Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Vietnam Stays With McCain

Philosophy rooted in visits continues to influence candidate

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 23, 2008 2:35 PM CDT
Email

(Newser) – After 5 years as a POW, John McCain returned to Vietnam in 1974 and 1985, trips that inextricably linked him with the war in American minds. They also helped color the way he thinks about foreign policy and helped him learn to make amends with onetime enemies when it meant closure on MIAs. The Boston Globe looks at the candidate's evolution through the prism of that experience.

"His thinking that we needed to begin to solve the wounds of Vietnam came out of that trip," an ex-adviser says of the 1985 visit, during which McCain traveled with Walter Cronkite. "His belief that we could help Vietnam by being there was helped by that trip."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tells his son Jack about his time as a Vietnam war P.O.W. as they look into a prison cell at the Hoa Lo prison.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tells his son Jack about his time as a Vietnam war P.O.W. as they look into a prison cell at the Hoa Lo prison.   (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
Sen. John McCain.
Sen. John McCain.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
VIETNAM. Hanoi. US Senator John MCCAIN, with his wife and son near a monument on the shore of Truc Bach Lake, commemorating the men who pulled him from the lake and captured him. He was try (NYC47519)
VIETNAM. Hanoi. US Senator John MCCAIN, with his wife and son near a monument on the shore of Truc Bach Lake, commemorating the men who pulled him from the lake and captured him. He was try (NYC47519)   (Magnum Photos)
Then Lt. Cdr. John S. McCain III, a POW for over five years, waves to well-wishers after arriving at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida in this March 18, 1973, file photo.
Then Lt. Cdr. John S. McCain III, a POW for over five years, waves to well-wishers after arriving at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida in this March 18, 1973, file photo.   (AP Photo/File)
This Oct 26 1967, file photo provided by the Library of Congress shows Navy fighter pilot John McCain, center, being captured by Vietnamese civilians.
This Oct 26 1967, file photo provided by the Library of Congress shows Navy fighter pilot John McCain, center, being captured by Vietnamese civilians.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
John McCain Speaks As A POW-1985.   (inviolate1950)

View larger videos >>
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

TV host, blog jump on McCain for saying he "didn't really love America until I was deprived of her company"
Huffington Post

An update on where the VP searches stand
The Atlantic

 
John McCain • Vietnam • POW • foreign policy • MIA • Walter Cronkite • POW/MIA

More Newser Stories

Pentagon Steps Up Hunt for Missing WWII Soldiers

Obama, Not McCain, Would Be Third Bush Term

Foreign Policy Drove Wedge Between Hagel, McCain

Foreign Views Prove Less Neat Than 'Hawk' and 'Dove'

Obama Passes Off Biden Gaffe as 'Flourish'
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne