a Soviet Union Correspondent (8 December 1967), a Cuban correspondent (Nhan Dan source 9 November 1967), a French correspondent (9 November 1967) - a full text of which is reported by the Department of Defense National Military Command Center Message Center (11 November 1967), and another French television correspondent (1 January 1967 shortly after McCain's transfer to the Plantation prison) - a full text of which is reported by the Department of Defense National Military Command Center Message Center (1 January 1967). Copies of these interviews are available at the hyperlink: McCainSangLikeACanary.

       John McCain was transferred from the Hoa lo hospital to the Plantation prison in mid-December 1967. Dick Stratton was his SRO at that time. He shared a room (15 feet wide and nine feet deep) with Bud Day and Norris Overly awaited him [31]. "An endless parade of dignitaries came to the cell, mainly to stare at McCain, 'the Crown Prince.' The visitors were mostly older men. They wore civilian clothing, but prison staff members attested to their exalted rank by bowing deeply to them as they came and went. These dignitaries would look upon the young son of an American admiral with something close to awe. Once a translator asked McCain, 'How many corporations does your family own?' Puzzled, McCain wondered if he had heard he question correctly. 'Yes,' said the translator, 'I know that your father, since he is a big man in the military, is bound to have many companies under his control.' 'You've got to be putting me on, man.' John laughed. 'My father is a military officer. His income is confined to his military salary.' … Now the Vietnamese exhibited an intense concern for McCain's well-being. 'How are you feeling,' an officer would ask. 'Are you getting enough to eat? Would you like to have something special?' 'No,' McCain answered. 'I'll just take what everybody gets.' 'We always give the sick men fruit,' replied the officer."

        Bud Day and Norris Overly (both transferred from the Zoo), who probably saved McCain's life -- feeding him, nursing his wounds, cleaning him, and generally taking care of him. This lasted until March 1968 when Overly left in the first group of prisoners released to American anti-war sympathizers in the enemy's propaganda campaign. Bud Day was transferred out when it became clear that he was a resister to North Vietnamese attempts to propagandize their 'humane treatment' of our POWs [32]. "Overly remembered that McCain "…appeared to be 'damn near dead.' He cleaned, fed, and cared for him, along with Day, until both rebounded substantially during the winter of 1967-68. Day could understand why the Vietnamese would want to nourish the admiral's son back to health but he grew suspicious when guards began to lavish extra attention on all three of them, at one point delivering 57 bananas to their room on consecutive days. The reason became clear when in early February 1968 officials suddenly removed Overly…as part of the first early release group in the North."

       "When Day departed the Plantation in the spring [of 1968] as a result of a camp-wide shakeup, McCain was left in solitary, where he remained for the next two years. Although the room was a decent size, approximately ten feet square, it had no windows, only slight ventilation from a pair of four-inch holes in the ceiling, and a perpetual dimness alleviated by a small bulb burning overhead. The Vietnamese made no demands on him until his first summer there when, around the time his father was named commander-in-chief of U.S. Forces in the Pacific, Cat prodded him to accept early release, an occurrence that would have handed Hanoi an exquisitely timed propaganda victory, McCain begged off despite being plagued by severe dysentery, continuing weight loss, and residual pain from his injuries that in the opinion of the SRO [Stockman/Stratton] qualified him to be the only man sick enough to legitimately accept release on Hanoi's terms. Cat made [McCain] pay for denying them their coup, singling him out for what was probably the harshest sustained persecution of any prisoner at the Plantation, lasting over a year, including an episode in September 1968 when over a span of four days his left arm was rebroken, he was trussed [tied up, not tortured] in ropes, and he was beaten 'every two to three hours' until he signed a confession of criminal wrongdoing, and apology."

       According to McCain, who saw that he was reaching the end of his rope, said, "'O.K. I'll write for them…The North Vietnamese interrogator, who was pretty stupid, wrote the final confession, and I signed it. It was in their language, and spoke about black crimes, and other generalities." That statement has not been made public. It is not recorded in any of the public references above. The text of the message, however, is as follows. Begin McCain's statement [33]:
____________________________________________
                                                                                                                                                                cannon
                                                                                                                                                                2 Jun 69
B_________ Hanoi in English to American Servicemen in South Vietnam at 1300 GMT 2 Jun 69
(Text) At his 19 rpt 19 May press conference in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird distorted the truth about the policy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam government towards captured U.S. pilots in North Vietnam. Those very captive airmen have long since given the lie to Laird's allegations. Here is one of them, LCMDR John Sidney McCain, service number 624787 rpt624787, USS Oriskany, speaking of the treatment he has been receiving. (Male voice with American accent) I was a U.S. airman engaged in the crimes against the Vietnamese country and people. I had bombed their cities, towns and villages and caused more injury even death for the people of Vietnam. After I was captured I was taken from a hospital in (?Da Nang) where I received very good medical treatment. I was given an operation on my leg, which allowed me to walk again, and a cast for my right arm which was badly broken in three rpt three places. The doctors were very good and they knew a great deal about the practice of medicine. I remained in the hospital for some time. I regained much of my health and strength. 021300. ecc for Eugene C. Cannon
_____________________________________________
End of McCain's statement.

       None of this information is contained in any of the public records - the "P.O.W.' book, the 'Honor Bound' book, or the U.S. & World News report, or any of the books written by the POWs themselves in the aftermath of their return from captivity - referred to above. It is clear than none of the above authors knew what Ted Guy knew. Colonel Ted Guy mailed a copy of the above documents to the author of this essay on 6 July 1998, before the year 2000 presidential election. Guy did not mean to maliciously indict Senator John McCain publicly during his year 2000 run for the presidency. It is clear that Guy simply wanted to carry out his perceived duty to keep McCain from gaining his sought prize. Ted Guy wrote, [34] "I would like to send you this information and maybe you can gain enough information, for another factual FORUM [Washington Times] or other article about McCain…I have one request that you hold it until we find out if he is going to run and if so, let him have both barrels just before the first primary or caucus that he is a candidate in. I assure you, you will have my back-up and full support as one who has been there and done that." George W. Bush won the South Carolina primary and was the year 2000 presidential nominee, so Ted Guy's stricture was obeyed. Colonel Ted Guy died of cancer on 23 April 1999. You can read his biography at the hyperlink: http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/g/g065.htm.

       It is of some interest that the above statement attributed to John McCain - taken while he was under some duress at the Plantation and delivered over the Hanoi broadcast network to our Armed Forces in South Vietnam - was about all they got out of the 'Crown Prince' after that time, according to the publicly referenced books. There was a much more revealing statement by McCain - under no stress whatsoever) in 1970 (after the pressure was lifted by the North Vietnamese), but that will be discussed later. Meanwhile the 'Honor Bound' book reveals another aspect of McCain' behavior while at the Plantation that bears mention.

       According to the 'Honor Bound' book [35], "That statement [made at the Plantation] was about all they got out of the 'crown prince.' He fended off pressure to meet with delegations. He diverted interrogators with useless information, once listing the offensive line of the Green Bay Packers as the members of his squadron. 'McCain had an uncommon ability to endure abuse and [bounce] back from it again and again,' Norman observed. He was 'an inventive resister, one of the very best at screwing up the propaganda broadcasts. The other POWs considered him a master at garbling the syntax of the camp news.'" This subtle revelation begs the question of 'why did John McCain give camp broadcasts to the POWs, a prominence given by the North Vietnamese only to those they considered to be POWs with a 'good attitude,' that is, those who escaped torture and 'cooperated' in some way with their captors?

       The answer can possibly be found in McCain's reputation before being shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese and even afterwards - even while currently running for the presidency and joking, wise-cracking with reporters on the 'Straight Talk Express' bus and with David Letterman on national TV. John McCain [37], the celebrated 'party boy' has always sought the spotlight, the center of attention by bucking authority and 'celebrated' wild years in his high-school, while at the U.S. Naval Academy, during his flight training, during his party behavior on shore leave during deployments, during his years as a flight instructor, and even after his return to the U.S. upon release from captivity. His craving for the spotlight by broadcasting the daily 'news' at the Plantation is entirely in keeping with his foundational personality. But what did he receive in return? Maybe Colonel Ted Guy was on to something about John McCain's character.

       The crowning incident that bears on John McCain's character while a POW in Hanoi is his unbelievable statement given to a Cuban psychologist, after he was transferred to the Vegas complex (in the Golden Nugget building) at the Hoa Lo prison. This was a period [beginning in 1970] during which torture was terminated and interrogations were benign. There was, however, pressure to see American anti-war delegations which seemed to increase as the time went on. According to McCain's account in the U.S. News & World Report [36], "I was taken to a quiz with 'the Cat.' He told me that he wanted me to see a foreign guest. I told him what I had always told him before: that I would see the visitor but I would not say anything against my country, and if I was asked about my treatment I would tell them how harsh it was. Much to my shock and surprise he said, 'Fine, you don't have to say anything.' I went back to my room and I asked the senior American officer in our area [Note: not specified] what his opinion was, and he said he thought that I should go ahead."

       "So I went to see this visitor who said he was from Spain, but who I later heard was from Cuba. He never asked me any questions about controversial subjects or my treatment or my feelings about the war. I told him I had no remorse about what I did, and that I would do it over again if the same opportunity presented itself. That seemed to make him angry, because he was a sympathizer of the North Vietnamese. At the time this happened, a photographer came in and took a couple of pictures. I had told 'the Cat' that I didn't want any such publicity. So when I came back - the interview lasted about 15, 20 minutes - I told him I wasn't going to see another visitor because he had broken his word. Also at that time Capt. Jeremiah Denton, who was running our camp at that time, established a policy that we should not see any delegations."

       It is clear why John McCain did not want the contents of his interview with the Cuban to become public. In addition to the contradiction that he had received permission from 'his SRO' to participate in the interview and disobeyed Denton's order that no such interviews be granted - the content of that interview is unbelievably damaging to McCain, clearly showing the self-important and self-serving nature of his being. The transcript of that interview exists. It is in the package of papers that McCain's former SRO at the Plantation, Colonel Ted Guy, delivered to the author of this essay.

       Before publishing the contents of this private information, it is important to note the fact that just recently The Washington Post published an article [38] in which their reporter, Manuel Roig-Franzia, interviewed the Cuban psychologist, Fernando Barral, in Havana, Cuba, who interviewed McCain at Hoa Lo on 24 January 1970. This firmly establishes the fact that the interview indeed took place. But you should be quite surprised by the contents of that interview. It does not conform at all with McCain's self-reporting in his summary of its contents. The Post article does, however, provide a summary of the interview with the Cuban.

       According to The Washington Post, "The interview lasted between 45 minutes and an hour…the men met at the offices of Hanoi's Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations, while McCain said in his book that the interview took place in a hotel…he does not know why his North Vietnamese handlers chose the cultural center as the site for the interview. But the location did not bother Barral because he wasn't interested in the conditions of the prison, merely in finding out what 'the enemy' was thinking…He conducted a cursory medical examination and found that McCain had difficulty rotating his arms. McCain told him that he had not been subjected to 'physical or moral violence,' Barral noted at the time."

     "In his small, precise handwriting, Barral noted that cookies, candies, teacups, oranges and cigarettes were on the table. McCain, who had suffered multiple fractures after ejecting from his plane, walked in leaning on a cane, Barral said. Quickly dispensing with the pro forma name, rank, and serial number, the men talked about McCain's family. 'He was only interested in talking about himself,' Barral recalled. 'He had a big ego.' The son and grandson of U.S. admirals, McCain lamented in the interview that 'If I hadn't been shot down, I would have become an admiral at a younger age than my father,' Barral's notes state. Barral said McCain boasted that he was the best pilot in the Navy and that he wanted to be an astronaut. 'He felt superior to the Vietnamese up there in his plane, with all his training,' Barral recalled."

       "'McCain did not ask questions about news from abroad,' Barral said, but he did ask the psychologist to get a message to his then-wife, Carol McCain, and provided her address in Orange Park, Fla. 'Tell her I'm well,' Barral noted McCain saying. 'Tell her I wish her all the best and that she shouldn't worry about me.'"

       "Though McCain says he did not discuss military matters with Barral, a U.S. commander in the prison later issued an order forbidding U.S. POWs to be interviewed by visitors, McCain wrote in his book. The decision was 'a sound one, even though it deprived me of further opportunities to demonstrate 'my psychic equilibrium' to disapproving fraternal socialists, not to mention the extra cigarettes and coffee,' McCain wrote."

       "Barral's interview with the son and grandson of U.S. admirals was considered a huge coup and 'newsworthy,' according to the 1970 Granma [Havana] article. The Communist party newspaper ran a close-up of McCain's face on its front page… 'I'm not sure if it was for propaganda purposes,' Barral said recently of the 1970 interview. 'But I accept it if I was an instrument for propaganda.' … Barral said he follows U.S. politics in clippings sent to him from friends and relatives abroad, and has taken a shine to Sen. Barack Obama…because he represents change.' 'I don't know if McCain would be a good president,' Barral said. 'And I don't care.'"

       The new information reveals a much more detailed description of the unforced interview John McCain gave to the Cuban psychologist. It reveals a great deal about the character of John McCain, the 'raconteur extraordinaire,' in the company of his captors. The entirety of the McCain/Barral interview is presented below [39]:
Begin transcript of Interview
______________________________________________________
GRANMA PUBLISHES INTERVIEW WITH U.S. POW McCAIN

Havana GRANMA  24 Jan 70

[Text]  Dr. Fernando Barral, a Spanish psychologist residing in Cuba, returned last week from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam where he was invited; and in his notebook he brought back some journalistic news: an interview with a North American pilot captured in the DRV after bombing Hanoi on 26 October 1967. The meeting between him and the pilot took place in an office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi.

The pilot interviewed is Lt Cmdr John Sidney McCain, son and grandson of American Navy admirals. His father, as the Yankee prisoner declared, is higher ranking than General Abrams, who commands the Yankee aggressor troops in South Vietnam; despite this, Johnson gave orders directly to Abrams, passing over McCain's father, who has a long history of services of aggression in Korea, among other imperialist merits. As is seen, Lt Commander John Sidney has a very good name…

The following are the notes from Dr. Barral's interview with the Yankee pilot:
Could you tell me your name serial number, and rank?
"My name is John Sidney McCain and I am a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy - serial No. 624787."
He added: "I understand and speak some Spanish. I studied it in school and I have been in Spain several times. On one of those occasions I visited the Naval Academy and met Prince Carlos…"
In the course of the interview, on various occasions he showed that knowledge of the language, saying some words, dates, and so forth in Spanish, or [using it] when he thought the interpreter was seeking the corresponding French word.

Naturally, from the very beginning this established a more direct communication between us, and more than one question or my response was made directly in Spanish. Immediately afterward I asked him about the date and circumstances of his capture.

"On 26 October 1967 I was overflying Hanoi in an A4E plane based on the carrier Oriskany when my plane was hit by a ground-to-air-missile. I bailed out, colliding in the air with the remains of the plane, and I landed in one of the lakes in the center of Hanoi, in the middle of the water. On landing I tried to get free of my parachute, but I could not move, and I did not realize why I could not move my arms or legs, but it was because of the injuries."

Injuries?

"Yes, as a result of colliding with the remains of the plane, I fractured my right leg at the knee, and both arms, the right one in three places. Moreover, I dislocated both shoulders." When he told me this I superficially examined his ability to move his arms, which is almost unrestricted (only he has some difficulty bending his arm all the way). Also his grip is normal. Aside from this, he uses a crutch on the right side only, which shows normal functional ability of the extremity most affected by the traumatism.

What happened next?

"Well, many people gathered around since it was the center of Hanoi at midday."

Soldiers, militiamen, or civilians?

"I could not determine exactly, because they had removed their clothing in order to take me out of the water."

Well, go on.

"From there, they took me to a military hospital in Hanoi, a large hospital where they operated on me and attended to the multiple fractures. I understand I received more than a liter of blood…" [A handwritten note here states 'There was no waiting of 3-4 days as McCain has claimed.]

Were you the object of any physical or moral violence?

"No, although at the time of capture I could sense the peoples' hate or indignation, there were no insults of violence of any type. On the contrary, you have seen how I am recovering from my injuries."

But were you not afraid of being the object of violent treatment if you were captured…?

"Actually, I never thought I would become a prisoner; therefore those fears never came up."

Did you never think of the possibility of being captured?

"No, I was traveling at a high altitude. I felt completely safe in the plane…I am considered one of the best pilots…"

We had closed one subject, between sips of coffee enjoyed equally by the pilot and me, but the cakes and oranges have not been touched. I motioned to the pilot, and I began to peel an orange. Soon afterward, we reopened the conversation.

What led you to join the U.S. Navy?

"Mainly for a family reason, since I have many relatives in that branch of service. In particular, my grandfather was outstanding in World War II; he was one of those who made the Japanese sign the act of surrender, and a Naval destroyer bears his name. And my father is also an admiral; he is chief of the Pacific Command of the U.S. Armed forces. Actually, it is a matter of military tradition. One of my forebears was a colonel in Washington's independence forces. Another was a general in the war of secession. Thus it was natural for me to follow a military career. Of course my father was not always an admiral; during World War II he was commander of a submarine. He has been in the navy since 1927 and has been an admiral since 1965. He holds the highest rank in the navy. If I had not been downed, I would have become an admiral at an earlier age than my father. Theoretically, General Abrams is his subordinate…."

Theoretically?

"Yes, although in practice, because of the importance of this war, Gen Creighton Abrams receives his orders directly from Washington."

I do not understand this about 'in theory and practice.' I thought that in military life everything is standardized in an inflexible manner…

"Well, look, in fact Abrams is his subordinate but since the Tet offensive of 1968, in view of the gravity of the situation, Abrams, instead of asking for instructions from my father, who is in Honolulu, so that he in turn would ask for them from Washington, went directly to Washington for them because the war is here in Vietnam and my father also has Okinawa, Korea, and so forth under his command. That is why, since the war is so important, he receives his instructions directly from Washington. It is a political problem also, not only military."

Well, let us leave these things about political and military aside. They are too complex. At any rate I do not believe that your father likes the situation very much; that his subordinates receive orders directly from above. He make an expressive gesture but does not go further into the subject; rather he takes a tangent. "Look, my father is a very intelligent person, but…when the bombings of the north began, Johnson asked Abrams' [as published] opinion; not my father's because Abrams was in Saigon, in the war…"

"Now I am going to speak about my wife," he says spontaneously. "She is not in the armed forces," he added with a certain humor. "I saw her the last time in August 1967. At that time I was on the aircraft carrier Forrestal. When a fire broke out which damaged it heavily and it had to be sent for repairs to the United States. At that time I miraculously escaped with my life because I was in my airplane and the two pilots on my left and two on my right were killed."

How did that happen?

"A plane caught fire and one of its rockets went off. This in turn caused other explosions. There were 135 deaths, almost all the airplanes were destroyed, and the ship was seriously damaged. As a result of the fire I became famous on TV."

As one who miraculously escaped death, no?

"Yes, but in addition I was able to see my family and stay there nearly a month. I then returned this time to the aircraft carrier Oriskay and one month later I was shot down."

You said that you were going to talk to me about your wife but you continue on the subject of the war…He smiles as he becomes aware that he drifted from the subject and adds:

"She is very pretty. Before marrying me she was a model for magazines and on TV. We have a 3-year-old girl. When I saw her she was still a baby. She also has two children from a former marriage. She has now returned to work as a model on TV."

How did you find this out?

"I had a letter from her after I became a prisoner."

?? [as published]

"Yes, they authorized me to receive a letter and presents on Christmas Eve and I was able to send greetings cards."

Would you like me to relay a message for you?

"If  you would be so kind. Tell her I am well, that I wish her happiness, and not to worry about me."

The address?

"Her name is Carol McCain, Mrs. Carol McCain. She lives in…."

It is difficult for me to understand the address and I ask him to write it in my notebook. He writes with his left hand: Mrs Carol McCain, 553 Fatio Lane, Orange Park, Florida, USA [address as published]. I explain that I will not see her personally but that I will relay the message.

What schooling did you have?

"I went to the Naval Academy. I took two university majors, electrical engineering and naval architecture. The courses were very difficult; 1,200 of us began and only 400 graduated. Discipline was very strict also. I was also in the Spanish Naval Academy. It was there that I met Prince Carlos, as I said before. When I finished I had two choices: to be naval officer or a pilot…I chose to be a pilot. I had to study another year and a half and I graduated in 1958. I trained intensively. I flew many hours in training to become a jet pilot."

Many?

"Yes, 4,000. They really only demand 200 but I flew 4,000 hours."

?? [as published]

"I wanted to become a test pilot. It is fascinating to test the new models."

At any rate the difference between 200 and 4,000 appears to be great.

"Well, look, it was because I wanted to be a astronaut. That is why I also engaged in a great deal of sports; boxing, wrestling, swimming, camping, and so forth."

And what happened?

"I had to come to Vietnam."

What is your religion?

"I am a Protestant."

Being in captivity, has your faith increased? Do you have hopes for the future?

"My beliefs have always been more or less of the same intensity. As long as the war lasts I do not have much hope for the future."

From the psychological point of view, Dr. Barral has the following opinion of the personality of the prisoner who is responsible for many criminal bombings of the people of DRV"

He showed himself to be intellectually alert during the interview. From a morale point of view he is not in traumatic shock. He is neither dejected nor depressed. He was able to be sarcastic, and even humorous indicative of psychic equilibrium. From the moral and ideological point of view he showed us he is an insensitive individual without human depth, who does not show the slightest concern, who does not appear to have thought about the criminal acts he committed against a population from the almost absolute impunity of his airplane, and that nevertheless those people saved his life, fed him, and looked after his health, and he is now healthy and strong. I believe that he bombed densely populated places for sport. I noted he was hardened, that he spoke of banal things as if he were at a cocktail party.

During the interview he quietly drank three cups of coffee and smoked one of the cigarettes the Vietnamese had placed on the central table.

The idea of interviewing this pilot occurred to me while I was returning from the Fourth Zone of the DRV, Quang Binh Province leveled by the bombings. I was sick of seeing destruction of a people of such tremendous moral fiber. Here I thought that I ought to meet one of the pilots. What would they be like, I wondered - the perpetrators of the destruction, of the savagery? I had come to Vietnam in response to an invitation and my intention was to investigate the traditional [social] structures and social change in Vietnam. But when I interviewed a young militiawoman with a rifle and a smile and she told us about her humble and heroic life, I saw that the bombings had awakened her sense of hate and action, but not fear.

It was clear to me that that girl's moral process and conscience - in her capacity as a prototype of her people - were not the result of chance or the mechanical reaction to aggression, but were the very deep-rooted result of a unique social system and subsequent ideological work.

There I also felt the need to study others who, with their modern techniques and 'superiority' had not been able to deter the Vietnamese people, Dr. Barral concluded.
__________________________________________________________________
End of McCain's interview with the Cuban psychologist.

Footnotes:
1)  Atkinson, Gerald L., "Who Chooses Our 'Heroes' in the Age of Multiculturalism," Atkinson Associates Press, 4 July 2001.
2)  Hubbell, John G., "P.O.W.: A Definitive History of the American Prisoner-of-War Experience in Vietnam, 1964-1973," 633 Pages, Reader's Digest Press, 1976.
3)  Rochester, Stuart I. And Kiley, Frederick, "Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia 1961 - 1973, 706 Pages, Naval Institute Press, 1998-1999.
4)  Timberg, Robert, "The Nightingale's Song," Simon & Schuster, 543 Pages, 1995.
5)  Ibid, 'Honor Bound," pp. 360.
6)  Ibid, 'P.O.W., pp. 364.
7)  McCain III, John S., "Inside Story: How the POWs Fought Back," U.S. News & World Report, pp. 47, 14 May 1973.
8)  Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 437-438.
9)  Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 363.
10) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 360.
11) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 342.
12) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 193.
13) Bell, Dora Griffin, "The Heros' Wife," Authorhous, pp. 440, 2006.
14) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 328-334.
15) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 506.
16) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 340-543.
17) Ibid, U.S. News & World Report, pp. 50.
18) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 159-160.
19) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 212-214.
20) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 210.
21) Ibid, "The Heroes' Wife," pp. 433.
22) Ibid, "U.S. News & World Report," pp. 51.
23) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 141-148.
24) Ibid, "U.S. News & World Report," pp. 50.
25) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 364.
26) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 144.
27) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 403.
28) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 339-340.
29) Ibid, "P.O.W.," pp. 437-447.
30) Guy, Ted, "Email to Gerald L. Atkinson," 5 July 1998.
31) Ibid, "P.O.W.,' pp. 367-369.
32) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 361.
33) Package from Colonel Ted Guy to Gerald L. Atkinson, USPS dated 6 July 1998.
34) Ibid, "Email to Gerald L. Atkinson," 5 July 1998.
35) Ibid, "Honor Bound," pp. 363.
36) Timberg, Robert, "The Nightingale's Song," Simon & Schuster, pp. 92-100, 238-240, 1995.
37) Ibid, "U.S. News & World Report," pp. 112.
38) Roig-Franzia, Manuel, "In Havana, A Page From McCain's Past: Restaurateur Displays Story Of Interview With POW," The Washington Post, 11 March 2008.
39) Ibid, Package from Colonel Ted Guy to Gerald L. Atkinson, USPS dated 6 July 1998.
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